About ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science and Informatics

This award is to recognize an individual or a group who have made a significant contribution through the use of computing technology. It will be given once every two years, assuming that there are worthy recipients. The award amount is $5,000 plus travel expenses to the Awards banquet.

The award is intentionally defined broadly. The professional credentials of the recipient(s) are not important. The recipient(s) need never to have earned a degree or published a paper, or even be considered to be a computer professional. The emphasis of the Award Committee will be on the significance of the contribution itself, within the prescribed areas of technology for humanitarian contributions in the field of computing.

Some examples of the types of contributions that this award is created to recognize are: application of computer technology to aid individuals with a disability; making an educational contribution using computers or Computer Science in inner city schools; creative research concerning intellectual property issues; expansion of educational opportunities in Computer Science for women and underrepresented minorities; application of computers or computing techniques to problems of developing countries.

 

Recent Eugene L. Lawler Award News

Jelani Nelson Receives 2022 ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award

Jelani Nelson, Professor, University of California, Berkeley, receives the ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions Within Computer Science and Informatics for founding and developing AddisCoder, a nonprofit organization which teaches programming to underserved students from all over Ethiopia. AddisCoder has led many students to higher education and successful careers. Nelson has not only been an AddisCoder instructor himself, but he has recruited a large team of teachers and raised money from government, industry, and academic institutions to fund the initiative.

2022 ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award recipient Jelani Nelson

Career-Long Contributions

Early-to-Mid-Career Contributions

Specific Types of Contributions

Student Contributions

Regional Awards

SIG Awards

How Awards Are Proposed