About ACM A.M. Turing Award

The A.M. Turing Award was named for Alan M. Turing, the British mathematician who articulated the mathematical foundation and limits of computing, and who was a key contributor to the Allied cryptanalysis of the Enigma cipher during World War II. Since its inception in 1966, the Turing Award has honored the computer scientists and engineers who created the systems and underlying theoretical foundations that have propelled the information technology industry.

Accompanied by a prize of $1,000,000, ACM’s most prestigious award is given to recognize contributions of a technical nature which are of lasting and major technical importance to the computing field. Financial support of the A.M. Turing Award is provided by Google Inc.

Recent A.M. Turing Award News

ACM Announces 2022 A.M. Turing Award Recipient

ACM has named Bob Metcalfe as recipient of the 2022 ACM A.M. Turing Award for the invention, standardization, and commercialization of Ethernet. Metcalfe is an Emeritus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at The University of Texas at Austin and a Research Affiliate in Computational Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). In 1973, while at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, Metcalfe circulated a now-famous memo describing a “broadcast communication network” for connecting some of the first personal computers. That memo laid the groundwork for what we now know today as Ethernet.

2022 ACM A.M. Turing Award recipient Bob Metcalfe

Learn About the Computing Pioneers Who Have Received the A.M. Turing Award

ACM's History Committee maintains the A.M. Turing Award website where you can find essays about the recipients of the A.M. Turing Award, their A.M. Turing Award Lectures, video interviews and transcripts, annotated bibliographies, photos and more.

Spotlight on Turing Laureates

The ACM A.M. Turing Award, computing’s most prestigious honor, acknowledges individuals who have made lasting and major contributions to the field. Here, we look back at some of these technologies and breakthroughs that continue to impact our lives, and the remarkable innovators who helped shape them. 

Career-Long Contributions

Early-to-Mid-Career Contributions

Specific Types of Contributions

Student Contributions

Regional Awards

SIG Awards

How Awards Are Proposed