Alison Lynne Clear

ACM has named 63 Distinguished Members for outstanding contributions to the field. All 2021 inductees are longstanding ACM members and were selected by their peers for a range of accomplishments that advance computing as a science and a profession.

"Each year we are excited to recognize a new class of ACM Distinguished Members for their professional achievements, as well as their longstanding membership with ACM,” explains ACM President Gabriele Kotsis. “The Distinguished Members program is a way both to celebrate the trailblazing work of our members, and to underscore how participation with a professional society enhances one’s career growth. This award category also emphasizes how ACM’s worldwide membership is the foundation of our organization."

The 2021 ACM Distinguished Members work at leading universities, corporations and research institutions in Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, China, Germany, India, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. ACM Distinguished Members are selected for their contributions in three separate categories: educational, engineering and scientific. The new class of Distinguished Members made advancements in areas including bioinformatics, computer architecture, computer graphics, data science, human-computer interaction, networking and distributed systems, semantic web research, security, and software engineering, among many other areas.

The ACM Distinguished Member program recognizes up to 10 percent of ACM worldwide membership based on professional experience and significant achievements in the computing field. To be nominated, a candidate must have at least 15 years of professional experience in the computing field, five years of professional ACM membership in the last 10 years, and have achieved a significant level of accomplishment, or made a significant impact in the field of computing, computer science or information technology. A Distinguished Member is expected to have served as a mentor and role model by guiding technical career development and contributing to the field beyond the norm.

ACM news release