Bernard Rous

The ACM's Digital Library (DL) and its associated Guide to Computing Literature are among the most complete and reliable sources of information on computing research today. They have become ACM's crown jewels. Over the past 10 years, the DL has constantly evolved to reflect the very best thinking of what a digital collection of the research literature for the computing community should be. While many have contributed to this vision, it is the outstanding technical leadership of key ACM Headquarters staff that made it a reality. Wayne Graves and Bernard Rous have made a decade's worth of fundamentally important contributions to the development and evolution of the ACM DL and Guide, and in the process have played pivotal roles in the creation of a product and service that, more than anything else, reflect the dimensions, the brand, the quality ... the essence ... of ACM.

In his position as ACM's Deputy Director of Publications and Electronic Publishing Program Director, Bernard Rous initiated the first prototype ACM Digital Library and has been a leading voice in the evolution of the DL and Guide. He has worked with senior ACM staff, the ACM Publications Board, the SIG Governing Board, and the broader publishing community to ensure the DL reflects the very best thinking in defining a digital collection of the computing literature. Before most publishers, Bernie convinced us all that ACM should extract references from its published material, implement full reference linking, and record download statistics.

Wayne Graves and Bernard Rous are the epitome of professionalism in society staff. They provide insightful leadership when appropriate and expert support to volunteers as necessary. And, they do it with the best in collegiality and good humor. Truly, their contributions to ACM have been outstanding.