ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award

Overview

The Grace Murray Hopper Award recognizes the outstanding young computer professional of the year, selected on the basis of a single recent major technical or service contribution. The candidate must have been 35 years of age or less at the time the qualifying contribution was made, though allowance may be made for interrupted or second careers.  The award is presented each June at the ACM Awards Banquet and is accompanied by a prize of $35,000 plus travel expenses to the banquet.  Financial support for the award is provided by Microsoft.

Next Deadline

December 15, 2025 - End of Day, Anywhere on Earth (AoE), UTC -12

Selection Criteria

Nominations will be evaluated for the significance, depth, and originality of the technical contribution or – in the case of a service contribution – the scope of the effort involved and its impact on the computing community and/or society as a whole.  When the contribution results from a joint effort, the candidate’s role should be clearly identified.

Submissions

Nominations for the Grace Murray Hopper Award should be submitted using the online nomination form. Guidelines for nominators and endorsers can be found here.   Each nomination involves several components:

• Name, address, phone number, and email address of nominator (person making the nomination).  The most appropriate person to submit a nomination would be a recognized member of the community who is not from the same organization as the candidate and who can address the candidate’s impact on the broader community.
• Name, address, and email address of the candidate (person being nominated).  It is ACM’s policy not to tell candidates who has nominated or endorsed them.
• Nominators will be required to indicate whether they are aware of any actions committed by the candidate that violates ACM's Code of Ethics or Core Values.
• Suggested citation if the candidate is selected.  This should be a concise statement (maximum of 25 words) describing the key technical or professional accomplishment for which the candidate merits this award.  Note that the final wording for awardees will be at the discretion of the Award Committee.
• Nomination statement (200-500 words in length) addressing why the candidate should receive this award.  This may describe the candidate’s work in general, but should draw particular attention to the contributions that merit the award.  It should also indicate the candidate’s age when the contributions were made.
• Copy of the candidate’s CV, listing publications, patents, honors, service contributions, etc.
• Supporting letters from at least 3, and not more than 5, endorsers.  Endorsers should be chosen to represent a range of perspectives and institutions and provide additional insights or evidence of the candidate’s impact.  Each letter must include the name, address, and telephone number of the endorser, and should focus on the accomplishments which that endorser can attest to and place in context.  The nominator should collect the letters and bundle them for submission. Please Note: Nominators will need to provide a valid email for each endorser. Endorsers will receive an email from [email protected] containing a secure link to the Code of Ethics attestation form, and will be required to indicate whether they are aware of any actions committed by the candidate that violates ACM's Code of Ethics or Core Values.

For questions on the above, please contact us at [email protected], or Jade Morris, ACM Awards Committee Liaison.  ACM's conflict-of-interest guidelines apply to all award nominations.