Call for Nominations
2017 SIGACT Distinguished Service Prize
The Theory community benefits in many ways from the dedicated service, above and beyond the call of duty, of many of its members. Among other contributions, the field's members underpin the operation of conferences, journals, prizes, funding agencies, and other community activities, help ensure funding for the field, and promote the recognition of the field by external communities. The SIGACT Distinguished Service Prize is intended to recognize and promote their contributions, as well as to raise awareness of the need for and importance of such service, for the health of our community.
The prize is given annually to an individual who has made substantial service contributions to the Theoretical Computer Science community. (From 2002 to 2012, the award was given biennially.) It is presented at the ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, and comes with a $1,000 prize, a travel grant of up to $700 to attend the conference, and complimentary conference registration.
Eligibility
The prize can be awarded to an individual for a single contribution or for a series of contributions over a career. All living individuals are eligible with the exception of previous awardees, the sitting SIGACT Chair, an individual who nominated a majority of the current selection committee members, or a member of the current selection committee.
Selection Committee
The winner is selected by a three-member committee. The SIGACT chair appoints the selection committee to serve staggered terms over three award cycles. The 2017 selection committee members are László Babai, Lance Fortnow (chair) and Avi Wigderson.
Nominations
Nominations can be made by any member of the Theory of Computing community and should contain a statement of no more than 500 words explaining why the candidate deserves the award. The nomination can also include an additional separate listing of service activities, additional support letters, and other supplemental material such as a pointer to the candidate's CV. The nomination must include the name, affiliation and e-mail address of the nominator. Nominations are to be submitted electronically in PDF format by April 2, 2017, to the chair of the selection committee, Lance Fortnow, at fortnow@cc.gatech.edu. Please put "SIGACT Distinguished Service Award Nomination" in the subject line.
Past Winners
- 2016: László Babai
- 2015: Avi Wigderson
- 2014: Lance Fortnow
- 2013: Lane Hemaspaandra
- 2012: Sampath Kannan
- 2010: Hal Gabow
- 2008: Richard Karp
- 2006: Tom Leighton
- 2004: Rockford J. Ross
- 2002: Alan Selman
- 2001: Michael Langston
- 2000: S. Rao Kosaraju
- 1999: Fred S. Roberts
- 1998: Ian Parberry
- 1997: David S. Johnson
