REDMOND, Wash., May 14, 1999 — The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has announced that Dr. James N. Gray will be honored as the recipient of its prestigious 1998 A.M. Turing Award tomorrow evening in New York.
The A.M. Turing Award is widely considered the
“Nobel Prize”
of computer science and is recognized as the ACM’s most prestigious technical award. Financial support for the A.M. Turing Award is provided by Lucent Technologies Inc. This honor is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions and achievements in computer science and information technology. The work must be of lasting technical importance to the field of computer science. At a ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, Gray will be recognized
“for seminal contributions to database and transaction processing research, and technical leadership in system implementation from research prototypes to commercial products.”
“Microsoft is very excited to join Gray in celebrating this honor,” said Rick Rashid, vice president of Microsoft® Research.
“He is an invaluable asset to Microsoft. Over the years, Gray has had a tremendous impact on the computer science industry by helping to make the databases that people use every day more reliable, secure and easier to program. Since joining Microsoft Research, Gray has collaborated with, and contributed his vast knowledge to, a variety of important internal product groups. Furthermore, he dedicates an extraordinary amount of his own personal energy, time and passion for computer science to many government panels, committees and professional organizations.”
“I am delighted that the ACM is presenting the Turing Award, the most prestigious award in computer science, to Gray,”
said Barbara Simons, president of the ACM.
“Gray is highly deserving of the award, having done fundamental research in several key areas, including databases, transaction processing and scalable computing.”
The ACM A.M. Turing Award was established in 1966 and is presented annually to an individual for extraordinary contributions to the computer science community. Winners are chosen through a rigorous nomination process, which includes nominees’ submission of formal documentation with accompanying testimony from various supporters. A five-member selection committee, which serves for five years, makes final decisions. Past recipients of the A.M. Turing Award include Douglas Engelbart, inventor of the mouse pointing device (1997), Raj Reddy, seminal contributor to artificial intelligence (1994), and Ivan Sutherland, who achieved outstanding work in the field of computer graphics (1988).
“By honoring Gray with this award, the ACM has placed him among the ranks of computer science legends who have been acknowledged for their innovative and instrumental work that has helped shape today’s computer industry,”
Rashid said.
“The Microsoft Research team is honored to have him help us lead the way toward our long-term vision of simpler, more efficient and productive computing for everyone.”
Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. The goal is to develop new technologies to simplify and enhance users’ PC experience, reduce the cost of writing and maintaining software, and facilitate the creation of new types of software. Microsoft Research started with a
handful of researchers and has grown steadily to include more than 350 computer scientists and engineers in a wide variety of areas including speech technology, databases, user interface and
3-D graphics.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
For online information on Microsoft Research:
Visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.research.microsoft.com/
For more information on ACM’s awards program, including the Turing Award:
Visit the ACM Web page at http://www.acm.org/awards/
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