This article is published in the November 2023 issue.

Multiple Research Leaders With CRA Ties Receive Prestigious Honors

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By Matt Hazenbush, Director of Communications

Several distinguished members of CRA’s extended network recently received honors for their groundbreaking and impactful work. 

Nancy Amato Receives Inaugural MassRobotics Medal Award 

Nancy Amato, CRA board chair and head of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was presented with the inaugural MassRobotics Medal Award–the world’s first major prize to recognize the wide-ranging impact of female researchers focusing on the development of robotics around the globe. 

The medal, which is awarded to a woman-identifying nominated professor in robotics, recognizes the recipient’s impactful contributions to the field and includes a $50,000 prize, thanks to Amazon Robotics. Amato received the honor for her research on the algorithmic foundations of motion planning, computational biology, computational geometry, and parallel computing.

 

Eugene H. Spafford Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Eugene H. Spafford, CRA board member and professor of computer sciences at Purdue University, was inducted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S), the United States’ oldest honorary society. 

Spafford was recognized for his pioneering work in computer security over the course of his long and distinguished career, which has included authoring the first book about computer viruses, starting the academic field of cyber forensics, and performing some of the initial academic work on firewalls, intrusion detection, and vulnerability management. 

 

Vicki Hanson Awarded HCI Medal for Societal Impact 

Vicki Hanson, CEO of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and annual attendee of CRA’s Leadership Summit, is the 2024 recipient of the HCI Medal for Societal Impact. The annual award is given to a distinguished human-computer interaction (HCI) academic, researcher, or professional in recognition of the impact of their work in the field of HCI to society.

Hanson’s research has focused on the accessibility of technology and related research ethics. She will be conferred her honor during the HCI International 2024 Conference, where she will deliver the keynote speech, on July 1, 2024 in Washington, D.C.

 

 

Vint Cerf Wins Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award 

Vint Cerf, vice president and chief internet evangelist for Google and frequent CRA speaker and collaborator, was honored with the Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes individuals with an established history of distinguished work who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions and positive impact to the field of communications and to the development of the careers of others.

Cerf was recognized for contributions to the advancement of the Internet and its associated technologies, notably co-created the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).