From time to time, the BCS considers the award of a Distinguished Fellowship to members of the computing profession who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of computing. The Award was first approved in 1969 and the first election was made in 1971 to Edsger Dijkstra (see the full roll of BCS Distinguished Fellows). I sit on the BCS Distinguished Fellowship Committee and had the pleasure (alongside the BCS Patron, HRH The Duke of Kent) of presenting the awards to last year’s Distinguished Fellows: Dame Wendy Hall and Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho.
The Distinguished Fellowship Committee wish to open the call for nominations as wide as possible, to reflect the recently updated criteria to recognise contributions to the wider BCS theme of “Making IT good for society”. The relevant regulations specify that the Award may be made even if the individual in question is not already a member of BCS and may not be eligible for any other class of membership. Any candidate for Distinguished Fellowship should be considered against the following criteria:
- The contribution to computing should be seen in terms of major importance to the overall development of computing, with substantial personal recognition through peer review over a substantial and sustained career. This could include furthering the principles expressed in the BCS strategy of “Making IT good for society”.
- There is no restriction on nomination on the grounds of nationality or of existing membership of BCS and nominations from business, industrial, research or academic backgrounds are equally acceptable and work of either a practical or theoretical nature may be equally valid.
- At any time, both the work and the stature of the individual nominated should be commensurate with the standards set by previous recipients.
Nominations for BCS Distinguished Fellowships can be made online and close at noon (GMT) on 24 June 2016.
Digital, Data & Policy 