In the sweltering heat of July, a remarkable group of individuals emerged, destined to become esteemed Turing Award winners. These visionaries, whose contributions shaped the landscape of computer science, were born in the midst of the scorching summer. Join us as we delve into the lives and achievements of these remarkable individuals who harnessed the power of innovation and intellect, leaving an indelible mark on the field of computing.
Fernando J. Corbato
Fernando Corbató, known fondly as Corby Corbató, was an American physicist and computer scientist who left an indelible mark on the field of computing. Born on July 1, 1926, in Oakland, California, he dedicated his life to pioneering the development of general-purpose, large-scale, time-sharing and resource-sharing computer systems. His groundbreaking work on CTSS and Multics earned him the prestigious A.M. Turing Award in 1990. Corbató’s remarkable career spanned his tenure at MIT’s Computation Center from 1956 to 1966 and his professorship at the institution until his retirement in 1996. He passed away on July 12, 2019, in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Corbató’s exceptional contributions to the field of computer science and his groundbreaking work did not go unnoticed by the academic and scientific community. In recognition of his achievements, he was elected to esteemed organizations such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) in 1975, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1975, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 1976, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1982.
In addition to the coveted Turing Award, Corbató received numerous accolades for his remarkable accomplishments. These include the NEC Corporation Computers and Communications Award, the IEEE Computer Society W. Wallace McDowell Award, the American Federation of Information Processing Societies Harry Goode Memorial Award, and the IEEE Computing Society Computer Pioneer Award. These honors further exemplify his profound impact on the field and his enduring legacy as a computer science pioneer.
Juris Hartmanis
Juris Hartmanis, born on July 5, 1928, in Riga, Latvia, is a renowned mathematician and computer scientist who later became a naturalized American citizen. Alongside his esteemed colleague Richard E. Stearns, he was honored with the prestigious A.M. Turing Award in 1993, considered the highest recognition in computer science. Hartmanis and Stearns received this esteemed accolade for their groundbreaking work in computational complexity theory, particularly their influential paper that laid the foundations for this field of study. Their seminal contribution significantly advanced our understanding of the complexity of computational problems.
Hartmanis’s remarkable contributions to the field of computer science earned him prestigious memberships in several esteemed organizations. He was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1981, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 1989, the Latvian Academy of Sciences in 1990, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992. In addition to his Turing Award, Hartmanis was honored with the Bolzano Gold Medal by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in 1995 and the Grand Medal by the Latvian Academy of Sciences in 2001, further recognizing his exceptional achievements in the field.
Richard Edwin Stearns
Richard E. Stearns, a prominent mathematician and computer scientist, made significant contributions to the field of computational complexity theory, earning him recognition and the prestigious A.M. Turing Award in 1993, which he shared with Juris Hartmanis. Stearns completed his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Carleton College in 1958 and went on to obtain a doctorate from Princeton University in 1961. After a successful career at the General Electric Company, Stearns transitioned to academia, joining the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY), where he taught until his retirement in 2000 as a professor emeritus.
The groundbreaking paper titled “On the Computational Complexity of Algorithms,” authored by Richard E. Stearns and Juris Hartmanis and published in the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society in May 1965, revolutionized the field of computer science by introducing a comprehensive framework for measuring computational complexity and establishing the foundation for complexity classes. Stearns not only contributed significantly to complexity theory but also made notable advancements in algorithm analysis, automata theory, and game theory. His work continues to shape and advance our understanding of fundamental aspects of computer science.
Yann André LeCun
Yann André LeCun, born on July 8, 1960, is a prominent French computer scientist renowned for his contributions to machine learning, computer vision, mobile robotics, and computational neuroscience. Currently holding the position of Silver Professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, he also serves as the Vice President and Chief AI Scientist at Meta. LeCun is widely recognized for his pioneering work on convolutional neural networks (CNN) and their application in optical character recognition and computer vision. Additionally, he played a key role in the development of DjVu image compression technology alongside Léon Bottou and Patrick Haffner, and co-created the Lush programming language with Bottou. In 2018, LeCun, along with Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, was honored with the prestigious Turing Award for their groundbreaking contributions to deep learning, earning them the titles of “Godfathers of AI” and “Godfathers of Deep Learning.”
Jack Dongarra
Jack Joseph Dongarra FRS, born on July 18, 1950, is a distinguished American computer scientist and mathematician. He currently holds the prestigious position of American University Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee. Additionally, Dongarra serves as a Distinguished Research Staff member in the Computer Science and Mathematics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, holds a Turing Fellowship in the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester, and is an adjunct professor and teacher in the Computer Science Department at Rice University. From 2014 to 2018, he served as a faculty fellow at the Texas A&M University Institute for Advanced Study. Dongarra is the founding director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory at the University of Tennessee. In recognition of his significant contributions, Dongarra was awarded the Turing Award in 2021.
Dongarra received the 2021 Turing Award for his groundbreaking contributions to numerical algorithms and libraries, which have enabled high-performance computational software to keep pace with exponential hardware advancements over the past four decades. His algorithms and software have played a pivotal role in driving the growth of high-performance computing and have made substantial impacts in various fields of computational science, ranging from artificial intelligence to computer graphics.
Edmund Melson Clarke, Jr.
Edmund M. Clarke, also known as Edmund Melson Clarke, Jr., was an accomplished American computer scientist. Born on July 27, 1945, in Newport News, Virginia, he made significant contributions to the field of computer science and was honored as a co-winner of the 2007 A.M. Turing Award, the highest recognition in computer science.
Clarke pursued his education with a passion for mathematics. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Virginia in 1967, followed by a master’s degree in mathematics from Duke University in 1968. In 1976, he completed his doctorate in computer science from Cornell University. Clarke began his teaching career at Duke University and later joined Harvard University in 1978. In 1982, he became a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University, where he held the prestigious FORE Systems professorship in the School of Computer Science from 1995. In 2008, he was appointed as a University Professor and was later recognized as a professor emeritus in 2015.
Clarke’s notable contributions revolved around model-checking software, a technique he developed together with his former graduate student E. Allen Emerson at Harvard University. Their work, along with Joseph Sifakis from France independently, revolutionized the automation of logic error detection in sequential circuit designs and software. This breakthrough earned them the Turing Award. Additionally, Clarke made significant advancements in the development of theorem-proving software, contributing both theoretically and practically to the field.
Edmund M. Clarke’s exceptional achievements and dedication to computer science have left a lasting impact on the field, showcasing his remarkable expertise and innovative contributions.
The upcoming month holds great promise, as it is expected to bring forth more accomplished individuals who have been recognized with the prestigious Turing Prize. We eagerly anticipate the opportunity to share their remarkable stories and contributions with you. Stay connected as we delve into the lives and achievements of these exceptional Turing Prize laureates.
