The Computing Research Association

^{∫ archive ∫}Distinguished Service Award

CRA makes an award, usually annually, to a person who has made an outstanding service contribution to the computing research community. This award recognizes service in the areas of government affairs, professional societies, publications or conferences, and leadership that has a major impact on computing research.

²⁰⁰⁶Mary Jane Irwin

2006 Mary Jane Irwin Awardee Evan Pugh Professor and Co-director of the Embedded and Mobile Computing Center (emc2) in the CSE Department at Penn State University

Mary Jane Irwin, Evan Pugh Professor and Co-director of the Embedded and Mobile Computing Center (emc2) in the CSE Department at Penn State University, has served at high levels with distinction in three of the main computing research professional organizations. She was a long-time and active member of the CRA board and vice-chair for four years; a member of council and vice president of ACM; and a member of council of the IEEE Computer Society.

Irwin played a fundamental role in founding CRA-W, and has continued to be active in this leading organization for more than a decade. She has helped to set the future research agenda for the computer architecture community by co-chairing CRA’s grand challenge conference in this area. Her record of participation in professional publications and conference activities is unusually rich.

²⁰⁰⁶David Patterson

2006 David Patterson Awardee Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley

David Patterson, Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, has a wide range of service activities in addition to being a leading computing researcher. He served for four years as CRA’s board chair, during which he revitalized the membership of the board, greatly strengthened the financial abilities of the organization so it could better carry out work on behalf of the computing research community, and oversaw an expansion and strengthening of the programs, in particular in government affairs and representation of women.

As current president of ACM, Patterson has used his standing to speak out forcefully and effectively for improving the innovation climate in the United States through his efforts to return DARPA to a more basic research agenda, increasing federal funding for computing research and development, making the United States a more welcoming place to foreign students and researchers, and encouraging American students to pursue a computing research career.