The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has awarded Dame Wendy with the ACM Presidential Award in recognition of her leadership and impact in shaping technology policy and informatics education internationally, and her committed and inspired work to strengthen ACM?s geographically diverse footprint by fostering regional councils to promote ACM activities in China, India, and Europe.
Dame Wendy said: "It is an absolute honour to receive this award from the ACM, an organisation that is very dear to my heart. I have worked with them as a volunteer since my first term on the Publications Board in 1999. During that time, I grew to appreciate the global reach of the organisation and it has been a passion of mine to help leverage this for the good of the community.
"Looking back, it's been an amazing journey and a huge pleasure to be part of it. This award recognises not only me but also all the people who have been part of my ACM journey."
As the first ACM President from outside North America, Dame Wendy initiated the establishment of ACM Councils in Europe, India and China, extending the organisation's scope to a borderless audience. She also focused on the education of upcoming computer science generations, promoting gender diversity and nurturing talent in computing from all corners of the world.
She is one of the world's foremost computer scientists and plays a leading role in shaping science and engineering policy and education in the UK and internationally. She is the University of Southampton's second Regius Professor of Computer Science, the UK's first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Skills Champion and Executive Director of the Web Science Institute.
She was one of the first computer scientists to undertake serious research in multimedia and hypermedia. Together with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Sir Nigel Shadbolt, and Daniel J Weitzner, she co-founded the Web Science Research Initiative and is the Managing Director of the Web Science Trust. Since 2014, she has served as a Commissioner for the Global Commission on Internet Governance.
Dame Wendy has been Senior Vice President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, President of the British Computer Society from 2003-2004 and was awarded its highest honour of Distinguished Fellowship in 2016, a member of the UK Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology, was co-Chair of the UK government's AI Review, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the 2009 UK New Year's Honours list, is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was appointed as Chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute.
• The ACM unites computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. It strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence, while supporting the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.
