Call For Nomination: The 2017 SIGOPS Mark Weiser Award

Nomination deadline: October 15, 2017

The Mark Weiser Award was created in 2001 by ACM SIGOPS, to be given to an individual who has demonstrated creativity and innovation in operating systems research. The recipient must have begun his or her career no earlier than 20 years prior to nomination.

The award is named in honor of Mark Weiser, a computing visionary recognized for his research accomplishments during his career at Xerox PARC. ACM SIGOPS will present a $1000 prize to the recipient, in memory of Mark and his many contributions to SIGOPS and the operating systems community. This year’s award will be presented at SOSP.

The selection committee will choose the recipient based on: “contributions that are highly creative, innovative, and possibly high-risk, in keeping with the visionary spirit of Mark Weiser.”

Nomination Procedure

We seek a diverse pool of nominees. Any SIGOPS member may submit a nomination. Self-nominations are not accepted. The nominee need not be a member of SIGOPS. Members of the selection committee and SIGOPS officers are not eligible.

The nomination packet should contain:

  •  A statement of up to 500 words describing the innovations and accomplishments for which the nominee is to be considered.
  •  Biographical information on the candidate (e.g., a CV).
  • The names and contact information of three supporters who will write letters of recommendation for the candidate. (Please have letters emailed to the award committee chair in advance, if possible.)
  • Name and contact information for the nominator, nominator’s ACM membership number, and relationship to the nominee (e.g. thesis advisor, colleague, student, etc.).

A person may be nominated more than once, but in no more than three consecutive years. (After three consecutive nominations, a person may be re-nominated following a one-year hiatus.) For all re-nominations:

  • The nomination statement and the biographical information (CV) must be updated.
  • We recommend updating the letters of recommendation, especially if they are more than one year old.

The current members of the Mark Weiser Award committee are:

  • Margo Seltzer, Harvard University (chair);
  • Peter Druschel, Max Planck Institute for Software Systems; and
  • Jeff Dean, Google

Nominations (including supporting letters) should be sent to the award committee chair by email MWAnominations@sigops.org. Nomination deadline for 2017 is October 15.