The J.W. Graham Medal in Computing and Innovation is an award given annually by the University of Waterloo and the University of Waterloo Faculty of Mathematics to "recognize the leadership and many innovative contributions made to the University of Waterloo, and to the Canadian computer industry." Recipients of this award receive a gold medal and certificate. Recipients are graduates of the University of Waterloo Faculty of Mathematics from business, education, or government. The medal was established in 1994 to recognize Canadian computer industry veteran James Wesley Graham (known as "Wes Graham"). Graham was born in Copper Cliff, Ontario on January 17, 1932. He enrolled in the University of Toronto in 1950, and graduated with a BA in Mathematics and Physics in 1954, and an MA in Mathematics in 1955. He worked as a systems engineer for IBM in Canada, and then joined the faculty of the University of Waterloo in 1959. A team of his students developed the WATFOR series of compilers starting in 1965. He formed a computer science research group, known as the "Computer Systems Group," to distribute and maintain the software, and was also responsible for several spin-off organizations, including Watcom in 1981. He was made a member of the Order of Canada in April 1999. He died later that year on August 23, 1999. In 2001 his papers formed the start of the J. Wesley Graham History of Computer Science Research Collection at the University of Waterloo library.
Recipients The following people have received the J. W. Graham Medal:
1995 - Ian McPhee 1996 - William Reeves 1997 - James G. Mitchell 1998 - Dan Dodge 1999 - Kim Davidson 2000 - Paul Van Oorschot 2001 - Terry Stepien 2002 - Peter Savich 2003 - F. David Boswell 2004 - David P. Yach 2005 - Garth A. Gibson 2006 - Deanne Farrar 2007 - Ricardo Baeza-Yates 2008 - Eric Veach 2009 - Craig Eisler 2010 - Steven Woods 2011 - Zack Urlocker 2012 - Stephen M. Watt 2013 - Jay Steele 2014 - Jeromy Carriere 2015 - Tom Duff 2016 - Tas Tsonis 2017 - Vicki Iverson 2018 - Alex Nicolaou 2019 - Eldon Sprickerhoff 2020 - Joanne McKinley 2021 - Don Cowan 2024 - Beryl Tomay and Brice Steven Nkengsa
See also List of computer science awards Prizes named after people
References