Statement Regarding the 2020 ACM Turing Award


Dear SIG members,

As an organization, we are committed to creating an environment that welcomes new ideas and perspectives, and where hostility or other harmful behaviors are not tolerated. As an organization, we stand with and honor those who promote diversity and inclusivity. In addition to being the right thing to do, we believe this is important for the advancement of science.

We appreciate ACM’s reconfirmation of these commitments in response to the recent controversy surrounding Turing Award winner Jeffrey Ullman, contained in the below statement on the ACM website:

https://www.acm.org/response-to-letter

We confirm our intention to adopt the ACM policies in our SIG award selection process to the extent that they are not already present. In addition, to emphasize our commitment to diversity and inclusivity in all our activities, we will ask nominators and endorsers for personal achievement awards to comment on how the nominee(s) exemplifies these core values.

Finally, we would like to reiterate our support for Iranian and Native American students and scholars, as well as all other ethnicities and nationalities. You are welcomed and valued members of our global community.

Thank you,

– the executive committees of SIGACCESS, SIGACT, SIGAI, SIGARCH, SIGBED, SIGBio, SIGCHI, SIGCOMM, SIGecom, SIGENERGY, SIGGRAPH, SIGIR, SIGMETRICS, SIGMICRO, SIGMOBILE, SIGPLAN, SIGUCCS.