Awards

Peter J. Denning

Peter Denning has received 37 professional awards.

He holds one academy membership,

• Academia Europaea (elected 2023)

• IEEE Fellow, for "contributions in virtual memory." (1982)
• AAAS Fellow, for "contributions to computer system development and service to the profession." (1984)
• ACM Fellow, inaugural group, "For outstanding service to ACM in many capacities over many years -- including President, Council Member, Chairman of the Editorial Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Computing Surveys and Communications of the ACM, and for notable contributions to the computing profession as an author, editor, and communicator." (1993)
• Sigma Xi Fellow (2021), "For service to Sigma Xi through the Science of Computing column in American Scientist, and to the scientific enterprise through research, teaching, and curricular innovation." 

six awards for technical contribution,

• Southern Connecticut Science Fair Grand Award for "Algebraic Computer" (1959) (news clipping)
• ACM SIGOPS Hall of Fame of seminal papers that most influenced operating system research (2005) for "The Working Set Model for Program Behavior". (Press release).
• NSF Distinguished Education Fellow (2007). (Press releases).
• ISOC Jon Postel Award for CSNET (2009). (Press release).
• NPS Menneken Award for Lifelong Research Accomplishment (2016).(Citation)
• IEEE Computer Pioneer 2021. Citation: "For seminal contributions to virtual memory, the Internet infrastructure, and computing education."

• CRA Computing Research Award (1989) (citation)
• ACM Distinguished Service Award (1989) (citation)
• Centennial Engineering Award, Manhattan College (1992).
• ACM Outstanding Contribution Award (1999) (citation)
• Information Technology Leadership, George Mason University (2002)
• ACM Recognition for 40 Years of Service (2007) (citation).
• Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award (2018) (citation).

• Princeton University Engineering Association Outstanding Faculty Member Award (1971)
• ACM SIGCSE Outstanding CS Educator Award (1999) (citation)
• ACM Karl Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award (1996) (citation)
• George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award (2002)
• George Mason University, School of Information Technology and Engineering, Best Teacher(2002) (citation)
• Commonwealth of Virginia Teaching Excellence Award (2003).
• ACM SIGCSE Lifetime Achievement Award (2009) (citation)

seven Best Paper Awards,

• ACM Best System Paper (1968) for "The Working Set Model for Program Behavior" (PDF).
• AFIPS Best Paper (1972) for "Undergraduate Computer Science Curricula and Operating Systems Principles" (PDF)
• Best paper selection (2011) for “The Great Principles of Computing,” originally published in American Scientist 98 (Sep-Oct 2010), 369-372. Selected for Best Writings on Mathematics 2011 (Mircea Pitici, Ed.), Princeton University Press (2011), 82-92. (PDF)
• Koli Calling Best Paper and Best Presentation Award (2016) for "The long quest for computational thinking" (with Matti Tedre). (Certificate).
• Best Paper selection (2017) for “Computational thinking in Science,” originally published in American Scientist 105 (January- February 2017), 13-17. Selected for Best Writings on Mathematics 2018 (Mircea Pitici, Ed.), Princeton University Press (2018), 67-77. (PDF)
• US Naval Institute (USNI) and NPS Foundation (NPSF) Essay Contest First Place Award (2019) for "Automation Will Change Sea Power" (with John Arquilla), published in the June 2019 USNI Proceedings.
• Best paper selection 2019 for "Uncertainty," (with Ted Lewis), Communications of ACM 62, 12 (Dec 2019), 26- 28. Selected for Best Writings in Mathematics 2020, (Mircea Pitici, ed.) Princeton University Press 2020.(PDF)

• Concordia University, Doctor of Laws (1984)
• Manhattan College, Doctor of Science (1985)
• Pace University, Doctor of Science (2002) (citation)

He is the only person to hold 9 major ACM awards.

He also holds a Quality Customer Service Award for the CS office staff at George Mason University (1996) and a McKinley Group Magellan 3-star web site award, for the Center for New Engineer website (1996).

4/30/25