Professor of Computer Science Maurice Herlihy became the first Brown faculty member last month to win the IEEE Computer Society’s W. Wallace McDowell Award.
The honor is given to individuals who make notable contributions to information technology fields and specifically for Herlihy, for making “fundamental contributions to the theory and practice of multiprocessor computation,” according to the IEEE website.
“I got the award email a couple weeks ago,” Herlihy said. “But the headline said ‘congratulations,’ and my mailer thought it was spam and put it in the spam folder.”
Herlihy said he was pleased to win the award because it validated the benefits of thinking ahead in research. Herlihy and his fellow researchers have worked to coordinate computers’ activities with multi-core processors, or the ‘brains’ of a computer, The Herald previously reported.
“At the time that my colleagues and I were working on this, parallel (computer) machines didn’t really exist. So we looked ahead and said, ‘Someday, parallel (computer) machines are going to be very important.’ And we thought about what it would take to get them to work.”
Herlihy said other computer scientists were skeptical about researching such a “futuristic” concept but that his team persisted.
“This is why research that isn’t immediately applicable is important,” he said. “Because eventually, some of these things will become important, and when that happens, it would be nice to have a head start.”
Herlihy linked his success to the University’s cultivation of faculty members’ work, adding that the award is a strong testament to the University.
“Brown is a great place to do research, and students are a great resource for doing this kind of work,” Herlihy said.
Professor of Computer Science and Chair of the Department Roberto Tamassia wrote in an email to The Herald that he is “delighted that Maurice’s pioneering work has received major scientific recognition and has had a significant impact on the design of today’s computers.”
Marquita Ellis GS, who assisted Herlihy in his research, said she was grateful to have worked with him, adding that his “genuine encouragement and guidance has given (her) confidence to pursue further knowledge and learning in our field.”
“I hope my peers will take advantage of the great opportunities we have to learn from, pursue research with, perhaps even be mentored by our Brown professors,” she added.
Herlihy said he hopes to use the reward money of $2,000 to take a trip to Istanbul for personal enjoyment.
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