May 6, 2018 |President's Corner

ACM SIGGRAPH Members,

The Executive Committee has recently established the ACM SIGGRAPH Academy to recognize individuals who have made substantial contributions to the field of computer graphics and interactive techniques. In its inaugural year, the SIGGRAPH Academy will induct recipients of the Stephen A. Coons Award, the Computer Graphics Achievement Award, and the Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art as its first class of members.

We are very excited to introduce the inaugural class but before we do so, here is a brief rundown on the SIGGRAPH Academy.

The SIGGRAPH Academy was set up to shine a light on those individuals—researchers, practitioners, technologists, artists, designers, and educators—whose work is influential and who are having a direct impact on the field as proven through the development of new research or innovations in computer graphics and interactive techniques. These nominees will be accomplished and active members of the ACM SIGGRAPH community.

Holly Rushmeier (Yale University), chair of the selection committee, says with the formation of the SIGGRAPH Academy, we are able to recognize more leaders in the field who are making significant contributions, and the ‘impact’ they are having is more broadly defined than it is in our current Awards program.

I’m excited about the Academy because it gives us an opportunity to spotlight more members whose work and accomplishments in the field are resonating, cutting edge, and have a wide reach. Academy members will receive an award and will be invited to the annual awards lunch at the SIGGRAPH conference.

Holly will be joined by five voting members on the selection committee, which we also plan to announce in August at SIGGRAPH. Each year, this selection committee will elect five to eight new members to the Academy. Nominations can be made by any member of the SIGGRAPH community and must be entered by January 31st of each year. For more details, visit ourawards page.

Jessica Hodgins