November 1983
Ritchie and Thompson receive Turing Award
Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson received the 1983 ACM Turing AwardThe ACM's highest honor in computing — often called the Nobel Prize of computer science. for developing UnixAn influential multitasking OS from the 1970s — files, pipes, and C shaped Linux, macOS, and BSD. and the C language.
What it was for
Their Bell Labs work underpins every smartphone, server, and embedded device: UnixAn influential multitasking OS from the 1970s — files, pipes, and C shaped Linux, macOS, and BSD. ideas (pipes, files, processes) and C's portability. The award recognized that systems software deserved the same academic honor as theory.
People
- Dennis Ritchie — creator
- Ken Thompson — co creator
Why it's here
The Turing AwardThe ACM's highest honor in computing — often called the Nobel Prize of computer science. formalized UnixAn influential multitasking OS from the 1970s — files, pipes, and C shaped Linux, macOS, and BSD. and C as CS's most influential systems work.
Why it mattered
It validated operating systems and languages as first-class computer science.
What it solved
Industry systems breakthroughs often went unrecognized by academic CS awards.
Media
ImageDennis RitchieDenise Panyik-Dale, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons