Avi Wigderson, a leading theoretical computer scientist, has been awarded the 2024 ACM A.M. Turing Award for his foundational contributions to the theory of computation. Often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing,” the Turing Award carries a $1 million prize and is named after Alan M. Turing, the British mathematician who laid the mathematical foundations of computing.
Wigderson, the Herbert H. Maass Professor in the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, has reshaped our understanding of the role of randomness in computation. His work spans a wide range of areas including computational complexity theory, algorithms and optimization, randomness and cryptography, parallel and distributed computation, combinatorics, and graph theory. He has also explored the connections between theoretical computer science and mathematics and science.
Theoretical computer science, the field in which Wigderson specializes, is concerned with the mathematical underpinnings of computation. It poses questions such as “Is this problem solvable through computation?” or “If this problem is solvable through computation, how much time and other resources will be required?” Understanding the principles that make for powerful and efficient algorithms deepens our understanding not only of computer science, but also the laws of nature.
Wigderson’s work on randomness and computation, starting in the 1990s, revealed deep connections between mathematics and computer science that underlie today’s investigations. His research breakthroughs in this discipline have led to advances in almost every area of the field—from cryptography and computational biology to network design, machine learning, and quantum computing.
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