Biography
Alexander Wolf holds a Chair in
Computing at Imperial College
London, U.K. (2006–present). Prior
to that he was a Professor at the
Univ. of Lugano, Switzerland (2004–
2006), Professor and C.V. Schelke
Endowed Chair of Engineering at
the Univ. of Colorado at Boulder,
U. S. (1992–2006), and Member of
the Technical Staff at AT&T Bell
Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey,
U. S. (1988–1992).
He earned his master’s (1982)
and Ph.D. (1985) degrees from the
Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst,
U. S., from which he was presented
the Dept. of Computer Science
Outstanding Achievement in
Research Alumni Award.
Wolf works in several areas of
experimental and theoretical
computer science, including
software engineering, distributed
systems, and networking (see
http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~alw/
for links to his papers). He is best
known for seminal contributions
to software architecture, software
deployment, automated process
discovery (the seed of the business
intelligence field), distributed
publish/subscribe communication,
and content-based networking.
Wolf currently serves as Vice
President of the ACM. He is a
member of the ACM Council and
ACM Executive Committee. He is
also a member of the ACM Europe
Council and Faculty Advisor to the
Imperial College London Student
Chapter of the ACM. Previously, he
served as Secretary- Treasurer of the
ACM (2010–2012), Chair of the ACM
SIG Governing Board (2008–2010)
and Chair of the ACM Software
System Award Committee (2009–
2011). He served as Vice Chair
(1997–2001) and then Chair (2001–
2005) of ACM SIGSOFT, Chair
of the ACM TOSEM EiC Search
Committee (2006), a member of the
SGB Executive Committee (2003–
2005), and an SGB representative
on the ACM Council (2005–2008).
He was a member of the editorial
boards of ACM TOSEM, the
Research Highlights section
of Communications, and IEEE
TSE, and has chaired and been a
member of numerous international
program committees.
He is a Fellow of the ACM, Fellow
of the IEEE, Chartered Fellow of the
British Computer Society, holder
of a U. K. Royal Society–Wolfson
Research Merit Award, winner
of two ACM SIGSOFT Research
Impact Awards, and is an ACM
Distinguished Speaker.
Statement
I have been an active member of
ACM my entire career, progressing
from student to professional, from
conference organizer to journal
associate editor, from SIG chair
to SIG Governing Board chair,
and from Council member to Vice
President. I have served in these
roles from industry and academia,
and from the U.S. and Europe. It is
an honor to now be asked to serve
as President.
Our organization sits in an odd
position today. ACM is recognized
as computing’s foremost
professional society, with a record
membership of over 100,000 and
a reach (people who serve on
committees, attend conferences,
read, write, and review articles,
visit the DL, and are touched by its
many programs) in the millions.
Our finances are strong, and our
activities broad and highly effective.
During my time as a volunteer
leader I have seen major new
investments made in education
with the Computer Science
Teachers Association and
CS Ed Week, in professional
development with Queue and Tech
Packs, in internationalization
with councils in India, China, and
Europe, in broadened participation
with the ACM-W Council, and in
outreach with Communications’
revamp and support for Code.
org. Yearly surveys indicate our
members are extremely satisfied
with ACM’s portfolio of services
and programs. And yet...
As an organization we must
confront the reality that what ACM
contributed to the computing
profession for more than 65 years
might not sustain it in the future.
ACM’s services and programs are
founded on three vital pillars:
energetic volunteers, dedicated
HQ staff, and a sufficient and
reliable revenue stream. It is the
latter that is of concern and must
serve as the primary focus of the
next ACM President.
Our revenue today comes mainly
from member dues, conferences,
and DL subscriptions, all of which
are now threatened to some extent.
We must recognize the nature of
community, community identity,
and “belonging” is evolving rapidly
in this age of computer-mediated,
cost-free, dynamic social networks.
Is there a place for dues-based,
membership organizations
or do we need to redefine and
restructure ACM in terms of who
it reaches rather than who pays
its dues? How can ACM facilitate
professional interaction beyond
physical meetings, yet replace any
lost conference revenue? With
regard to the DL, we must recognize
that Open Access is reshaping
the relationship among authors,
readers, reviewers, publishers, and
libraries. ACM has embraced OA,
but it is clear we are still early in
this reshaping process. Uncertainty
in the outcome not withstanding,
what is the future role of the DL,
and would our other services
and programs survive without its
beneficial revenue?
Finding answers to these critical
questions will not be easy. It is
essential the next ACM President
is someone who can draw together
the talents of volunteers and staff,
and create a climate in which fresh
ideas can be generated and the best
ones put to action. With your help
and support, I believe I can do that.
ALEXANDER L. WOLF
Professor
Department of Computing
Imperial College London
U.K.
candidates for
PRESIDENT
(7/1/14–6/30/16)