Communications of the ACM

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.