Association for Computing Machinery
In 1947, a small group of pioneers, including E. C. Berkeley, R. V. D. Campbell, J. H. Curtiss, H. E. Goheen, J. W. Mauchly, T. K. Sharpless, R. Taylor, and C. B. Tompkins, decided to create an informal organization bringing together people interested in the new computing and reasoning machines. On June 25, 1947, they circulated a note proposing the creation of an Eastern Association for Computing Machinery.
On September 15, 1947, Columbia University hosted these 78 pioneers. Curtiss took the presidency, Mauchly the vice-presidency, and Berkeley, the driving force of the group, assumed the secretariat. Ambitions grew quickly. By January 1948, the Eastern qualifier disappeared in favor of a national vision.
The organization took shape around four geographical hubs: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. The structure was articulated around two levels of exchange: local and national meetings. The sections, initially conceived as restricted activity centers, expanded rapidly. Truly local chapters would only appear later.
The 1950s saw outreach to other scientific communities. The ACM forged ties with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers. These collaborations gave birth, in 1961, to the American Federation of Information Processing Societies, the voice of the United States in the international arena. Rapid growth disrupted the informal operations of the early days. In 1953, the evidence was clear: a volunteer secretary was no longer sufficient. The New York Academy of Sciences lent support to provide the necessary staff and facilities, before the association established its own headquarters in New York.
Intellectual influence was built through publications. The Journal of the ACM came into being in 1954, followed by the Communications of the ACM. These journals shaped the academic landscape, set standards of excellence, and structured a field in the midst of definition.
With the 1960s came the Special Interest Groups, true communities within the community. These specialized groups became idea laboratories, organized their own scientific meetings, distributed their bulletins, and gave rise to fertile subdisciplines.
The ACM then tackled the need for education in this new science. In 1968, under the aegis of William F. Atchison, the curriculum committee published its recommendations, a founding text for computer science education.
Honors came to recognize the great builders of this science. The Turing Award, created in 1966, established itself as the supreme distinction. Alan J. Perlis inaugurated it, before Wilkes, McCarthy, and so many other major figures. Subsequently, other awards followed: the Distinguished Service Award (1976) and the Grace Murray Hopper Award (1971).
Faced with the proliferation of programs and concerned with contributing to social issues, the ACM created an accreditation committee in 1968. It developed a code of ethics and set up a mediation system for problems related to the computerization of society.
The 1970s saw the flourishing of new services such as national lecture series, continuing professional education, or the documentation center at headquarters. The association thus responded to the expectations of a community that was growing day by day.
As early as the 1960s, the ACM became concerned with preserving the history of computing. Grace Hopper and Robert Bemer initiated a campaign to preserve historical computing documents. These efforts led to the creation of ACM archives, initially housed at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.
Over time, the ACM evolved into a global reference. Its arsenal of publications expanded: dozens of specialized journals, thousands of conference proceedings, a digital library rich with more than 430,000 articles. Each year, more than 275 events bring together its 118,000 members from over a hundred countries. The digital library is an accessible treasure, bringing together all publications since 1951. Bibliometric analysis tools, author and institution profiles, and usage statistics enrich this scientific goldmine.
For three-quarters of a century, the ACM has shaped computer science as a discipline and as a profession. Through its publications, conferences, training programs, and awards, it serves as a compass in the digital world.