The Mark Weiser Award 2023

The Mark Weiser Award was created in 2001 by ACM SIGOPS, to be given to an individual who has demonstrated creativity and innovation in operating systems research. The award is named in honor of Mark Weiser, a computing visionary recognized for his research accomplishments during his career at Xerox PARC. The award committee for 2023 consisted of Eddie Kohler (Chair), Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau, and Angela Demke Brown.

The winner of the 2023 SIGOPS Mark Weiser Award is

Matei Zaharia

From the nominations letters:

“transforms complexity into simplicity with an ease that leaves us wondering why we didn’t see it before”

“is relentlessly curious and brings an earnest playfulness to their work. Despite their staggering successes both in research and industrial impact, he remains exceedingly patient, humble, curious, and driven”

“has the golden touch. Give them any problem and they come back faster than you thought it would be possible with the most insightful and simplest solution. And then they act like there was no big deal”