Frances Allen's work on PTRAN also spawned the VM PTOOL work that the recently deceased Ken Kennedy did at Rice University, which indirectly funded the creation of a lot of the VM TCP utilities (CMS GOPHER, WEBSHARE, and dozens more) that launched and maintained a number of careers of frequent posters to this list.
She visited us at Rice during the tail end of the PTOOL project and gave several talks to students and a short seminar on vector optimization to those of us babysitting the NAS and IBM hardware there (we got one of the first vector facility capable processors, so we got the "how do you use this thing" talk so we could support it). > IBM Fellow Emerita Frances Allen Responsible for Innovations to High > Speed > Computing; Work Inspired Generations of Computer Scientists > > NEW YORK, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- ACM, the Association for Computing > Machinery, has named Frances E. Allen the recipient of the 2006 A.M. > Turing > Award for contributions that fundamentally improved the performance of > computer programs in solving problems, and accelerated the use of high > performance computing. This award marks the first time that a woman has > received this honor. The Turing Award, first presented in 1966, and > named > for British mathematician Alan M. Turing, is widely considered the > "Nobel > Prize in Computing." It carries a $100,000 prize, with financial support > provided by Intel Corporation. > > Allen, an IBM Fellow Emerita at the T.J. Watson Research Center, made > fundamental contributions to the theory and practice of program > optimization, which translates the users' problem-solving language > statements into more efficient sequences of computer instructions. Her > contributions also greatly extended earlier work in automatic program > parallelization, which enables programs to use multiple processors > simultaneously in order to obtain faster results. These techniques > have made > it possible to achieve high performance from computers while programming > them in languages suitable to applications. They have contributed to > advances in the use of high performance computers for solving > problems such > as weather forecasting, DNA matching, and national security functions. > > "Fran Allen's work has led to remarkable advances in compiler design and > machine architecture that are at the foundation of modern high- > performance > computing," said Ruzena Bajcsy, Chair of ACM's Turing Award > Committee, and > professor of Electrical and Engineering and Computer Science at the > University of California, Berkeley. "Her contributions have spanned > most of > the history of computer science, and have made possible computing > techniques > that we rely on today in business and technology. It is interesting > to note > Allen's role in highly secret intelligence work on security codes for > the > organization now known as the National Security Agency, since it was > Alan > Turing, the namesake of this prestigious award, who devised > techniques to > help break the German codes during World War II," said Bajcsy, who is > Emeritus Director of the Center for Information Technology Research > in the > Interest of Society (CITRIS) at Berkeley. > > "Fran Allen's work on the Parallel TRANslation (PTRAN) project built > on her > earlier work on program optimization," said Andrew A. Chien, Intel's > Vice > President of Research. "Over the years, this foundation has enabled the > advance of programming-productivity based on the co-evolution of higher > level programming language and optimization technologies. It is > particularly > timely that this award comes as parallel computing is becoming an > element of > the most pervasive of computing platforms - laptop and desktop personal > computers - and the opportunities for new and important contributions to > parallel programming and efficient implementation abound," he said. > > In 1989, Allen was the first woman to be named an IBM Fellow. In > 2000, IBM > created the Frances E. Allen Women in Technology Mentoring Award, > naming her > as its first recipient. As her Turing Award citation notes, she has > been an > inspirational mentor to younger researchers and a leader within the > computing community. She is an Advisory Council Member of the Anita Borg > Institute for Women and Technology, whose goal is to increase the > participation of women in all aspects of technology. She also > received the > first Anita Borg Award for Technical Leadership, which was presented at > Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in 2004. > > Background > > Allen joined IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center in 1957, to teach > FORTRAN, a > revolutionary high-level programming language, to the scientists at IBM. > FORTRAN allowed scientists and engineers to write programs that closely > resembled the mathematical formulas they normally relied on. Allen > recognized the opportunity to address a grand challenge of high > performance > computers -- delivering the performance potential of computers to solve > problems without exposing the underlying computer infrastructure. > > Allen's 1966 paper, Program Optimization, laid the conceptual basis for > systematic analysis and transformation of computer programs. Her 1970 > papers, Control Flow Analysis and A Basis for Program Optimization > established "intervals" as the context for efficient and effective > data flow > analysis and optimization. Much of her early work was done in > collaboration > with John Cocke, an IBM computer scientist who died in 2002. Her 1971 > paper > with John Cocke, A Catalog of Optimizing Transformations, provided > the first > description and systematization of optimizing transformations. She > developed > and implemented her methods as part of building compilers for the IBM > STRETCH- HARVEST and the experimental Advanced Computing System. This > work > established the feasibility of modern machine- and language-independent > optimizers. > > In 1984, she formed and led IBM's PTRAN project to address the emerging > challenge of parallel computers, which simultaneously executes > related tasks > for faster results. This project led to many advances including the > concept > of the program dependence graph, the primary structuring method used > by most > parallelizing compilers today. > > In 1995, Allen was president of the IBM Academy of Technology, a global > organization of IBM technical leaders charged with providing technical > advice to the company. Before she retired in 2002, she was a Senior > Technical Advisor to the Research Vice President for Solutions, > Applications > and Services. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, > the > American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical > Society. She was named a Fellow of ACM in 1994. > > Allen has been a member of the Computer Science and > Telecommunications Board > (CSTB), the Computing Research Association (CRA) Board, and the National > Science Foundation's Computer and Information Science and Engineering > (CISE) > Advisory Board. Her recent professional activities for ACM include > membership on ACM's Job Migration Task Force, which produced the widely > reported "Globalization and Offshoring of Software" study > http://www.acm.org/globalizationreport/pdf/fullfinal.pdf. In > addition, she > was active in the ACM Special Interest Group on Programming Languages > (SIGPLAN), and has served on the editorial boards of several ACM > journals. > > Among Allen's teaching and lecturing roles were visiting professor at > New > York University from 1970-73; consulting professor at Stanford > University; > the Chancellor's Distinguished Lecturer and Mackay Lecturer at the > University of California, Berkeley in 1988-89; and Regents Lecturer > at the > University of California, San Diego in 1997. She was awarded Honorary > Doctor > of Science degrees from the University of Alberta in 1991; from Pace > University in 1999; and from the University of Illinois, Urbana- > Champaign in > 2004. She graduated from Albany State Teachers College -- now the State > University of New York at Albany -- with a degree in mathematics. She > received a master's degree in mathematics at the University of Michigan. > > ACM will present the Turing Award at the annual ACM Awards Banquet on > June > 9, 2007, in San Diego, CA. > > About the ACM A.M. Turing Award > > The ACM A.M. Turing Award was named for Alan M. Turing, the British > mathematician who articulated the mathematical foundation and limits of > computing, and who was a key contributor to the Allied cryptanalysis > of the > German Enigma cipher during World War II. Since its inception, the > Turing > Award has honored the computer scientists and engineers who created the > systems and underlying theoretical foundations that have propelled the > information technology industry. For additional information, click on > http://www.acm.org/awards/taward.html. > > About ACM > > ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery http://www.acm.org, is an > educational and scientific society uniting the world's computing > educators, > researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and > address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the profession's > collective > voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and > recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional > growth of > its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career > development, and professional networking.
