The Alan J. Perlis Award for Imagination

Create a real nomination. Don't just say "I am out of time, he/she is obviously a star. Just look at the CV." The nomination can just be a page or two, but it takes careful thought and effort to write a good one. Longer does not always mean better. We have seen weak but long nominations. We don't have a strict length limit. It should be long enough to make the case clearly, but no longer.

The Perlis Award is about imagination, also characterized as "out-of-the-box" thinking. Program committees and journal reviewers rarely recognize such thinking via best paper awards or even acceptance to top conferences or journals. Often, people worthy of this award have had to persevere long and hard in the face of much skepticism. If you are compiling a list of best paper awards as justification, you are headed in the wrong direction. If you are recycling the digest from a promotion case for this person, it is unlikely to be successful. In general, a winning nominee does not have the profile of a typical faculty member at CMU or other top universities. 

Clearly explain how this person’s contributions really set them apart.  What is unique and distinct about it? What contrarian viewpoint has the person tirelessly articulated? What evidence is there that this work had to challenge and overcome conventional thinking? What evidence is there that it has changed the direction of how others think and do?

This is an award for an individual, not for a team. It is not a service award. It is not a lifetime achievement award. There are many perfectly respectable researchers who have long publication lists in top forums and graduated many distinguished students who do not merit this award. How is your nominee different? Why do they merit the award?