The Alan J. Perlis Award for Imagination in Computer Science
| Year | Awardee | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Howie Choset | For his persistence, creativity, and leadership in developing snake robotics and expanding it to new conceptions and applications |
| 2021 | Brad A. Myers | For pioneering human-centered methods to democratize programming. |
| 2020 | Robert F. Murphy | For vision, courage, leadership and community-building in pioneering the use of, and education about, computational methods in biology. |
| 2019 | Jaime G. Carbonell | For visionary leadership and pioneering contributions that have resulted in language technologies becoming a pillar of artificial intelligence. |
| 2017 | Tom M. Mitchell | For visionary leadership and scientific contributions spanning artificial intelligence, data science and neuroscience. |
| 2014 | William "Red" Whittaker | For sustained creative contributions and leadership on the world stage in high-risk, high-payoff research in field and mobile robotics. |
| 2013 (Inaugural) | Illah Nourbakhsh | For sustained creative contributions in imagining, developing and applying robotic technologies that empower everyday citizens and scientists. |
The Perlis Award is presented at the School of Computer Science Founders Day celebration.