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Associate Professor Daniel Acuna

Daniel Acuna, an associate professor in computer science, is part of a group advocating for the broader computer science community to help increase the diversity of nominees for scientific awards.

"," an opinion piece Acuna and his coauthors wrote for the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), outlines how nominators can help broaden recognition of diverse contributors in science.

´¡³¦³Ü²Ô²¹'²õÌýScience of Science and Computational Â鶹ÊÓƵy Lab focuses, among other themes, on who has the opportunity to make scientific discoveries and how those discoveries are acknowledged. This lens is useful in considering how to promote broader recognition.

Awards start with a nomination process, which means that only those submitted for nomination have a chance of receiving the award, Acuna explains. Changing this simple lever by encouraging people to nominate holistically and thoughtfully could change the landscape of scientific recognition and discovery.

The article highlights some of the work that the ACM has done to help broaden representation, including the ACM Shepherds program, which connects nominators with people familiar with the process who are willing to help.

Not just a trophy

In the competitive world of academic grants and tenure, scientific awards and their accompanying visibility can motivate aspiring scientists.

The article explains this can be especially impactful to "persons from populations underrepresented in computing who may view awardees as inspirational trailblazers and role models."

The awards can also have practical benefits to awardees, who can use them as evidence of service requirements for tenure consideration.

"While many organizations would like to broaden the populations of people who get recognized," Acuna said, "we should also consider the process by which recognition happens. It is usually a community effort, and change can happen through all of us."