Association for Computing Machinery

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is an international learned society and professional membership organization devoted to computing research, education, practice, and public engagement. Established in the United States in 1947, it developed during the formative period of electronic computing, when researchers and engineers recognized the need for a permanent forum for exchanging knowledge about emerging calculating machines and computational methods. ACM initially operated as a relatively small professional association but evolved into a worldwide network serving researchers, educators, students, practitioners, and computing enthusiasts. ACM’s work spans scholarly publishing, conferences, professional development, technical communities, awards, standards-related discussion, and ethical guidance. Its 38 Special Interest Groups organize activity in areas including computer graphics, communications, programming languages, software engineering, databases, computer-human interaction, education, algorithms, and embedded systems. The organization also supports more than 180 professional chapters and hundreds of student chapters, providing local communities alongside its international programs. As of 2024, ACM reported nearly 110,000 student and professional members. Publishing is central to ACM’s identity. Its journals, magazines, newsletters, and conference proceedings include the Journal of the ACM, Communications of the ACM, ACM Computing Surveys, Queue, and many specialized Transactions titles. The ACM Digital Library, launched in 1997, provides online access to ACM publications and a major bibliographic discovery service through the ACM Guide to Computing Literature. ACM has progressively expanded open-access availability, including the release of publications from 1951 through 2000 in 2022 and the introduction of ACM Open, a transformative institutional publishing and access model intended to support a transition toward fully open-access publishing. ACM also operates a prominent recognition system. The ACM A.M. Turing Award is one of computing’s highest honors, recognizing major technical contributions and often described as the field’s equivalent of a top scientific prize. Other awards, fellowships, distinguished membership grades, student programs, and the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest extend the organization’s influence across academic and professional computing. Its Distinguished Speaker program connects experts from academia, industry, and government with audiences worldwide. The organization’s public role includes promoting responsible computing. ACM’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, comprehensively revised in 2018, addresses social benefit, avoidance of harm, honesty, fairness, privacy, professional competence, and the responsibilities of leaders. The revision responded to ethical challenges associated with artificial intelligence, large-scale data use, algorithmic decision-making, and the expanding social impact of digital systems. ACM remains an active, membership-based, nonprofit professional society rather than a commercial technology company.

The Association for Computing Machinery emerged from the rapid development of electronic computation during and immediately after the Second World War. At a January 1947 symposium on large-scale digital calculating machinery at Harvard, MIT professor Samuel H. Caldwell argued that people working with computing machinery needed an association and a means of communicating across institutions. A temporary organizing group subsequently circulated a notice seeking participants. Its members included E. C. Berkeley, R. V. D. Campbell, John H. Curtiss, H. J. Goheen, John W. Mauchly, T. K. Sharpless, Robert Taylor, and C. B. Tompkins. Several had experience with wartime computing, including the Harvard Mark I, ENIAC, code-breaking systems, or mechanical differential analyzers. The organization was formally founded on September 15, 1947, as the Eastern Association for Computing Machinery. The name was shortened to Association for Computing Machinery the following year as the group broadened its intended scope. From its early focus on communication among computing specialists, ACM developed into a professional and scholarly society supporting both academic research and practical computing. It built a publication program, organized technical meetings, established local chapters, and created specialized communities for emerging subfields. ACM’s Special Interest Groups became a major organizational mechanism. Groups such as SIGGRAPH, SIGCOMM, SIGPLAN, SIGCSE, and SIGDA sponsor conferences and publish journals, magazines, newsletters, and proceedings. These activities helped make ACM conferences important venues for presenting computer-science research, particularly in fields where conference publication is central to scholarly communication. The association also expanded its reach through student chapters; the first was established in 1961 at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In the modern organization, more than 180 professional chapters, 38 Special Interest Groups, and over 680 student chapters support activity at local, national, and international levels. ACM’s publishing activities grew from print journals and proceedings into a substantial online information service. The ACM Digital Library was launched in October 1997, bringing together ACM’s full-text publications and a historical archive reaching back to the 1950s. Alongside it, the ACM Guide to Computing Literature provides bibliographic records and discovery tools covering computing research from ACM and other publishers. ACM has used a hybrid access model in which some content is subscription-based while authors may choose open access or can often share permitted versions through personal or institutional repositories. In 2022, ACM opened its publications from 1951 through 2000, marking the organization’s 75th anniversary. During the 2010s and 2020s, ACM increasingly emphasized the social and ethical responsibilities of computing. Its 2018 Code of Ethics revision replaced the 1992 version and addressed challenges linked to artificial intelligence, big data, privacy, fairness, accessibility, safety, and the societal consequences of technical systems. The code is organized around general ethical principles, professional responsibilities, leadership obligations, and compliance. In publishing, ACM announced a major open-access transition in 2020. The ACM Open model asks institutions to pay structured fees that combine access to ACM content with unlimited open-access publishing for affiliated authors. ACM stated a goal of reaching 2,500 participating institutions by 2026. Recognition and outreach remain important parts of ACM’s identity. The A.M. Turing Award honors exceptional contributions to computing, while the Fellows, Distinguished Members, and Senior Members programs recognize professional achievement and service. ACM supports the International Collegiate Programming Contest and maintains a Distinguished Speaker program that brings experts from academia, industry, and government to audiences around the world. The organization has also documented computing history through oral-history and video projects. Today ACM functions as a global nonprofit membership society whose influence rests on its technical communities, scholarly publications, professional network, awards, educational activity, and advocacy for responsible computing.

• 2022

  Historical ACM publications opened

  [3]ACM Openacm.org

  Publications from 1951 through 2000 became openly accessible through the Digital Library.

• 2018

  Code of Ethics revised

  [2]ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conductacm.org

  ACM issued a comprehensive revision addressing modern computing risks and professional responsibilities.

• 1997

  ACM Digital Library launched

  [1]Association for Computing Machineryen.wikipedia.org

  ACM introduced its principal online platform for full-text publications and computing-literature discovery.

• 1993

  ACM Fellows Program established

  [1]Association for Computing Machineryen.wikipedia.org

  The program began recognizing members for outstanding contributions to computing and to ACM’s mission.

• 1961

  First ACM student chapter established

  [1]Association for Computing Machineryen.wikipedia.org

  A student chapter was founded at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, beginning ACM’s large student-chapter network.

• 1948

  Name changed to Association for Computing Machinery

  [1]Association for Computing Machineryen.wikipedia.org

  The organization adopted the shorter name by which it is known internationally today.

• 1947

  Organization founded as the Eastern Association for Computing Machinery

  [1]Association for Computing Machineryen.wikipedia.org

  The association was established on September 15, 1947, following calls for a professional forum for people working with emerging computing machinery.

A global, nonprofit learned society connecting computing research, education, professional practice, and ethical responsibility.

• Digital research library · 1997

  ACM Digital Library

  ACM’s online platform for accessing its journals, magazines, conference proceedings, newsletters, and other publications. It also provides citation, usage, abstract, reference, and discovery functions. The platform includes a historical archive and is paired with the ACM Guide to Computing Literature, a bibliographic database covering computing research from ACM and other publishers.

• Bibliographic database

  ACM Guide to Computing Literature

  A large-scale index and discovery service for computing literature. It helps researchers locate articles, conference papers, books, and other scholarly materials, including works published outside ACM. The guide is integrated into ACM’s broader digital research infrastructure.

• Academic publishing

  ACM Publications

  ACM publishes more than 50 journals and a broad range of magazines, newsletters, and conference proceedings. Notable titles include the Journal of the ACM, Communications of the ACM, ACM Computing Surveys, Queue, and specialized Transactions covering graphics, programming languages, software engineering, databases, algorithms, networking, and human-computer interaction.

• Computing award

  A.M. Turing Award

  ACM’s highest-profile recognition, awarded for major and lasting contributions to computing. It is widely regarded as one of the discipline’s most prestigious honors and has recognized influential work across theoretical and applied computer science.

• Student competition

  ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest

  A global team programming competition for university students. It tests algorithmic problem solving and programming under time constraints and serves as an international platform for student participation, institutional representation, and computing education.

• Technical communities

  ACM Special Interest Groups

  A network of specialized communities that organize conferences, publish field-specific periodicals, and support professional and scholarly exchange. Groups address areas such as graphics, communications, programming languages, computing education, design automation, databases, and human-computer interaction.

• 2020

  ACM Open transition announcedStrategy

  Background

  The scholarly publishing environment was moving toward open access, increasing pressure on learned societies to redesign subscription and publication economics.

  Action taken

  ACM introduced ACM Open, a model in which participating institutions pay structured fees for Digital Library access and unlimited open-access publishing by affiliated authors.

  Aftermath

  ACM set a goal of reaching 2,500 participating institutions by 2026 and reported more than 1,340 participants by May 2024.

  Source

• 2018

  Comprehensive revision of the Code of EthicsOther

  Background

  Artificial intelligence, large-scale data processing, automated decisions, and ubiquitous computing created ethical questions not fully addressed by the prior 1992 code.

  Action taken

  ACM revised its code to emphasize social benefit, harm prevention, honesty, fairness, privacy, professional competence, leadership responsibility, and compliance.

  Aftermath

  The revised code became a central reference for ACM members and for discussion of responsible computing practice.

  Source

• 2013

  Adoption of a hybrid open-access publishing modelStrategy

  Background

  ACM was operating a subscription-centered digital publishing service while allowing authors to share certain versions of their work.

  Action taken

  ACM formalized a hybrid approach in which authors could choose open access, while other content remained available through subscription arrangements.

  Aftermath

  The policy provided a bridge toward later institution-based open-access models and expanded routes for author dissemination.

  Source

• 2021.02.18

  Reported2021.02.18

  Tapia conference announces a new name[5]Tapia会议宣布更名prnewswire.com

  CMD-IT announced that the conference will be renamed the CMD-IT/ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference.

Read more

1. 1Association for Computing Machineryen.wikipedia.org
2. 2ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conductacm.org
3. 3ACM Openacm.org
4. 4Association for Computing Machinery official websiteacm.org
5. 5Tapia会议宣布更名prnewswire.com