On December 9, 2005, John Hopcroft received an honorary fellowship from the National College of Ireland at a ceremony held in Dublin, Ireland. Hopcroft was also recently awarded the IEEE Harry M. Goode award in recognition of his fundamental contributions to the study of algorithms and their applications in information processing. He accepted the award at a ceremony in Philadelphia in November, at which time he was presented with a bronze medal and $2,000. Hopcroft is the IBM Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics in Computer Science and an A. M. Turing Award winner.
"With this award, John joins a distinguished and elite circle of scientists," said Charlie Van Loan, computer science professor and chair of Cornell's Department of Computer Science. "His algorithmic insights over the last 40 years have had a profound impact throughout engineering and science."
Presented annually since 1964, the IEEE Harry M. Goode award recognizes its members for outstanding accomplishments in the information processing field that are considered either a single contribution of theory, design, or technique of outstanding significance or the accumulation of important contributions on theory or practice over an extended time period, the total of which represent an outstanding contribution. The Computer Society sponsors an active and prestigious awards program, which honor technical achievements and service to the computer profession and to the society.
Hopcroft's research centers on theoretical aspects of computing, especially analysis of algorithms, automata theory, and graph algorithms. He has co-authored four books on formal languages and algorithms, and his most recent work is on the study of information capture and access.
From January 1994 until June 2001, Hopcroft was the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering. After receiving both his M.S. (1962) and Ph.D. (1964) in electrical engineering from Stanford University, he spent three years on the faculty of Princeton University. He joined the Cornell faculty in 1967, was named professor in 1972 and the Joseph C. Ford Professor of Computer Science in 1985. He served as chairman of the Department of Computer Science from 1987 to 1992 and was the associate dean for college affairs in 1993. An undergraduate alumnus of Seattle University, Hopcroft was honored with a Doctor of Humanities Degree, honoris causa, in 1990.
He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Association of Computing Machinery. In 1992, he was appointed by President Bush to the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation, and served through May 1998. From 1995-98, Hopcroft served on the National Research Council's Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications.
In addition to these appointments, Hopcroft serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the David and Lucile Packard Fellowships in Science and Engineering and the Nominating Committee for the National Academy of Engineering. He chairs the International Advisory Committee on Informatics and Engineering at the National College of Industrial Relations in Ireland, and is Co-Chair of the NRC Committee on Network Science for Future Army Applications.