The Steven Anson Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Computer Graphics
Markus Gross: For his research contributions in geometry processing, physically-based simulation, and face capturing and animation, as well as his contributions in bridging industry and academia in computer graphics.
The Computer Graphics Achievement Award
Doug L. James: For his pioneering work in the simulation of deformable models and in sound rendering.
The Significant New Researcher Award
Jonathan Ragan-Kelley: For outstanding contributions to systems and compilers in rendering and computational photography.
The Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award
Minchen Li: For his dissertation that presents a breakthrough in the notoriously difficult and long-standing problem of robust frictional contact simulation in nonlinear solid dynamics with guarantees of non-intersection.
Honorable Mention for the 2021 Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award:
- David B. Lindell, Stanford University
The Outstanding Service Award
Marc J. Barr: For his long-term service to ACM SIGGRAPH, both to the organization and to the SIGGRAPH Conference.
The Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art
William Seaman: For his pioneering work ‘Recombinant Poetics / Recombinant Informatics / Neosentience’.
ACM SIGGRAPH Practitioner Award
Brent Burley: For his innovation and industry influence in rendering and shading.
ACM SIGGRAPH Distinguished Educator Award
Barbara Mones: For her pioneering role in developing curricula in computer animation, and her continuing role in expanding those curricula to VR/AR/MR.
2021 ACM SIGGRAPH Academy Class
The ACM SIGGRAPH Academy is an honorary group of individuals who have made substantial contributions to the field of computer graphics. These are principal leaders of the field, whose efforts have shaped the disciplines and/or industry, and led the research and/or innovation in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The inaugural class of 2018 was formed from past SIGGRAPH award winners.
This year’s class, in addition to the winners of the Coons, Computer Graphics Achievement, Art, Educator, and Practitioner awards, has three members:
- Norm Badler for fundamental contributions to modeling virtual humans and to computer animation, and for educating multiple generations of diverse computer graphics students.
- Mathieu Desbrun for contributions to geometric processing and establishing the discrete differential geometry framework.
- Karen Liu for the development of simulation-and-control of tasks that require interaction between rigid-body dynamics and complex environments.