Current Recipient

This year’s Dickson Prize awardee, Richard M. Karp, is among the world’s leading computer theorists. He is best known for his work on the NP-Completeness theory, a cornerstone of modern theoretical computer science. Karp’s contributions to developing the theory revolutionized algorithm design and engineering, paving the way for the integration of computing into scientific research. For this work, Karp received the A.M. Turing Award, the highest award in computer science. 

Currently, Karp’s research is focused on the field of bioinformatics and computational biology, where he uses computers and algorithms to determine how genes and living cells work. By applying combinatorial and probabilistic methods, Karp is attempting to find hidden patterns in gene expression data and discover the structure of gene regulatory networks. 

Karp is a University Professor and professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, where he holds joint appointments in the departments of mathematics, bioengineering, and industrial engineering and operations research.  He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards in addition to the Turing Award, including the U.S. National Medal of Science, Kyoto Prize, Fulkerson Prize and has received ten honorary degrees. He is a member of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, the American Philosophical Society and the French Academy of Sciences and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science.