Every five years CWI presents the Van Wijngaarden Award to a mathematician and computer scientist of special significance.
The award is named in memory of Adriaan van Wijngaarden (1916-1987), who is considered one of the founding fathers of computer science in the Netherlands. Van Wijngaarden was director of Mathematisch Centrum (1961-1980), the institute currently named CWI. He has been of invaluable importance for CWI and the evolution of computer science. Van Wijngaarden also laid the foundation for all contemporary mainstream computer languages. In 2016 CWI celebrated Van Wijngaarden's 100th birthday. In ERCIM News appeared this article on Van Wijngaarden and his role in informatics (copy on CWI's website).
The latest Van Wijngaarden Awards were presented on 3 November 2022. The winners of 2022 are: Marta Kwiatkowska and Susan A. Murphy.
Previous award winners are:
Sara van de Geer (2016)
Xavier Leroy (2016)
John Butcher (2011)
Éva Tardos (2011)
Persi Diaconis (2006)
Nancy Lynch (2006)
