Gordon Pask Award ((link)) Jun 2026

It is not awarded for being the loudest, the most published, or the most cited. It is not a prize for solving a complex equation or building a faster computer. Instead, the Gordon Pask Award honors something far more elusive, far more human, and quintessentially cybernetic:

When he died in 1996, the cybernetics community faced a problem: how do you honor a man whose entire career was an argument against siloed expertise? The answer came in the form of an award that mirrored its subject.

To understand the essence of the award, one must understand its namesake. Gordon Pask (1928–1996) was an English cyberneticist, psychologist, and educational technologist. He is best known for developing Conversation Theory, which outlines how learning occurs through interactions and shared understandings between individuals or systems.

: Unlike lifetime achievement awards, this was often given to practitioners who were actively "pushing the envelope" in local communities or specific niches.

You do not apply for this award. You are nominated. But you can live as if you might one day be worthy. Here is an unofficial manifesto:

Honoring practitioners who work tirelessly behind the scenes to improve the craft of software development.