ASC Awards

• Recognition
• Nomination Process
• Past Awardees
• Special Awards
• Nominations Committee

Recognition

The ASC offers awards to cyberneticians of distinction who have made significant contributions to the field of cybernetics in multiple ways, including:

• Prominence in transdisciplinary research for cybernetics and systems
• Impact of applications of cybernetic theory and practice
• Service to the ASC and the cybernetics professional community more broadly
• Excellence in education and pedagogy for cybernetics and systems theory and practice
• Advocacy for the cybernetics community and to advance and promote cybernetics

These awards will be made on a periodic basis as warranted: there may be years when no award is made, as well as years when several awards might be made.

Nominating instructions are below, and all are encouraged to nominate those they find worthy. Self-nominations will be given full consideration.

The ASC awards were restructured in 2024 and now comprise:

Norbert Wiener Medal is awarded for high achievement in transdisciplinary research in cybernetics and systems. The front of the medal shows a bas-relief of Norbert Wiener, and the obverse is inscribed with the name of the recipient.

Margaret Mead Prize was established in 2024 to recognize accomplishments in growing the cybernetics community through education and/or advocacy activities.

Warren McCulloch Award is offered for achieving significant impact in the community, whether externally by applying cybernetics methods and principles in real-world applications, and/or internally via  service to the ASC itself. Prior to 2024, this was awarded for “young scientists”, as will the Heinz von Foerster award thereafter.

Heinz von Foerster Award is offered to a cybernetician new to the field, including both early career cyberneticians of distinction, and seasoned professionals in other fields who have come to work in cybernetics. It provides full travel support to attend the ASC annual conference, and a year’s membership in the ASC.

ASC Fellows are awarded for a lifetime career achievement in cybernetics and systems, and includes a lifetime membership to the ASC.

Nomination Process

To nominate someone for an ASC Award, please email the following to nominations (at) asc-cybernetics.org:

• Nominee’s name and contact information (email, phone). If at all possible, please send any public links to sites about the nominee, for example professional or personal web sites, Google scholar pages, Wikipedia pages, etc. This is not a requirement for a nomination, but potentially very helpful to the committee.
• Award for the nomination, please specify one of the following: Wiener Medal, Margaret Mead Prize, Warren McCulloch Award, Heinz von Foerster Award, ASC Fellows.
• Include a description of no more than 300 words with the nominee’s qualifications for the specific award.
• Your name and contact information (email, phone), and please include brief information about your connection to the nominee (if any) and about yourself (as warranted).

Each email as specified above should be for a single nominee for a single award. For multiple nominees and/or multiple awards, please send multiple such emails.

Past Awardees

Wiener Medal Holders

Year	Name
2019	Fred Steier
2018	Paul Weston
2016	William J. Reckmeyer
2015	Ranulph Glanville
2014	Louis H. Kauffman
2011	Robert Vallée
2011	Mary Catherine Bateson
2008	Richard Jung
2008	Ricardo Uribe
2008	Lars Löfgren
2008	Humberto Maturana
2008	Francisco Varela
2007	Stuart Umpleby
2007	Pille Bunnell
2007	Laurence Richards
2007	Charles François
2005	Ernst von Glasersfeld
2001	Klaus Krippendorff
1993	Herbert Brün
1984	Gordon Pask
1983	Heinz von Foerster
1972	Natalia Bechtereva
1969	Stuart A. Kauffman
1969	Stephen Grossberg
1968	Warren McCulloch
1968	Robert C. Wood

McCulloch Award Holders

Year	Name
2019	Mark Enslin
2016	Julia Frazer and John H. Frazer
2014	Randall Whitaker
2014	Paul Pangaro
2014	Jennifer Wilby
2014	Allenna Leonard
2013	Heinz von Foerster Society
2013	Bernard Scott
2012	Susan Parenti
2011	Thomas Fischer
2008	Søren Brier
2008	Alexander Riegler
1993	Louis Kauffman
1986	Humberto Maturana
1984	Gregory Bateson

Heinz von Foerster Award Holders

Year	Name
2021	Dulmini Perera and Michael Munton
2019	Angelika Schanda and Mariah G. Di Stasi
2018	Andrei Cretu and Stephen Paff
2016	Sunny Sanwar
2014	Ben Sweeting
2013	Chathurika Kannangara
2012	Philip Baron
2011	Delfina Fantini
2010	Robert Helland
2009	Kate Slaymaker and Melanie Meltzer
2008	Lee Worden
2004	Elizabeth Simpson

ASC Fellows

Year	Name
2019	Warren M. Brodey
2014	Stuart Umpleby
2014	Roger C. Conant
2012	Klaus Krippendorff (1932 – 2022)
2006	Mary Catherine Bateson (1939 – 2021)
2006	Ernst von Glasersfeld (1917 – 2010)

Special Awards

• 2014: Ranulph Glanville (Award Certificate PDF); Aartje Hulstein and Ranulph Glanville award sculptures
• 2014: Aartje Hulstein (Award Certificate PDF); Aartje Hulstein and Ranulph Glanville award sculptures
• 2011: Randall Whitaker (Award Certificate PDF)
• 2009: Barbara Dawes Vogl – “… countless ASC members have benefited from the experience of Barbara’s curiosity and invitations. Recognizing her warm demeanor, inquisitive personality, dedication, and innumerable contributions to the cybernetics community, the ASC hereby makes this Special Award to Barbara Vogl. While she has a special interest in the practice of the ‘spiritual’, it has been Barbara’s spirit that has caught our attention and imagination. We are grateful for her contributions, which will surely inform new iterations of ASC membership for years to come.”
• 1986: Stuart A. Umpleby – “In appreciation of his sustained contribution to the American Society for Cybernetics as President from 1980 to 1983 and as a primary architect of the rebuilding of the Society”

Nominations Committee

• Cliff Joslyn (chair)
• José Cabral Filho
• Jane Jorgenson

^{Photo credits: Margaret Mead by Smithsonian Institution Archives}