ASC Awards

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's Norbert Wiener Medal
Norbert Wiener Medal
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead Prize
Warren McCulloch Award
Heinz von Foerster
Heinz von Foerster Award

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

YearName
2024Michael Arbib
2024Raul Espejo
2019Fred Steier
2018Paul Weston
2016William J. Reckmeyer
2015Ranulph Glanville
2014Louis H. Kauffman
2011Robert Vallée
2011Mary Catherine Bateson
2008Richard Jung
2008Ricardo Uribe
2008Lars Löfgren
2008Humberto Maturana
2008Francisco Varela
2007Stuart Umpleby
2007Pille Bunnell
2007Laurence Richards
2007Charles François
2005Ernst von Glasersfeld
2001Klaus Krippendorff
1993Herbert Brün
1984Gordon Pask
1983Heinz von Foerster
1972Natalia Bechtereva
1969Stuart A. Kauffman
1969Stephen Grossberg
1968Warren McCulloch
1968Robert C. Wood

Mead Prize

YearName
2024Claudia Westermann
2024Genevieve Bell
2024Norman Gunderson

McCulloch Award Holders

YearName
2024Jasia Reichardt
2024Roy Ascott
2019Mark Enslin
2016Julia Frazer and John H. Frazer
2014Randall Whitaker
2014Paul Pangaro
2014Jennifer Wilby
2014Allenna Leonard
2013Heinz von Foerster Society
2013Bernard Scott
2012Susan Parenti
2011Thomas Fischer
2008Søren Brier
2008Alexander Riegler
1993Louis Kauffman
1986Humberto Maturana
1984Gregory Bateson

Heinz von Foerster Award Holders

YearName
2024Shantanu Tilak
2021Dulmini Perera and Michael Munton
2019Angelika Schanda and Mariah G. Di Stasi
2018Andrei Cretu and Stephen Paff
2016Sunny Sanwar
2014Ben Sweeting
2013Chathurika Kannangara
2012Philip Baron
2011Delfina Fantini
2010Robert Helland
2009Kate Slaymaker and Melanie Meltzer
2008Lee Worden
2004Elizabeth Simpson

ASC Fellows

YearName
2024Allenna Leonard
2024Pille Bunnell
2019Warren M. Brodey
2014Stuart Umpleby
2014Roger C. Conant
2012Klaus Krippendorff (1932 – 2022)
2009Bernard Scott
2009Graham Barnes
2009Paul Pangaro
2009William Reckmeyer
2009Søren Brier
2006Mary Catherine Bateson (1939 – 2021)
2006Ernst 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

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