The 2019 Richard D. Jenks Memorial Prize for Excellence in Software Engineering Applied to Computer Algebra has been awarded to Michael Stillman for the Macaulay and Macaulay2 computer algebra systems.

The Macaulay system, developed by Michael in collaboration with David Bayer, and first released in 1983, was the first computer algebra system devoted to Groebner basis computation in commutative algebra. Macaulay2, developed by Michael in collaboration with Daniel Grayson, and released in 1996, included a completely new user level language which was designed to read more like mathematics. Macaulay2 included support for first class functions (closures), user-definable data types and infinite coefficient rings.

Macaulay and Macaulay2 have revolutionalized the way research in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry is done. Over 2000 papers on arXiv refer to Macaulay2. Starting in 2006, there have been regular Macaulay2 meetings where mathematicians meet to develop Macaulay2 packages and advance their research agenda. This effort has spawned the creation of over 200 Macaulay2 packages and the Journal of Software for Algebra and Geometry. The most recent Macaulay2 workshop was held online because of COVID19 from June 1-5, 2020.

Although many others have contributed in different ways to Macaulay, Michael Stillman has been at the forefront of the design, creation, development, and application of Macaulay since its inception. The 2019 Jenks prize will be awarded to Michael at the ISSAC 2020 meeting in July 2020, which, because of COVID19, will be held online. Michael will give a talk on Macaulay at the ISSAC 2020 meeting to lead off the software demonstrations session.

Michael Stillman is presently a professor of mathematics at Cornell University. He is actively involved in Macaulay2 development, coding, getting others involved, developing new algorithms and packages, and applying these to problems in string theory, dynamical systems, biology, statistics, and pure math. When not stuck at home due to COVID, he loves to travel and hike.

2019 Jenks Prize Committee:

• Michael Monagan (Chair), Department of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University.
• Chris Brown (for SIGSAM, ex officio), Department of Computer Science, United States Naval Academy.
• Jürgen Gerhard, Senior Director of Research, Maplesoft.
• Hans Schönemann, Singular Group, Department of Mathematics, TU Kaiserslautern.
• Allan Steel, Magma Group, Department of Mathematics, University of Sydney.
• Dongming Wang, School of Mathematics and Systems Science, Beihang University.