American physicist and Canadian computer scientist win 'Nobel Prize in computing'

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) announced Wednesday that Bennett, 82, and Brassard, 70, are this year’s recipients of the ACM A.M. Turing Award, citing their "essential role in establishing the foundations of quantum information science and transforming secure communication and computing."

Often referred to as the "Nobel Prize in Computing," the award carries a $1 million prize funded by Google and is named after Alan M. Turing, the British mathematician who laid the foundations of modern computing.

Bennett and Brassard’s work dates back to 1984, when they introduced the first practical quantum cryptography protocol, now known as BB84, marking a milestone in developing theoretically secure communication systems based on the laws of physics.

Canadian computer scientist Gilles Brassard. Photo courtesy of Université de Montréal

Their approach relies on quantum mechanics, which governs behavior at the subatomic level, rather than traditional mathematical encryption methods that can, in theory, be broken with sufficient computing power. BB84 keeps data secure because any attempt to intercept the information changes it, making eavesdropping easy to detect.

ACM described their work as a "pathway toward securing digital communications in the decades ahead".

Beyond cryptography, their research over four decades reshaped the theoretical foundations of computing and helped bridge physics and computer science, two fields that had previously developed largely independently.

Their research helped catalyze a generation of physicists and computer scientists to work across disciplinary boundaries, ACM said.

"Bennett and Brassard fundamentally changed our understanding of information itself," Yannis Ioannidis, President of ACM, said. "Their insights expanded the boundaries of computing and set in motion decades of discovery across disciplines. The global momentum behind quantum technologies today underscores the enduring importance of their contributions."

American physicist Charles Bennett. Photo courtesy of IBM

Bennett has played a central role in developing quantum information science, including advances in quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation. He joined IBM Research in 1973, where he continues to work on the intersection of physics and computation.

He holds degrees from Brandeis University and Harvard University in the U.S., and has received numerous honors, including the Wolf Prize in Physics and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.

Brassard is widely regarded as a pioneer in quantum information science. He earned his degrees from Université de Montréal, Canada, and Cornell University, U.S., where he studied under 1986 Turing Award laureate John E. Hopcroft.

He later joined the Université de Montréal faculty and served as Canada Research Chair in Quantum Information Science from 2001 to 2021. His honors include the Order of Canada and multiple international science awards, and he is a fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.