COLLEGE STATION -- Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup, professor and holder of the College of Engineering Chair in Computer Science at Texas A&M University, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering. The Academy honors those who have made important and significant contributions to engineering theory and practice as well as unusual accomplishment in the pioneering of new fields of technology. "Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions awarded to an engineer," said Dr. G. Kemble Bennett, Texas A&M vice chancellor and dean of engineering. "Through his achievements in computer science, Dr. Stroustrup has indeed made important contributions to engineering theory and practice and we are proud to have such a distinguished academician among our ranks." Stroustrup joined the Department of Computer Science faculty in the fall of 2002. He is the designer and original implementer of the C++ computer programming language, the most widely used language supporting object-oriented programming. Using C++ as his tool, Stroustrup pioneered the use of object-oriented and generic programming techniques in application areas where efficiency is a prerequisite. Valerie E. Taylor, head of the Department of Computer Science at Texas A&M, said, "Based on Dr. Stroustrup’s original work and continuing efforts, C++ has become one of the most influential programming languages in history. We are extremely proud to have Dr. Stroustrup as a faculty member and of his well-deserved recognition by the National Academy of Engineering." Stroustrup’s book The C++ Programming Language is the most widely read book of its kind and has been translated into 18 languages. A later book, The Design and Evolution of C++, broke new ground in the description of the way a programming language is shaped by ideas, ideals, problems and practical constraints. Stroustrup was named one of the 20 most influential people in the computer industry in the last 20 years by BYTE magazine in 1995. He also has been named an AT&T Bell Laboratories Fellow and an AT&T Fellow. He received the 1993 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Grace Murray Hopper award for his early work on C++ and is an ACM Fellow. This year, NAE elected 76 new members and 11 foreign associates, bringing the total U.S. membership to 2,174 and the number of foreign associates to 172.
