{"id":69023,"date":"2026-03-20T14:16:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T18:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=69023"},"modified":"2026-03-20T14:16:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T18:16:44","slug":"brassard-turing-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/brassard-turing-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctoral Alum Wins Turing Award, the \u2018Nobel Prize of Computing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gilles Brassard, PhD \u201979, was honored for foundational work in quantum information science and new encryption technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story was adapted from <\/em>a feature<\/em><\/a> in the <\/em>Cornell Chronicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Patricia Waldron<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilles Brassard, PhD \u201979, has received the 2025 Turing Award<\/a> from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), jointly with Charles Bennett, for founding the field of quantum information science and for new encryption technology for secure communication and computing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commonly referred to as the \u201cNobel Prize of computing,\u201d the Turing Award comes with a $1 million prize. It is named for Alan Turing, the British mathematician and parent of theoretical computer science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brassard is a Canadian computer scientist and faculty member<\/a> at the University of Montreal, where he earned his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At age 24, he received his PhD in theoretical computer science from Cornell\u2014working with John Hopcroft<\/a>, professor emeritus of computer science and a 1986 Turing Award recipient.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Gilles
Hatim Kaghat<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Brassard met Bennett, a physicist at IBM Research, in 1979 while the two were swimming off the coast of Puerto Rico. Brassard was taking a break from a conference on theoretical computing, where he was presenting his graduate work on the mathematical foundations of cryptography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bennett swam up to him and proposed an idea for a bank note that couldn\u2019t be counterfeited based on principles of quantum mechanics\u2014the behavior of light and matter, often at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At age 24, Brassard received his PhD in theoretical computer science from Cornell\u2014working with John Hopcroft, professor emeritus of computer science and a 1986 Turing Award recipient.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Their collaboration led to the development of quantum cryptography\u2014the application of quantum mechanics to encrypt, transmit, and decode information securely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their system, named BB84, used particles of light to make encryption keys that could lock and unlock digital data. Thanks to the laws of quantum mechanics, anyone who tried to hack the key would leave telltale traces the information was compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Alan
wikimedia commons<\/figcaption>
Alan Turing, the award’s namesake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n

\u201cGilles Brassard\u2019s BB84 protocol laid the foundation for quantum information science and reshaped the future of secure communication,\u201d says Lorenzo Alvisi, PhD \u201996<\/a>, the Tisch University Professor in Computer Science and chair of the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are proud to count him among our Cornell graduates, whose achievements continue to amplify the department\u2019s legacy of groundbreaking theoretical computer science\u2014a tradition exemplified by his adviser, John Hopcroft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(A talk that Brassard gave at the Royal Society in London marking the centennial of quantum theory can be viewed here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quantum cryptography is emerging as an important method to ensure the security of digital communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newer versions of BB84 have been deployed in quantum communication networks, through both landlines and satellites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In later work, Brassard and Bennett demonstrated quantum teleportation\u2014the idea that quantum information could be transmitted between distant locations using quantum entanglement, a phenomenon where the quantum state of two particles remains connected, even when they are too far apart to influence each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Gilles Brassard\u2019s BB84 protocol laid the foundation for quantum information science and reshaped the future of secure communication.<\/p>\nProf. Lorenzo Alvisi, PhD \u201996<\/strong>, chair of computer science <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Advances in quantum entanglement may one day lead to the growth of quantum networks and even a quantum internet that will transmit quantum information securely worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBennett and Brassard fundamentally changed our understanding of information itself,\u201d ACM president Yannis Ioannidis said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published March 20, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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