The Association for Computing Machinery recently recognized Gary Tan as a distinguished member. Credit: Poornima Tomy/Penn State
Gary Tan named distinguished member of Association for Computing Machinery
Feb 20, 2025
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Gang “Gary” Tan, professor of computer science and engineering and co-director of the Institute for Networking and Security Research at Penn State, has been named a distinguished member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Tan is one of 56 inductees selected for distinction based on their work in 2024 and was chosen by the organization for his significant research contributions to software security.
“Each year we look forward to selecting a new class of distinguished members from among our worldwide association of 110,000 colleagues,” said ACM President Yannis Ioannidis. “The Distinguished Members Program not only celebrates innovation but also underscores the value of being part of a vibrant technical community.”
The distinguished members program recognizes up to 10 percent of the worldwide ACM membership each year based on professional experience and significant achievements in computing beyond the norm, according to ACM. To be nominated, a candidate must have at least 15 years of professional experience in the field, five years of professional ACM membership in the last 10 years and must have achieved a significant level of accomplishment or made a significant impact in the field.
Tan, who is an Institute for Computational and Data Sciences co-hire, received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Tsinghua University, China, and his doctorate in computer science from Princeton University. Tan currently serves on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s Information Science and Technology study group and has received various professional awards for his research, including a James F. Will Career Development Professorship, a U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a Distinguished Paper Award from the ACM in 2024, and an Outstanding Research Award from the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society.
Tan’s research interests include programming languages and compilers, computer security and software engineering. In addition to his professional awards and affiliations with DARPA and Penn State, Tan leads the Security of Software Group, where he works to apply compiler, programming language and formal method techniques to improve computer security.
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