Mission: ACM is an educational and scientific society uniting the world's computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking. Activities: ACM carries out its mission through conferences, publications, educational programs, public awareness activities and special interest groups. It sponsors over 120 conferences annually, including Computers, Freedom and Privacy (CFP); Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH); and Object-Oriented Programming Systems, Languages and Applications (OOPSLA). Other resources include the ACM Online Books and Courses Programs offering full and unlimited access to over 3,000 online courses and 1,100 online books for ACM members.

Principals:
President, Wendy Hall, is a professor of computer science at the University of Southampton, UK. Vice President Alain Chesnais is the chief technical officer for SceneCaster.com. Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Ryder is the Head of the Department of Computer Science in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. John R. White, is a former manager of the Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center Computer Science Laboratory).

Publications:
ACM publishes, distributes and archives more than 40 publications that provide original research and first-hand perspectives from the world's leading thinkers in computing and information technologies. They include: Communications of the ACM, featuring as contributors some of the most knowledgeable and respected people in the field; ACM Queue, for practicing computing professionals; MemberNet, about the world of ACM and beyond; Crossroads, ACM's student magazine; interactions, for human and computer interaction; and netWorker, on the craft of network computing. ACM's newest web-based publications include ACM Computers in Entertainment, covering entertainment technologies; ACM TechNews, a news digest for busy IT professionals; ACM CareerNews email digest on computing careers; Ubiquity, a magazine and forum for in-depth analysis on IT issues; and e-Learn, tracking developments in distance learning.

ACM Digital Library and Guide:
The ACM Digital Library and the ACM Guide are the definitive online resources for computing professionals. The ACM Digital Library is a comprehensive collection of more than 40 ACM journals, magazines, and peer-reviewed articles, as well as conference proceedings and ACM SIG newsletters. This vast archive contains over 2 million pages of text, with full-text articles from ACM publications dating back to the 1950s, and third-party content with selected archives. The ACM Guide provides an enormous bank of over one million bibliographic citations extending far beyond ACM's proprietary literature. The Guide covers core works in computing such as journals, proceedings, books, technical reports, and theses.

Special Interest Groups:
ACM's 34 Special Interest Groups (SIGs) address the varied needs of today's computing professionals, including computer graphics, human interfaces, artificial intelligence, data mining, mobile communications, computer education and programming language. Each SIG is organized around specific activities that best serve its practitioner and research-based constituencies. Many SIGs sponsor leading conferences and workshops, produce newsletters and publications, and support e-mail forums for information exchange.

Annual Awards:
Among the honors that ACM bestows each year are the A.M. Turing Award (called the "Nobel Prize of Computing," by Wired magazine); Grace Murray Hopper Award for young computer professionals; Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award; Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award; and Allen Newell Award honoring contributions that bridge computer science and other disciplines.