Paul Dourish Receives SIGCHI Lifetime Research Award

Paul Dourish, Chancellor’s Professor and Steckler Endowed Chair in Information and Computer Sciences at UC Irvine, has been awarded the Lifetime Research Award by the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI).

The award, which comes with an honorarium of $5,000, seeks out the “very best, most fundamental, and influential research contributions” in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI), recognizing recipients for “a lifetime of innovation and leadership.” With more than three decades of transformative scholarship in HCI, Dourish is more than deserving of the honor.

“Paul has profoundly influenced HCI through his pioneering, collaborative, and interdisciplinary research,” says his colleague Gillian R. Hayes, Kleist Professor of Informatics in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) and Vice Provost of Academic Personnel at UCI. “His interdisciplinary approach has brought critical perspectives from anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies into HCI, enriching the field’s theoretical landscape and inspiring generations of researchers.”

Dourish views information technology from a social and cultural lens, combining HCI, social informatics, and science and technology studies. He has written several books, including The Stuff of Bits: An Essay on the Materialities of Information (MIT Press, 2017).

“His groundbreaking research, far-reaching influence, and steadfast service have indelibly shaped our field and community,” says Hayes. “Many of his mentees, collaborators and the broad research community have built on his pioneering ideas about privacy, infrastructure, and place-making in interactive systems, demonstrating his enduring impact on shaping the trajectory of HCI research globally.”

Before coming to UCI, Dourish was a senior member of the research staff in the Computer Science Laboratory of Xerox PARC. “When I decided to return to academia, ICS was the obvious place, because of the very distinctive character of the HCI work that had always been conducted here,” he says. “Not just ICS but also UCI have been great environments for me. Working with folk in the Arts, the Humanities, and the Social Sciences has been critical to my work, and this campus makes that easy.”

Dourish currently serves as director of UCI’s Steckler Center for Responsible, Ethical, and Accessible Technology (CREATE). His recent scholarship delves into algorithmic culture, the materiality of information, and postcolonial computing, as he continues to interrogate the socio-political dimensions of how we both design and use technology.

Dourish is grateful for the recognition but not yet finished making an impact. “Lifetime achievement always sounds so final,” he says with a smile, “but they’re not going to get rid of me so easily!”

— Shani Murray