A Quantum Leap for the Turing Award

Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard have received the ACM A.M. Turing Award for their pioneering work in quantum information theory. Their chance meeting while swimming off Puerto Rico in 1979 led to the development of BB84, a quantum cryptography protocol that transformed quantum mechanics from a perceived nuisance into a powerful computational tool. Their contributions bridged the gap between information science and quantum physics, helping usher computer science into the quantum age.