What was the Warnier Prize?

If you work with computers, there's a decent chance you've heard of the Warnier Prize because some prominent people in the computer industry have won it and thus included in their bio. But do you know what it was?

Tracking it down from the comforts of my office was surprisingly difficult, perhaps because most of its existence was before the creation of the World Wide Web, but even the newspaper coverage of the award is very sparse. Here's what I've discovered about this elusive and seemingly prestigious award.

It's named for Jean-Dominique Warnier, who worked as an engineer in the Bull IT group in France and had recently retired when the prize was instituted. He made significant contributions to the field of data processing, including the Warnier/Orr diagram. The Warnier Prize Foundation existed roughly 1984 to 1996 and was based in Topeka, Kansas, sponsored to some degree by Ken Orr & Associates. We can presume that Ken Orr named the prize in honor of his colleague. One reference suggested that the French government was the source of the prize, but it seems more likely that it was the brainchild of a small consulting company in Kansas. I found some mentions of a $3000 honorarium associated with the prize.

The award was more formally called the "Warnier Prize for Excellence in Information Science." A 1986 issue of IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications said the award was -

...awarded annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the theory and practical application of information science. The prize was established in 1983 to honor Jean-Dominique Warnier of Paris, one of Europe's leaders in the field of information science. It was intended to encourage further essential research and development in the field and to reward those contributions publicly.

For at least a few years, Jerry Weinberg headed the Warnier Prize Selection Committee, but perhaps not in later years when he won the award himself. The mostly self-proclaimed prize winners I could find were:

• 1983 - Enid Mumford
• 1984 - Barry Boehm
• 1985 - Alan Kay
• 1986 - Tom DeMarco
• 1987 - Harlan D. Mills
• 1988 - Glenford Myers
• 1989 - Donald Knuth
• 1990 - László Bélády
• 1992 - Daniel Teichroew
• 1993 - Jerry Weinberg
• 1993 - Dr. Mary Shaw

So the next time you read a bio that mentions the Warnier Prize, you'll know what esteemed company the recipient is in.