Tuesday, July 31, 2007

A toast to Peter Honeyman

My former Ph.D. advisor, Peter Honeyman won the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the USENIX Association. I first heard about this from Matt Blaze of the USENIX board and a former colleague of mine at AT&T, and I was absolutely thrilled. I can think of nobody more deserving. As the recipient of his mentorship, I am delighted that he was called out for his role mentoring students for this honor. From the USENIX web site:

Dr. Peter Honeyman has had a profound and lasting impact on the field of computer science. While many know Peter for his seminal contributions to computing systems, such as Honey DanBer UUCP and Disconnected AFS, it is his efforts as a mentor that we wish to honor with the USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award. Peter's often highly unconventional stewardship of the countless students, researchers, and advisees he has touched is the stuff of graduate student legend. His penetratingly insightful (and potentially hazardous) questions and comments, combined with a paradoxically unflinching loyalty, consistently have led those under his tutelage to the pinnacle of achievement in security, systems, and networking. Peter's questioning during conferences and doctoral defenses, although sometimes frightening, always demanded better from those of us who attempt to advance science.

Peter has a page with some pictures of the event. I was unable to attend the ceremony when he received his award because I was on vacation with my family in Israel, but I made a video tribute for him that was shown at the conference.