The ACO Outstanding Student Prize is a bi-annual award that will consist of a citation and a cash award. This is a prize that we were able to establish thanks to a generous donation from the late Professor Emeritus Richard Duke. The winner(s) will be selected by a prize committee. During the award period, nominations are sent to any member of the committee or to Administrative Assistant for ACO. The prize has few restrictions. As the name suggests, the prize will recognize an outstanding accomplishment by a PhD student in the areas covered by ACO. Any student who graduated within 4 years of the year of the prize year or or has not yet graduated is eligible. The deadline for nomination is October 15th of the prize year. Multiple prizes may be awarded.
Past Winners of the Outstanding Student Prize
| Year | Winners | Selection Committee |
| 2012 | Bill Cook Prasad Tetali Eric Vigoda |
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| 2014 | Ernie Croot Ton Dieker Milena Mihail |
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| 2018 | Greg Blekherman Santanu Dey Santosh Vempala |
|
| 2020 | Greg Blekherman Rachel Cummings Dana Randall |
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| 2022 |
Zongchen Chen (honorable mentions Tim Duff and Samantha Petti) |
Santanu Dey (chair) Josephine Yu Sahil Singla |
| 2024 |
|
Josephine Yu (chair) Mohit Singh Jan van den Brand |
