Nicki Washington Receives ACM Frances E. Allen Award for Outstanding Mentoring

ACM has named Nicki Washington the recipient of the 2025 ACM Frances E. Allen Award for Outstanding Mentoring, one of the computing field’s highest honors for mentorship and leadership. 

The biennial award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional mentoring while advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in computing. Named for pioneering computer scientist Frances Allen — the first woman to receive the ACM A.M. Turing Award — the award honors leaders whose mentorship has reshaped the field itself. 

Washington, who is the Cue Family Professor of the Practice of Computer Science; Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies; and African & African American Studies, received the award for what ACM described as “exceptional mentorship fostering an inclusive computing culture and broadening participation in computing through culturally competent education and systemic change.” 

Washington has become nationally known for pushing computer science education beyond technical training alone, arguing that computing cannot be separated from the social systems and human experiences it affects. 

Since joining Duke in 2020, she has helped lead a growing movement to rethink how computing is taught, mentored and institutionalized. Her work combines computer science with critical studies of race, gender and inequality, emphasizing that technological systems both reflect and shape society. 

One of her most influential initiatives has been the creation of “Race, Gender, Class & Computing,” a course that examines the historical and social foundations of inequities in technology and computing education. The course was among the first of its kind aimed directly at computer science majors and has since helped inspire similar conversations across the discipline. 

Alongside Shaundra Daily, Cue Family Professor of the Practice of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Washington co-founded the Cultural Competence in Computing (3C) Fellows program. The program trains faculty, graduate students and academic leaders to recognize how identity, exclusion and systemic inequities shape computing environments and technologies. 

That work later expanded into the Alliance for Interdisciplinary Innovation in Computing Education (AiiCE), a national initiative supported by the National Science Foundation. The alliance works with educators and institutions across the United States to develop more inclusive approaches to computer science education and mentorship. 

Over the past several years, Washington’s initiatives have reached educators across K–12 and higher education and influenced discussions around curriculum design, mentoring and participation in computing fields. 

The Frances E. Allen Award adds to a growing list of national recognitions for Washington and her collaborators. In 2023, Washington and Daily received the ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award for their efforts to transform computing education and combat inequities within the discipline, and were named Distinguished Members of the ACM in late 2025. Washington has also been recognized by the National Center for Women & Information Technology for her leadership and impact in computing education. 

While many major computing awards recognize technical breakthroughs, the Allen Award specifically honors mentorship and systemic leadership — an acknowledgment that shaping the future of computing also depends on who is welcomed into the field, who succeeds within it, and how future technologists are trained. 

Washington will formally receive the award at the ACM Awards Banquet in June. The award includes a $25,000 prize and an additional charitable contribution designated by the recipient.