King's College London

Professor Michael Kölling from the Department of Informatics has been awarded the Lovelace Medal for Computing Education for his transformative impact on the way programming has been taught around the world.

The Lovelace Medals, named after computing pioneer Ada Lovelace, are awarded by the British Computing Society (BCS) to those individuals who have made exceptional contributions to advancing computing in society.

Elected a Fellow of the BCS in 2018 and a recipient of the National Teaching Fellowship from the UK’s Higher Education Academy, for over two decades Professor Kölling has designed some of the most widely used educational programming environments in history.

Systems such as BlueJ and Greenfoot have drawn undergraduate and high school students to programming via engaging projects, have helped to understand programming principles, and made learners become better programmers. Both have shaped educational practices worldwide at both levels, alongside a number of Michael’s authored textbooks and teaching methods.

Reflecting on his award, Professor Kölling said: “It is an incredible honour to receive this medal. It is my passion to improve computer science education around the world, and it is incredibly rewarding to see this recognised. But I also want to emphasise that the work is a team effort; I could not have achieved what we did without an amazingly strong team, with many contributors over the years. My current team members, Neil Brown and Pierre Weil-Tessier, have made an enormous contribution to this work”.

Professor Rachel Bearon, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences said of the win, “An enormous congratulations goes to Michael for such wonderful news. He now follows in the footsteps of an impressive list of giants in the computer science world who were past award winners!”

Sharron Gunn, Group CEO of the British Computing Society, The Chartered Institute for IT, praised this year’s winners saying: “Professor Lapata and Professor Kölling represent the very best of our profession, combining innovation, influence, and inspiration. Their achievements have not only advanced the frontiers of computing but also shaped how society engages with technology and how we equip future generations to create it. The Lovelace Medals celebrate individuals whose contributions have a lasting impact far beyond academia, and this year’s recipients exemplify that ideal.”

Michael will receive his award alongside Edinburgh’s Professor Mirella Lapata, who has been awarded the Lovelace Medal for Computing Research. Both Lovelace Medals will be presented later this year to celebrate the winners and their exceptional contributions.