ACM Honors Bennett and Brassard for Quantum Information Breakthroughs

The 2025 Turing Award recognizes the pioneers who established the foundations of quantum cryptography and teleportation.

Mar. 18, 2026 at 9:59am

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The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has awarded the 2025 A.M. Turing Award, considered the "Nobel Prize in Computing," to Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard for their foundational contributions to quantum information science. Bennett and Brassard are recognized as the pioneers who established the theoretical underpinnings of quantum cryptography and teleportation, transforming secure communication and computing.

Why it matters

Bennett and Brassard's work laid the groundwork for the emerging field of quantum information science, which treats quantum mechanical phenomena as resources for processing and transmitting information. As quantum computing advances, their insights are critical for developing quantum-resistant cryptography and building a future quantum internet.

The details

In 1984, Bennett and Brassard introduced the first practical protocol for quantum cryptography, known as BB84, which demonstrated how two parties could establish a secret encryption key with security guaranteed by the laws of physics. Their subsequent work on quantum teleportation in 1993 and entanglement distillation in 1996 further advanced the theoretical foundations of quantum information science.

  • The ACM A.M. Turing Award was announced on March 18, 2026.
  • The award recognizes Bennett and Brassard's contributions over the past four decades.

The players

Charles H. Bennett

An American physicist whose research has shaped the foundations of quantum information science, quantum cryptography, and quantum teleportation, and who has played a central role in establishing quantum information science as a rigorous scientific discipline.

Gilles Brassard

A Canadian computer scientist widely recognized as the first in the world to have delved into the uncharted territory of quantum information science.

ACM

The Association for Computing Machinery, the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, which awards the prestigious A.M. Turing Award.

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What they’re saying

“Bennett and Brassard fundamentally changed our understanding of information itself. Their insights expanded the boundaries of computing and set in motion decades of discovery across disciplines.”

— Yannis Ioannidis, President of ACM

“Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard's visionary insights laid the groundwork for one of the most exciting frontiers in science and technology. Their work continues to influence both fundamental research and real-world innovation.”

— Jeff Dean, Chief Scientist, Google DeepMind and Google Research

What’s next

As research advances toward large-scale quantum computers, governments and industry are reassessing the long-term resilience of widely deployed public-key cryptographic systems. Quantum cryptography, alongside emerging, hopefully quantum-resistant classical approaches, represents one pathway toward securing digital communications in the decades ahead.

The takeaway

Bennett and Brassard's pioneering work on quantum information science has transformed the foundations of computing and communication, laying the groundwork for a future quantum internet and quantum-resistant cryptography to safeguard digital infrastructure.