The 'HCI MEDAL FOR SOCIETAL IMPACT' was established in 2022 to be awarded to individuals for their research in the field of Human Computer Interaction, which has resulted in significant societal impact.
The idea of the medal is to inspire younger generations towards accomplishments that leave a major footprint on society and foster well-being and eudemonia.
The nomination originates from an international committee and the Medal will be conferred at a ceremony during the conference Opening Plenary Session, to be followed by the Keynote speech.
The recipient of the 'HCI MEDAL FOR SOCIETAL IMPACT' for 2027
The HCII 2027 Conference is proud to announce Dr. Abigail Sellen as the 2027 recipient of the 'HCI MEDAL FOR SOCIETAL IMPACT'.
Abigail Sellen is Vice President at Microsoft Research Cambridge in the UK and was Lab Director for 3 years. Throughout her career she has aspired to put human values at the centre of technology design, working within the context of industrial research where much of the change happens. Her most recent focus is using HCI research to combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation. As generative AI accelerates the creation of highly realistic synthetic content, the ability to understand where information comes from—and how it has been altered—has never been more important. The work of her team focuses on a critical, underexplored challenge: using human-centred research and design to make provenance information more accessible, meaningful, and actionable in real-world settings.
More broadly, Abigail is an expert in human-centric computing, publishing books and papers on many topics including: human-centric AI, healthcare, computer input, help systems, reading, paper use in offices, videoconferencing design, search, human error, and computer support for human memory. This includes the book “The Myth of the Paperless Office” (with co-author Richard Harper), which won an IEEE award for distinguished literary contribution to engineering. She is an inventor with over 70 patents pending or granted.
Abigail is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society for the Arts, and the ACM. She is also an International Member of the US National Academy of Engineering and the ACM SigCHI Academy.