Marconi Society honors Calderbank and Hennessy at San Francisco gala

The Marconi Society recognized top figures in information and communications technology at its 2026 gala and institute forums in San Francisco on Nov. 4-6. Robert Calderbank received the Marconi Prize, John L. Hennessy received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the event also highlighted emerging researchers and cross-sector work on AI, wireless, and internet resilience.

Why it matters: - The Marconi Society used its 2026 gala to spotlight both field-defining leaders and early-career researchers working on connectivity, computing, and resilience. - The awards and forums centered on technologies that affect network trust, infrastructure reliability, energy needs, and the future of AI systems.

What happened: - The Marconi Society held the 2026 Marconi Awards Gala & Institute Forums Nov. 4-6 at the Fairmont San Francisco. - Robert Calderbank received the 2026 Marconi Prize. - John L. Hennessy received the Marconi Lifetime Achievement Award. - The Marconi Society also honored three Institute Award recipients: Dr. David Bray of the People-Centered Internet Coalition for Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Dr. Pierrette Renée Dagg of Merit Network for Leadership in Internet Resilience, and Dr. Hamid Jafarkhani of UC Irvine for Innovation in Wireless Communications. - The organization recognized 2026 Paul Baran Young Scholars Malek Itani of the University of Washington, Atsutse Kwami Kludze of Princeton University, and Yiwen Song of Carnegie Mellon University.

The details: - Calderbank is the Charles S. Sydnor Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Duke University. - The Marconi Prize recognized Calderbank’s contributions to voiceband modems, space-time coding, and quantum error correction. - Marconi Fellow Andrea Goldsmith and Jungsang Kim, Schiciano Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University, presented the prize. - Calderbank said in his acceptance speech that he was grateful to the people who helped shape his career. - Calderbank added that mentorship is about making other people successful. - Hennessy is co-founder and director of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program. - The Lifetime Achievement Award recognized his sustained commitment to using technology and education in service of others. - Craig Barratt, Teresa H. Meng, Mark Horowitz, and Marconi Society Chairman Dennis Roberson offered tributes before Hennessy accepted the award. - Hennessy told the audience that the award also signaled it was time for younger people to lead. - Hennessy congratulated the Young Scholars and urged them to carry the field forward. - The gala opened with a tribute to Guglielmo Marconi. - H.E. Marco Peronaci, Ambassador of Italy to the United States; Dr. Donata Paresce; and Giulia Fortunato participated in the tribute. - For the first time, the Marconi Society’s three Institutes — Advanced Wireless, Artificial Intelligence, and Internet Resilience — came together for a day-and-a-half Cross-Sector Institute Forum. - Experts examined Trust & Safety, Infrastructure & Energy, and Internet Resilience during the forum. - John R. Janowiak, president and CEO of the Marconi Society, said the hardest problems now cross multiple disciplines. - Janowiak said the organization’s job is to turn the week’s conversations into ongoing work. - The 2026 gala and forums were supported by Akamai, AWS, Cisco, Cohere Technologies, Duke Quantum Center, Google, Intel, Jungsang Kim & Soyeon Nam, the Samueli Foundation, and Wrethinking, the Foundation. - Additional supporters included ECE Foundation, Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi, HPE, IEEE, the Internet Society Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, NCTA, Radius Global Infrastructure, Stanford University, Verisign, WAIfinder, ARIN, Cantellus Group, Comitato Nazionale Marconi 150, EdgeQ, EWS, IEEE-HKN, MRHS, moreAI, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, SIDN, Professor Thomas Kailath and Dr. Anuradha Luther Maitra, WCA, and the Wireless History Foundation. - Leonardo and Telespazio sponsored the Welcome Reception. - Qualcomm sponsored the VIP Reception.

Between the lines: - The event paired recognition of established leaders with promotion of younger scholars, signaling a deliberate handoff between generations in the tech community. - The first joint Cross-Sector Institute Forum suggests the Marconi Society is pushing more collaboration across AI, wireless, and resilience work.

What's next: - The Marconi Society said it wants to turn the forum discussions into work that continues after the event. - The organization will continue its Institutes in AI, Internet Resilience, and Advanced Wireless to convene experts around technology that supports global connectivity and sustainability.

The bottom line: - The 2026 Marconi gala framed connectivity, resilience, and AI as shared challenges that now require cross-disciplinary collaboration and new leadership.