Bulgaria's John Atanasoff Award Goes to Harvard, Berkeley Graduate

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev (L) awarded the 2012 John Atanasoff prize to Dimitar Zhechev Thursday. Photo by BGNES

Information security researcher Dimitar Zhechev received 2012's John Atanasoff Information Technologies Award, granted by the Bulgarian President's Office.

Zhechev, who works in the fieldy of cryptography, has got his BA from Harvard and PhD from Berkeley.

He is currently a chief coordinator of a major computer science project under the European Commission's 7th framework program, and also supervises PhD students

Under the yearly John Atanasoff Award, Thursday Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev also awarded four honor certificates for implementation of inventions, as well as four certificates for high school students and their teachers.

In the ceremony, Plevneliev wished winners to learn from their mistakes and continue pushing the limits of learning, invention and practice.

The award, named after the renowned scientist of Bulgarian descent and the creator of the first computer in the world, John Atanasoff, is given for achievements in the development of the information society.

It was established in 2003 by Bulgaria's former president, Socialist Georgi Parvanov.

Each year, one young Bulgarian becomes the award's recipient for his or her significant contribution to the development of the computer and information technology and the information society in Bulgaria. 

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