Alfred Aho is the Lawrence Gussman Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Columbia University and a foundational figure in computer science. He co-developed the AWK programming language and authored seminal textbooks on algorithms, compilers, and programming languages that have shaped generations of software engineers. Aho’s research and teaching contributions span compiler optimization, programming language design, and algorithms. His work at Bell Labs led to innovations in UNIX and foundational software tools still in use today. Aho has received the Turing Award for his contributions to computer science theory and practice.