2003 SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award
Don Chamberlin

Over a generation ago, Don gave us SQL. Through name changes, and evolving standards, the "select-from-where" of SQL has become the catchphrase by which a database person is known. It is among the handful of the most influential programming languages throughout the world. SIGMOD is proud to recognize Don's achievement. But if that weren't enough, Don has recently taken the lead in standardizing a language for querying an entirely different kind of data: the semistructured data of XML. This language, XQUERY, is still in its infancy, but shows clear signs of becoming highly influential as well.