2017 Malcolm Tredinnick Memorial Prize awarded to Claude Paroz

The Board of the Django Software Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2017 Malcolm Tredinnick Memorial Prize has been awarded to Claude Paroz.

Claude has been a contributor to Django since 2012. He was selected for the prize by the board from amongst the nominees on the basis of his long-term, consistent contribution. Claude has given service to Django though code and also by enabling others to contribute effectively.

His work represents a less-visible but essential aspect of contribution to Django. It's not the kind of work that will be publicly applauded at a conference, or stand out as news, but it's of enormous importance to the project. Claude is owed a debt of thanks for it.

Tim Graham wrote in his nomination:

I nominate Claude Paroz for five years of tireless and unheralded contributions to Django, including shepherding the GeoDjango project and serving as the Django translations manager. He's the primary answering authority on the geodjango and django-i18n mailing lists. While his contributing began in 2012, Claude is the most active volunteer contributor based on number of commits since 2008. He regularly offers his expertise by triaging tickets and reviewing pull requests. If I ask Claude for some advice in an area of Django in which I'm less versed, his responses are quick, respectful, and helpful.

Several other people were also nominated for this prize. The Malcolm Tredinnick prize could once again have deservedly been awarded several times over. It is an enduring pleasure to observe that there is no shortage of members of our community who, like Claude, exemplify the spirit of generosity and support that the prize celebrates.

The other nominees were:

Ifunanya Ikemma, for her work teaching and encouraging women in to programming, through PyLadies and Django Girls in Nigeria

Katie McLaughlin, for her work in open source projects as a contributor and mentor

Melanie Crutchfield, for her work with PyLadies and Django Girls

Jeff Triplett, for his huge contribution to the running of DjangoCon US, and the consistently warm, supportive attitude he brings to this and to his other work in the world of Django

Veronica Munro, for her work organising Django Girls events in Australia

Lacey Williams Henschel, for her work in DjangoCon US (including her magnificent work as the 2017 conference chair), and helping to build the Django community in the US

Tim Graham, for being an ever-responsive and valuable point of technical contact for Django.

Many congratulations to Claude, and our sincere thanks to all the nominees for their continued work in Django. Thanks are also due to all who took the trouble to nominate someone.