In 1980, Thompson was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for "designing UNIX, an operating system whose efficiency, breadth, power, and style have guided a generation's exploitation of minicomputers".
1980年，汤普逊当选美国国家工程院院士，因为“设计了Unix操作系统，它的效率、广度、力量和风格指导了一代在小型计算机进行开发的人。