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The article presents information on the First Student Paper Competition organized at Stanford, California by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Although launched barely two years ago, the Student Paper Competition is proving to be a constructive force in computer science education at both graduate and undergraduate levels. Editorial and refereeing activities undertaken by graduate students translate into a type of professional development experience that is enriching for the participants and healthy for the profession as a whole. The active participation of an equal if not larger number of undergraduate students who submitted papers for the competition attests to the stimulation for scientific and professional growth among students in computer science everywhere. George E. Forsythe, who was a pioneer and who encouraged many of his colleagues to work toward the development of a computer discipline of widespread scientific value, strongly favored promoting the Student Paper Competition to serve this end. As a computer science department chairman he had encouraged the active participation of students in academic and administrative affairs at Stanford University and also at ACM. This example was the inspiration for the plan that graduate students take active and major roles in the management of the Competition.