[mikecb]

For those of us unaware, the Levchin the prize is named after is famous for...?

[tptacek]

... is Max Levchin, of Paypal fame.

[mikecb]

for some reason I thought there would be more story.

[tptacek]

He likes cryptography and once had dinner with Dan Boneh and they decided to start an award for crypto contributions.

I think? that's the whole story.

[jtdowney]

Dan went into a little more of the backstory last year during the first awarding of the Levchin prizes. If I recall correctly, he and Max had been long time acquaintances and Dan even advised Max while he was working on some of the early PayPal technology. Max told a story about Dan leaving his own birthday party to help Max debug a CSPRNG.

[wolf550e]

Who is on the committee that decides who gets the prize?

[tptacek]

Dan Boneh, Aggelos Kiayias, Brian LaMacchia, Kenny Paterson, Tom Ristenpart, Tom Shrimpton, and Nigel Smart.

(A pretty intense group).