Erik Altman has demonstrated excellence, both as a computer architecture research scientist at IBM and as a driver of positive change within the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society. For example, as chair of the ACM Special Interest Group on Microarchitecture (SIGMICRO), Altman drove the recognition of important contributions by co-founding and chairing the Micro Hall of Fame award. He also helped establish a successful oral history project and worked to improve computer architecture conferences.

As chair of ACM's Special Interest Group (SIG) Governing Board, he worked to better coordinate the activities of the more than three dozen SIGs. He tested ways to engage and educate the larger ACM community with daily news feeds, paving the way for ACM's successful TechNews. He contributed to ACM's financial well-being by serving on the Executive Committee as Secretary-Treasurer for two years. He has also been a long-term member of the ACM Investment Committee, which oversees a $100M+ fund.

As editor-in-chief of IEEE Computer Society’s Micro journal for four years, Altman drove the creation of important special themed issues. He helped establish the IEEE Rau Award for substantial contributions to microarchitectures. As a member of the IEEE Computer Society's Magazine Operations Committee, he has worked to improve the financial health of several IEEE magazines.