The 1977 ACM Turing Award was given to John Backus for his significant contributions to programming languages, especially for the development of Fortran and the formal procedures for language specifications. In his lecture, Backus critiques conventional programming languages for their inefficiencies and advocates for a functional programming style that simplifies programming and enhances clarity. He emphasizes the need for new programming methodologies and conceptual frameworks that move beyond the limitations of the von Neumann style of computing.