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Watts Humphrey, Software Pioneer and Embry-Riddle Advisor, to Receive National Medal of Technology

Daytona Beach, Fla., Feb. 18, 2005 -- Watts Humphrey, a member of Embry-Riddle’s software engineering industry advisory board, will be honored March 14 at the White House with the National Medal of Technology. The medal recognizes those who have contributed to the nation’s wellbeing through their technological products, processes, concepts, and innovations.

As a fellow at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Humphrey developed the basis for the Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM), which has become the generally accepted standard for assessing and improving software processes and is used by thousands of organizations worldwide. The SW-CMM led to the Capability Maturity Model Integration product suite, released in 2002.

In 1995, Humphrey initiated and led the development of two new methods that improve the work life of software engineers and their teams. The Personal Software Process and Team Software Process have produced impressive results in the quest toward defect-free software.

Embry-Riddle invited Humphrey to serve as an advisor to its software engineering program because his SW-CMM was being taught at Embry-Riddle and used by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and other leading employers of the university’s alumni.

Humphrey has visited Embry-Riddle frequently as part of the university’s agreement with SEI to implement software engineering technology in academia and industry. Many of Humphrey’s ideas have been incorporated into the software engineering curriculum and he often collaborates with faculty on research projects. Tom Hilburn, professor of computing at the Daytona Beach campus, says Humphrey also occasionally attends presentations by students.

The relationship has benefited Humphrey, as well, according to Masood Towhidnejad, professor of computing and chair of the software engineering department. “He trusted us to incorporate his practices into our lowest beginner classes. We helped him prove that his process, which had only been taught in graduate programs and in industrial corporations, could be taught at an early undergraduate level.”

In gratitude, Humphrey thanked Embry-Riddle in the preface to his books Introduction to the Personal Software Process and Introduction to the Team Software Process. Embry-Riddle presented Humphrey with an honorary doctorate in software engineering in 1998.

Embry-Riddle, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering and meets the needs of students and industry through its educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates more than 30,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Extended Campus at more than 130 teaching centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, and through distance learning.