Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt is the
inaugural Dean of the
School of Computing, Data Sciences, and Physics at
William and Mary. He is currently a visiting scientist at the
Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at
Carnegie Mellon University, where he is a Visiting Scientist.
Dr. Schmidt was previously the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering in
Computer Science at
Vanderbilt University, as well as the Associate Chair of Computer Science and a Senior Researcher at the
Institute for Software Integrated Systems. From 2018 to 2022 Dr. Schmidt served as the
Associate Provost of Research Development and Technologies and the Co-Director of the
Data Science Institute at Vanderbilt University. In 2024
Dr. Schmidt was the President-appointed and Senate-confirmed
Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, where he is responsible for overseeing the evaluation of the operational effectiveness, suitability, survivability, and (when necessary) lethality of United States defense systems to defend the homeland and prevail in conflict.
Dr. Schmidt is an
internationally renowned and
widely cited (an h-index of 95, a g-index of 215, an i10-index of 390, and a citation count of 50,000+) researcher whose
work focuses on
patterns,
optimization techniques, and
empirical analyses of
object-oriented and
component-based frameworks and
model-driven engineering tools that facilitate the development of
distributed real-time and embedded (DRE)
middleware frameworks and
mobile cloud computing applications on
parallel platforms running over
wireless/wired networks and embedded system interconnects. His recent research focuses on
prompt engineering techniques and
prompt patterns that enhance the accuracy and expressiveness of large language models (LLMs) and
generative augmented intelligence platforms.
He has
published 10+ books and 700+ papers (including 135+ journal papers) in top
IEEE,
ACM, IFIP, and
USENIX technical
journals, conferences, and books that cover a range of topics, including high-performance communication software systems, parallel processing for high-speed networking protocols, and distributed real-time and embedded (DRE) middleware with
CORBA,
Real-time Java,
object-oriented patterns for concurrent and distributed systems,
concurrent and networked software for mobile devices, and
model-driven engineering tools. He has mentored and graduated
40+ Ph.D. and Masters students working on these research topics and has presented 600+ keynote addresses, invited talks, and
tutorials on
Generative AI,
mobile cloud computing with Android, reusable
patterns,
concurrent object-oriented network programming,
distributed system middleware at scores of technical conferences.
Dr. Schmidt has co-authored several books in the
Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture series for Wiley & Sons edited by Frank Buschmann of Siemens, including
Patterns for Concurrent and Networked Objects,
A Pattern Language for Distributed Computing, and
Patterns and Pattern Languages. He has also co-authored two books for Addison-Wesley on the topic of
C++ Network Programming edited by
Bjarne Stroustrup of AT&T Labs. He was a member of the writing team for the books
Ultra-Large-Scale Systems: Software Challenge of the Future and
Critical Code: Software Producibility for Defense. In addition, he has co-editored the first volume of the
Pattern Languages of Program Design series by Addison-Wesley and the
Object-Oriented Application Frameworks: Applications & Experiences series for Wiley & Sons.
Dr. Schmidt received B.A. and M.A. degrees in
Sociology from the
William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in
Computer Science from the
University of California, Irvine (UCI) in 1984, 1986, 1990, and 1994, respectively.
