Shaw, Garlan Receive IEEE Software Engineering Awards

Tuesday, May 16, 2017 - by Joshua Quicksall and Byron Spice

Institute for Software Research (ISR) professors Mary Shaw and David Garlan will receive IEEE Computer Society Technical Council on Software Engineering (TCSE) awards at the International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE), May 20–28 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Shaw will accept the 2017 TCSE Distinguished Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding and/or sustained leadership in the software engineering community, particularly for encouraging women to explore science and engineering career paths. Garlan will receive the 2017 TCSE Software Engineering Distinguished Education Award, which recognizes outstanding and sustained contributions to software engineering education.

Garlan, a faculty member since 1990, led the development of numerous curricula and courses on software architecture, modeling and engineering. The TCSE noted Garlan's pivotal role in the development and growth of the Master of Software Engineering graduate programs, which the council called "an international benchmark, having inspired many similar efforts, and, having influenced many others throughout the world."

"Under David's guiding hand, the MSE program has evolved into a suite of several high-caliber professional master's programs and its reputation has attracted multiple international partners, including universities in Korea, India, Portugal, Bulgaria and Australia," said ISR Director Bill Scherlis.

Shaw, a computer science faculty member since 1971, is a leader in software engineering research. Her work on software architecture — the large-scale structure of software systems — helped establish it as a recognized discipline. She is also an educational innovator who has developed computer science curricula from the introductory to doctoral level, including graduate programs targeted at software professionals.

In honoring Shaw, the WISE selection committee pointed to numerous examples of her achievements — including her role in founding the Software Engineering Institute and the field of software architecture, inspiring talks at notable conferences such as the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, and major awards such as the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Grace Lewis, alumna of the Master of Software Engineering program and the TCSE executive vice chair, met Shaw shortly after arriving at Carnegie Mellon in 1999. She explains that it was not only Shaw's achievements that made a lasting impression, but also her overall approach. "She is so passionate and humble, whether it is software engineering, women in computing, cooking or biking in Pennsylvania. Her heart is always in what she does and that is what really makes her a role model."

For more information, Contact:
Byron Spice | 412-268-9068 | bspice@cs.cmu.edu