Harlan D. Mills (May 14, 1919 – January 8, 1996) was professor of
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
at the
Florida Institute of Technology and founder of Software Engineering Technology, Inc. of
Vero Beach,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
(since acquired by
Q-Labs). Mills' contributions to
software engineering
Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...
have had a profound and enduring effect on education and industrial practice. Since earning his
Ph.D. in Mathematics at
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...
in 1952, Mills led a distinguished career.
As an
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
research fellow
A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...
, Mills adapted existing ideas from
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
and
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
to software development. These included
automata theory
Automata theory is the study of abstract machines and automata, as well as the computational problems that can be solved using them. It is a theory in theoretical computer science with close connections to cognitive science and mathematical l ...
, the
structured programming Structured programming is a programming paradigm aimed at improving the clarity, quality, and development time of a computer program by making specific disciplined use of the structured control flow constructs of selection ( if/then/else) and repet ...
theory of
Edsger Dijkstra
Edsger Wybe Dijkstra ( ; ; 11 May 1930 – 6 August 2002) was a Dutch computer scientist, programmer, software engineer, mathematician, and science essayist.
Born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Dijkstra studied mathematics and physics and the ...
,
Robert W. Floyd, and others, and
Markov chain
In probability theory and statistics, a Markov chain or Markov process is a stochastic process describing a sequence of possible events in which the probability of each event depends only on the state attained in the previous event. Informally ...
-driven software testing. His
Cleanroom
A cleanroom or clean room is an engineered space that maintains a very low concentration of airborne particulates. It is well-isolated, well-controlled from contamination, and actively cleansed. Such rooms are commonly needed for scientifi ...
software development process
In software engineering, a software development process or software development life cycle (SDLC) is a process of planning and managing software development. It typically involves dividing software development work into smaller, parallel, or s ...
emphasized
top-down design and
formal specification
In computer science, formal specifications are mathematically based techniques whose purpose is to help with the implementation of systems and software. They are used to describe a system, to analyze its behavior, and to aid in its design by verify ...
. Mills contributed his ideas to the profession in six books and over fifty refereed articles in technical journals.
Mills was termed a "super-programmer", a term which would evolve to the concept in IBM of a "
Chief Programmer."
Achievements
* Ph.D.:
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...
, 1952
* Visiting professor (part time) 1975-1987
* Adjunct Professor, 1987-1995
* Chairman, NSF Computer Science Research Panel on Software Methodology, 1974–77
* Chairman of the First National Conference on Software Engineering, 1975
* Editor for IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 1975–81
* U.S. representative for software at the IFIP Congress, 1977
* Governor of the IEEE Computer Society, 1980–83
* Chairman for IEEE Fall CompCon, 1981
* Chairman, Computer Science Panel,
U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, 1986
* Awardee, Distinguished Information Sciences Award, DPMA 1985
* Designer of initial NFL scheduling algorithm (http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_harlan/407/)
* Recipient of
ACM SIGSOFT Outstanding Research Award,
1999.
The ICSE-affiliated colloquium "Science and Engineering for Software Development" was being organized in honor of Harlan D. Mills (1919–1996), and as a recognition of his enduring legacy to the theory and practice of software engineering. The first annual "Harlan Mills Practical Visionary Prize" award was presented in 1996. This award is given to an individual who has demonstrated a long-standing and meaningful contribution to both the theory and practice of the information sciences.
Career
Early life
Born in
Liberty Center, Iowa. As a young man, Mills studied art with
Grant Wood
Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891February 12, 1942) was an American artist and representative of Regionalism (art), Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for ''America ...
. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Mills became a bomber pilot in the
U.S. Army Air Corps. His skills in flying and teaching were such that rather than having him fly missions, the Army assigned him to train other pilots.
Education
Mills served on the faculties of
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...
,
Princeton,
New York and
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...
Universities, the Universities of Maryland and Florida,
and
Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). At Johns Hopkins and Maryland, he initiated one of the first American university courses in structured programming. At Maryland, he developed a new two-semester freshman introduction to computer science and textbook "''Principles of Computer Programming: A Mathematical Approach''" with co-authors Basili, Gannon, and Hamlet. At FIT, he developed a new freshman and sophomore curriculum for software engineering using Ada as the underlying language with colleagues Engle and Newman.
Industry
Mills was an
IBM Fellow
An IBM Fellow is a position at IBM appointed by the CEO. Typically only four to nine (eleven in 2014) IBM Fellows are appointed each year, in May or June. Fellow is the highest honor a scientist, engineer, or programmer at IBM can achieve.
Over ...
and Member of the Corporate Technical Committee at IBM, a Technical Staff Member at GE
and RCA, and President of Mathematica and Software Engineering Technology. At GE, he developed a three-month curriculum in management science attended by hundreds of GE executives. At IBM, he was the primary architect of the IBM Software Engineering Institute where thousands of IBM software personnel were trained in the mathematical foundations of software. He later embodied the mathematical and statistical principles for software in the Cleanroom software engineering process. As founder of Software Engineering Technology, he created an enterprise for Cleanroom technology transfer.
Nation
Mills had an abiding interest in fostering sound software engineering practices through federal programs. During the formative period of the DoD DARPA STARS Program in the 1980s, he provided fundamental concepts for development of high quality software at high productivity. In 1986, he served as Chairman of the Computer Science Panel for the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. During 1974-77, he was Chairman of the NSF Computer Science Research Panel on Software Methodology.
Profession
Mills was a program committee member and invited speaker for many professional conferences, and a referee for many mathematics and computer science journals. From 1980-83, he was governor of the IEEE Computer Society. In 1981, he was the chairman for IEEE Fall CompCon. During 1975-81, he served as editor for IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering. In 1977, he was the U.S. representative for software at the IFIP Congress. In 1975, he was the chairman of the First National Conference on Software Engineering.
Harlan D. Mills Award
To honor Mills the
IEEE Computer Society
IEEE Computer Society (commonly known as the Computer Society or CS) is a technical society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) dedicated to computing, namely the major areas of hardware, software, standards and people ...
created the ''Harlan D. Mills Award'', the first one presented in 1999, for "contributions to the theory and practice of the
information sciences,
ocused onsoftware engineering
Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...
".
The list of awardees is maintained on the IEEE website.
Further reading
* Linger and Witt (1979), ''Structured Programming: Theory and Practice'', presents Mills' function-theoretic approach to program verification
* ''Software Productivity'' (1983), includes a collection of his seminal papers on chief programmer teams, top-down design, structured programming, program correctness, and other fundamental ideas in software engineering
* Linger and Hevner (1986), ''Principles of Information System Analysis and Design'', includes Mills' reduction of the mathematics of specification and design to practice
References
External links
IP: Harlan Mills passed away this week- Mailing list message with details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Harlan
Iowa State University alumni
1919 births
1996 deaths
Formal methods people
IBM Fellows
Florida Institute of Technology faculty