Watts Humphrey, known as "Father of Software Quality" passed away

We are saddened to inform you that Watts Humphrey, founder of the SEI’s Software Process and recipient of the National Medal of Technology, died yesterday at his home in Sarasota, Florida. He was 83.

 

Known as the “Father of Software Quality” Humphrey dedicated the majority of his career to addressing problems in software development including schedule delays, cost increases, performance problems, and defects. Humphrey joined the SEI in 1986, after making what he described as an “outrageous commitment to change the world of software engineering.”

 

At the SEI, Humphrey established the Software Process Program and led development of the Software Capability Maturity Model, and introduced the Software Process Assessment and Software Capability Evaluation methods. These later became the basis for the development of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), a framework of software engineering best practices that have been adopted by thousands of organizations across the globe. 

 

For his work in software engineering, Humphrey was awarded the 2003 National Medal of Technology which he received from President George W. Bush in a special ceremony at the White House in 2005. Humphrey is the author of 12 books on software engineering and hundreds of technical reports, journal articles, and columns. The Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute in Chennai, India, is named after him.

 

To read about Humphrey’s legacy, see videos, read samples of his published work, and share your own story, visit www.sei.cmu.edu/watts.