Nancy R. Mead
Nancy Rose Mead | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1942 New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Computer scientist, software engineer, educator |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Known for | Computer security, software engineering education, requirements engineering |
Nancy Rose Mead (born 1942) is a prominent American computer scientist known for her significant work in the fields of computer security, software engineering education, and requirements engineering.
Background and education
Originating from New Jersey and raised in a family of second-generation Armenian immigrants, Mead developed an early interest in mathematics. She obtained a BA with honors in mathematics and French in 1963, followed by an MS in mathematics in 1967, both from New York University. In 1983, she earned her PhD in mathematics from the Polytechnic Institute of New York (currently NYU Tandon School of Engineering), completing a dissertation entitled "Complexity Measures for System Design" under the mentorship of Stanley Preiser.
Career
Between 1966 and 1990, Mead was employed at IBM, where she concentrated on software development, managing extensive real-time systems, advancing software engineering technologies, and contributing to educational initiatives. She was promoted to Senior Technical Staff Member in 1988.
From 1990 until 2018, Mead was affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, focusing her expertise on software engineering and cybersecurity engineering. Her work emphasized analyzing software and security requirements as well as developing curricula for software assurance. She served as the Principal Investigator for the SQUARE method related to security requirements engineering and directed the Software Assurance Curriculum Project, which delivered the Master of Software Assurance Reference Curriculum endorsed by both IEEE and the ACM. Currently, her research interests include threat modeling and managing risks within supply chains.
Awards and honors
In 2006, Mead was honored as an IEEE Fellow, followed by recognition as a Distinguished Educator by the ACM in 2009. Since 2010, the IEEE Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (IEEE CSEE&T) has presented the Nancy Mead Award for Excellence in Software Engineering Education in tribute to her role in founding the conference. She was inducted as a Fellow of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) in 2013. The IEEE Computer Society Technical Council on Software Engineering (TCSE) granted her their Distinguished Education Award in 2015. In 2019, Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre, awarded her the Parnas Fellowship. She joined the IEEE Distinguished Visitor Program in 2020. Most recently, in 2024, she received the IEEE Women in Services Computing Award alongside Yanchun Sun from Peking University.
Publications
Mead has contributed to over 150 scholarly publications. She co-authored two influential industry volumes: Software Security Engineering (Addison-Wesley, 2008) and Cyber Security Engineering (Addison-Wesley, 2016). Her most widely cited research papers address topics such as requirements engineering, security quality requirements engineering through the SQUARE methodology, critical system survivability, and analysis of survivable network systems—highlighting her substantial impact on software security and assurance disciplines.
External links
- Nancy Mead profile at Carnegie Mellon University