Debra J. Richardson
Department Chair
Information and Computer Science
University of California at Irvine

Debra J. Richardson is Department Chair and Associate Professor of Information and Computer Science at the University of California at Irvine and holds the Ted and Janice Smith Family Foundation Endowed Chair. She received the B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California at San Diego in 1976, with the intention of teaching high school math. She became interested in computer science, however, and chose to attend graduate school. An urge to leave California (native born and raised) sent her east, planning to get an M.S. and return west within two years. She received her M.S. in Computer and Information Science at the University of Massachusetts in 1978, and then stayed on for the Ph.D., which she received in 1981. Not quite ready to leave, in part because she was starting "lock" for the national champion women's rugby team, she joined the COINS faculty as a "visiting" professor. Six years later, it was time to stop visiting! Debra returned home to Orange County, joining the UCI faculty in 1987.

Dr. Richardson pioneered research in "specification-based testing", whereby formal specifications and methods are employed to guide and evaluate software testing and analysis. She has been investigating software testing for over 15 years. Her current work focuses on enabling specification-based testing technology throughout the software lifecycle, from requirements and architecture analysis through operation and evolution. She has developed leading edge tools, and has worked with several companies in adopting technology to improve the quality of critical software systems.

Dr. Richardson has worked with several companies in adopting technology for improving the quality of their software products and processes. While on sabbatical in 1996, she directed the Quality Enabling Software Technology (QuEST) study at the Microelectronics and Computer Technolgy Corporation (MCC). Out of this study, grew the Quest project, whose goal is to study, transition, evaluate, integrate, and improve software testing and analysis tools and technologies for enabling and enhancing software quality. Richardson was recently named to the Board of Directors of Cotelligent, Inc., a leading provider of mobile business solutions, services and wireless hosting based in San Francisco.

She is currently director of MICRO (Microelectronics Innovation and Computer Research Opportunities), the first industry-university cooperative research program in the University of California (about to celebrate it's 20th anniversary). She is also a founding member of the UC Institute for Software Research (an Organized Research Unit). She currently serves UCI on the Committee on Committees and recently served as a member of UCI's Academic Senate Cabinet and as chair of UCI's Council on Educational Policy.

Richardson has served on several program committees, in particular on the series of International Symposia on Software Testing and Analysis (ISSTA and TAV - General Chair in 2000), and the International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE - General Chair in 2001), as well as the ACM SIGSoft Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE), the International Workshop on Software Specification and Design (IWSSD - Program Chair in 2000), and the Workshop on Formal Methods in Software Practice (FMSP - General Chair in 2000).