http://www.ics.uci.edu/~djr/
djr@ics.uci.edu

Debra J. Richardson, Director Dean and Professor, UC Irvine Donald Bren School of ICS

Debra J. Richardson, the Ted and Janice Smith Family Foundation Dean of UC Irvine’s Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science, is strongly committed to increasing the participation of women and other underrepresented groups in computing and information technology.

To that end, she serves as director of MICRO (Microelectronics Innovation and Computer Research Opportunities), one of UC’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Programs. She also is a founding member of the Institute for Software Research, a UCI Organized Research Unit. She recently served UCI on the Academic Senate Cabinet and as chair of the Council on Educational Policy. Active in the community, Richardson spends a good deal of her free time advising local industries and organizations. Currently, she sits on the board of directors for Girls, Inc., a non-profit organization committed to supporting young women; Cotelligent, Inc., a leading provider of mobile business solutions, services and wireless hosting and Eventide Capital Partners, LLC, a firm that provides venture capital and strategic services.

A leader in her field, Richardson pioneered research in “specification-based testing,” whereby formal methods are employed to guide software testing. Her current work focuses on enabling specification-based testing technology throughout the software lifecycle, from requirements and architecture analysis through operation and evolution. Richardson received her B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California at San Diego in 1976 and the M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer and Information Science at the University of Massachusetts in 1978 and 1981, respectively.