James Charles Paul Woodcock is a British

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...

. Woodcock gained his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

. Until 2001 he was Professor of

Software Engineering Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...

at the

Oxford University Computing Laboratory The Department of Computer Science is the computer science department of the University of Oxford, England, which is part of the university's Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Mathematical, Physical and Life ...

, where he was also a Fellow of

Kellogg College Kellogg College is a graduate-only constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1990 as Rewley House, Kellogg is the university's 36th college and the largest by number of students. It hosts research centres including ...

. He then joined the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

and is now based at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

, where, since October 2012, he has been head of the Department of Computer Science. His research interests include: strong

software engineering Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...

, Grand Challenge in dependable systems evolution,

unifying theories of programming Unifying Theories of Programming (UTP) in computer science deals with program semantics. It shows how denotational semantics, operational semantics and algebraic semantics can be combined in a unified framework for the formal specification, design ...

formal specification In computer science, formal specifications are mathematically based techniques whose purpose are 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 verif ...

refinement Refinement may refer to: Mathematics * Equilibrium refinement, the identification of actualized equilibria in game theory * Refinement of an equivalence relation, in mathematics ** Refinement (topology), the refinement of an open cover in mathem ...

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

, state-rich systems,

mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

and reconfigurable processes,

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

, Grand Challenge in the railway domain. He has a background in

formal methods In computer science, formal methods are mathematically rigorous techniques for the specification, development, and verification of software and hardware systems. The use of formal methods for software and hardware design is motivated by the expec ...

, especially the

Z notation The Z notation is a formal specification language used for describing and modelling computing systems. It is targeted at the clear specification of computer programs and computer-based systems in general. History In 1974, Jean-Raymond Abrial ...

and CSP. Woodcock worked on applying the Z notation to the IBM

CICS IBM CICS (Customer Information Control System) is a family of mixed-language application servers that provide online transaction management and connectivity for applications on IBM mainframe systems under z/OS and z/VSE. CICS family products ...

project, helping to gain a

Queen's Award for Technological Achievement Queens is a borough of New York City. Queens or Queen's may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Queens (group), a Polish musical group * "Queens" (Saara Aalto song), 2018 * ''Queens'' (novel), by Stephen Pickles, 1984 * "Queens", a song by C ...

, and

Mondex Mondex was a smart card electronic cash system, implemented as a stored-value card and owned by Mastercard. Pioneered by two bankers from NatWest in 1990, it was spun-off to a separate consortium later on, then sold again to Mastercard. Mond ...

, helping to gain the highest

ITSEC The Information Technology Security Evaluation Criteria (ITSEC) is a structured set of criteria for evaluating computer security within products and systems. The ITSEC was first published in May 1990 in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Unit ...

classification level. Prof. Woodcock is

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the ''

Formal Aspects of Computing ''Formal Aspects of Computing'' (''FAOC'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media, covering the area of formal methods and associated topics in computer science. The editors-in-chief are Jim Woodcock and ...

'' journal.

Books

* Jim Woodcock and Jim Davies, ''Using Z: Specification, Refinement, and Proof''.

Prentice-Hall Prentice Hall was an American major educational publisher owned by Savvas Learning Company. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market, and distributes its technical titles through the Safari B ...

International Series in Computer Science, 1996. . * Jim Woodcock and Martin Loomes,
Software Engineering Mathematics: Formal Methods Demystified
'. Kindle Edition,

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

, 2007.

References

External links

Official homepage

Personal homepage

* * 1956 births Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool British computer scientists Formal methods people Members of the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford Fellows of Kellogg College, Oxford Academics of the University of Kent Academics of the University of York Fellows of the British Computer Society Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Computer science writers British textbook writers Academic journal editors {{UK-compu-bio-stub