John D. Gannon (1948 – June 12, 1999) was a prominent

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 ...

, professor and chair of the department of computer science University of Maryland, at College Park. Gannon was a leading researcher in

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 '' ...

, specifically the

specification A specification often refers to a set of documented requirements to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service. A specification is often a type of technical standard. There are different types of technical or engineering specificati ...

analysis Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

, and

testing An examination (exam or evaluation) or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test may be administered verba ...

software systems A software system is a system of intercommunicating components based on software forming part of a computer system (a combination of hardware and software). It "consists of a number of separate programs, configuration files, which are used to ...

Career

Gannon earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. He received his Ph.D. from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1975, after which he became an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Maryland that same year. In 1980, he became associate professor of computer science at the University of Maryland and full professor in 1988. In 1995, he became chair of the computer science department. He served on the board of directors of the

Computing Research Association The Computing Research Association (CRA) is a 501(c)3 non-profit association of North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia enga ...

and was chairman of the board for the

Graduate Record Examination The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States and Canada and a few other countries. The GRE is owned and administered by Educational Testing Servi ...

computer science committee. He was the program director for software engineering for the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

and served on the editorial boards of the ''

IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering The ''IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the IEEE Computer Society. It was established in 1975 and covers the area of software engineering. It is considered the leading journal i ...

'' and ''

ACM Computing Surveys ''ACM Computing Surveys'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Association for Computing Machinery. It publishes survey articles and tutorials related to computer science and computing. The journal was established in 196 ...

.''

Awards

*1993 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, University of Maryland *1999 Fellow, Association for Computing Machinery

Legacy

In October 1999, his wife, Nancy Garrison and brother, Rickard Gannon, established the John D. Gannon Memorial Scholarship "in recognition of his many contributions and achievements as a teacher, researcher and professional in the field of computer science."

External links

John D. Gannon Memorial Scholarship

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gannon, John D. American computer scientists 1948 births 1999 deaths University of Toronto alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty 1999 Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery Brown University alumni