Kenneth T. Orr (May 10, 1939 – June 14, 2016) was an American

software engineer 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 ''p ...

, executive and consultant, known for his contributions in the field of software engineering to

structured analysis In software engineering, structured analysis (SA) and structured design (SD) are methods for analyzing business requirements and developing specifications for converting practices into computer programs, hardware configurations, and related manual ...

and with the

Warnier/Orr diagram A Warnier/Orr diagram (also known as a logical construction of a program/system) is a kind of hierarchical flowchart that allows the description of the organization of data and procedures. They were initially developed 1976, in France by Jean-Domi ...

Education

Orr received his BA in Mathematics and Physics in 1960 from

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

, and his MA in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

in 1963 from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

.Ken Orr: Fellow and Senior Consultant
at cutter.com. Accessed December 6, 2013.

Career

Orr started his career as Director of Information Systems at the State of Kansas in 1970. In 1973 he founded his own firm Ken Orr & Associates, which he directed until 1985. He was Professor at the School of Technology and Information Management of the

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, where he directed its Center for the Innovative Application of Technology. From 1988 until his death he was President of the Ken Orr Institute. Beginning in 2000, Ken served as a

Cutter Consortium Cutter Consortium, founded by Karen Fine Coburn in 1986, is an information technology research company based in Arlington, Massachusetts. History Cutter Information Corp. was founded by Karen Fine Coburn in 1986. In 1990, Cutter purchased the righ ...

Fellow and Senior Consultant. Ken Orr died on June 14, 2016.

Publications

;Books: * * ;Articles, a selection: * * *
Word document version.
*

References

External links

The Ken Orr Institute
(KOI) American business executives American software engineers Wichita State University alumni University of Chicago alumni Washington University in St. Louis faculty 1939 births 2016 deaths {{software-eng-stub