Richard DeMillo
contemporaryPhilosophy of Computer Scienceb. 1947
Richard A. DeMillo is an American computer scientist and academic whose work spans software engineering, program verification, and the philosophy of computing. He is best known for co-authoring the influential 1979 paper 'Social Processes and Proofs of Theorems and Programs' with Alan Perlis and Richard Lipton, which challenged the feasibility of formal program verification by arguing that mathematical proof and program correctness operate under fundamentally different epistemic constraints.
Notable Achievements
1
Co-authored 'Social Processes and Proofs of Theorems and Programs' (1979), a landmark critique of formal program verification
2
Pioneered mutation testing methodology (DeMillo-Lipton-Sayward hypothesis)
3
Served as Dean of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology
4
Served as Chief Technology Officer at Hewlett-Packard
5
Author of 'Revolution in Higher Education' on technology and university reform