Allen Newell Award for Research Excellence (2016)[5]
Scientific career
Fields
Software architecture
Software engineering
Institutions
Carnegie Mellon University
David Garlan is a professor of computer science atCarnegie Mellon University (CMU), noted for his contributions tosoftware architecture.[6][2] He co-authored two widely used books in the field,Software Architecture: Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline (1996) with Mary Shaw andDocumenting Software Architectures: Views and Beyond (2nd ed., 2010/2011).[7][8]
Garlan earned a B.A. from Amherst College in 1971, a B.A./M.A. (Oxon.) in mathematics from theUniversity of Oxford in 1973, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University in 1987.[6] He is a long-time member of CMU's School of Computer Science and has held roles affiliated with theSoftware Engineering Institute (SEI).[6]
Garlan's research centers on the theory and practice of software architecture, including formal representation and analysis and architecture-based adaptation.[6]
In 1995, with Robert Allen and John Ockerbloom, he co-authoredArchitectural Mismatch: Why Reuse Is So Hard inIEEE Software, which introduced the influential termarchitectural mismatch to describe mismatched assumptions in software component reuse.[9]
In 2004, with Shang-Wen Cheng, An-Cheng Huang, Bradley Schmerl, and Peter Steenkiste, he co-authoredRainbow: Architecture-Based Self-Adaptation with Reusable Infrastructure inIEEE Computer, which presented theRainbow framework a reusable infrastructure for self-adaptive systems that demonstrated how software could monitor and adapt itself at runtime.[10]
with Mary Shaw,Software Architecture: Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline (Prentice Hall, 1996).[7]
with Paul C. Clements et al.,Documenting Software Architectures: Views and Beyond (2nd ed., Addison-Wesley, 2010/2011).[8]
with Robert Allen and John Ockerbloom, "Architectural Mismatch: Why Reuse Is So Hard" (IEEE Software, 12(6), 1995).[9]
with Shang-Wen Cheng, An-Cheng Huang, Bradley Schmerl, and Peter Steenkiste, "Rainbow: Architecture-Based Self-Adaptation with Reusable Infrastructure" (IEEE Computer, 37(10), 2004).[10]
"Software Architecture: A Roadmap," inThe Future of Software Engineering (ICSE 2000).[11]
Major recognitions include the ACM SIGSOFT Outstanding Research Award (2011),[1] election as anACM Fellow (class of 2013),[2] elevation to IEEE Fellow (class of 2013),[3] the Reengineering Forum'sStevens Award and Citation (2005),[4] and CMU'sAllen Newell Award for Research Excellence (2016, with Mary Shaw and Bradley Schmerl).[5]
^Garlan, David (2000)."Software Architecture: A Roadmap"(PDF).Proceedings of the Conference on The Future of Software Engineering. ACM Press. RetrievedSeptember 26, 2025.
