Office of the Dean
Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt '84, M.A. '86, is the inaugural Dean of William & Mary's School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics. With more than thirty years of experience as an internationally recognized computing expert, he is a sought-after educator and leader. As Dean, Dr. Schmidt is focused on advancing William & Mary's efforts to prepare students for success in a data-driven world.
Prior to his role with William & Mary, Dr. Schmidt served as the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), a President-appointed Senate-confirmed position that advises the Secretary of Defense on operational and live fire test and evaluation of Department of Defense weapon and information systems. Before his DOT&E appointment, Dr. Schmidt held a variety of roles at Vanderbilt University, including the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering in Computer Science, the Associate Provost for Research, Co-Director of the Data Science Institute, the Associate Chair of Computer Science, and a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Software Integrated Systems. He was instrumental in building Vanderbilt's digital learning initiatives and continually developing innovative programs to serve students. Dr. Schmidt has also been affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute in various research-oriented positions for 20 years.
In addition to higher education, Dr. Schmidt has served in a number of roles in public and private sectors. From 2010 to 2014, he was a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (AF SAB), where he served as Vice Chair of a study on Cyber Situational Awareness for Air Force mission operations, as well as a study on sustaining hardware and software for US aircraft. He also served on the advisory board for the joint Navy/Army Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) initiative. From 2000 to 2003, Dr. Schmidt served as a Program Manager in the DARPA Information Exploitation Office (IXO) and Information Technology Office (ITO). He has also worked for a number of private companies, including Prism Technologies and Zircon Computing.
Dr. Schmidt's research over the past four decades covers a range of software-related topics, including patterns, optimization techniques, and quality assurance of frameworks and model-driven engineering tools that facilitate the development of mission-critical middleware for cyber-physical systems and intelligent mobile cloud computing applications. He is a highly cited author with over 50,000 citations to date and has published more than 700 papers and co-authored more than 10 books. He has also developed widely-used open-source DRE middleware, model-driven engineering tools and mobile cloud computing apps. His recent research focuses on prompt engineering techniques and patterns that enhance the accuracy and expressiveness of large language models and generative augmented intelligence platforms. Dr. Schmidt received Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Sociology from William & Mary and Master of Science and Doctorate degrees in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine.
