PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Denys Poshyvanyk

Denys Poshyvanyk is a software engineering researcher who uses machine learning and deep learning to analyze source code and support developers. He completed degrees in Ukraine and the United States, earned a Wayne State Ph.D. under Andrian Marcus, and joined William & Mary in 2008. His work spans software licensing, code-clone detection and deep learning for software engineering; he became an IEEE Fellow in 2023 and was named an ACM Fellow in 2026. In 2025, he co-chaired FSE's program, and his paper on deep-learning code clones won ASE's Most Influential Paper Award. He chairs William & Mary's Computer Science Department, leads SEMERU and studies AI for software engineering and software engineering for AI, including how large language models generate code.

Works
355
Citations
18,216
h-index
82

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. By 2008

    Degrees and a W&M post

    He earns a B.S. from the National University at Kharkov, an M.S. from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Wayne State University, where Andrian Marcus advises his doctoral work. He joins William & Mary in 2008.

  2. 2013

    License compliance research

    In 2013, he receives an NSF CAREER Award for a project to enable license compliance analysis and verification for evolving software.

  3. 2016

    Deep learning detects code clones

    In a 2016 study, he and his coauthors show that deep learning can outperform traditional methods for detecting code clones.

  4. 2017

    Connecting code and language

    In 2017, he and his group explore how source code can mirror human communication, adapting methods from natural-language processing, information retrieval and machine learning to software development.

  5. 2020

    A deep learning research roadmap

    In 2020, he coauthors a roadmap for deep learning research in software engineering, summarizing priorities from an NSF-sponsored workshop.

  6. 2023–2025

    IEEE Fellow and code clone award

    He is elevated to IEEE Fellow in 2023 for integrating software analyses and machine learning. In 2025, he serves as program co-chair for FSE, and his paper “Deep Learning Code Fragments for Code Clone Detection” receives ASE's Most Influential Paper Award.

  7. 2026

    An ACM Fellowship

    In 2026, ACM names him a Fellow for his work developing deep learning and software analytics methods for software engineering.

  8. As of October 2026

    Chair of computer science

    As of October 2026, he is Chair and Chancellor Professor of Computer Science at William & Mary, where he leads SEMERU. His research spans AI for software engineering and software engineering for AI, including work on explaining how large language models generate code.

Career

  1. Since 2008William & MaryChair and Chancellor Professor of Computer Science
  2. 2018–2026Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Education

  1. National University at KharkovB.S.
  2. National University of Kyiv-Mohyla AcademyM.S.
  3. Wayne State UniversityM.A. and Ph.D.

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Deep learning code fragments for code clone detection2016 · IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE) · 613 citations
  2. Feature location in source code: a taxonomy and survey2011 · Journal of Software Evolution and Process · 588 citations
  3. Feature Location Using Probabilistic Ranking of Methods Based on Execution Scenarios and Information Retrieval2007 · IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering · 469 citations
  4. SEQUENCER: Sequence-to-Sequence Learning for End-to-End Program Repair2019 · IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering · 396 citations
  5. An Empirical Study on Learning Bug-Fixing Patches in the Wild via Neural Machine Translation2019 · ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology · 368 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes William & Mary. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Wayne State University. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  3. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Wayne State University. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.
  4. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Denys Poshyvanyk yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Officers of Instruction - William & Mary Academic Catalog catalog.wm.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. W&M announces 2016 Plumeri Award recipients | Philosophy | College of Arts & Sciences | William & Mary wm.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Denys Poshyvanyk's Webpage cs.wm.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Denys Poshyvanyk Receives an NSF CAREER Award | College of Arts & Sciences | William & Mary wm.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Denys Poshyvanyk elevated to fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers - W&M News news.wm.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. A ‘holy grail’ of computing hidden in human speech | College of Arts & Sciences | William & Mary wm.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  7. Deep Learning & Software Engineering: State of Research and Future Directions arxiv.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  8. Deep Learning Code Fragments for Code Clone Detection (ASE 2025 - MIP Award) - ASE 2025 conf.researchr.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  9. Organizing Committee - FSE 2025 conf.researchr.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  10. W&M’s Denys Poshyvanyk named Association for Computing Machinery Fellow | News & Events | W&M School of Computing, Data Sciences and Physics cdsp.wm.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.