PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Douglas C. Schmidt

Also known as Doug Schmidt

Douglas C. Schmidt is a computer scientist whose recent research covers prompt engineering for large language models. He earned sociology degrees from William & Mary, completed a computer science doctorate at UC Irvine in 1994, and oversaw more than $60 million in DARPA middleware funding from 2000 to 2002. He became a professor at Vanderbilt in 2003, where he developed open-source middleware, and in February 2024 the Senate confirmed him as Director of Operational Test and Evaluation for the Department of Defense. As of October 2026, he is the inaugural dean of William & Mary's School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics.

Now at
William & Mary
Works
623

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 1994

    A UC Irvine doctorate

    He earns sociology degrees from William & Mary, completes a computer science doctorate at UC Irvine in 1994, and joins Washington University in St. Louis in August 1994.

  2. 2000–2002

    Middleware funding at DARPA

    As a DARPA program manager from 2000 to 2002, he oversees more than $60 million in middleware funding.

  3. 2003

    Open-source middleware at Vanderbilt

    In 2003 he becomes a professor of computer science at Vanderbilt, where he develops widely used open-source middleware.

  4. 2010

    Chief technology officer at SEI

    In 2010 he becomes deputy director and chief technology officer at the Software Engineering Institute.

  5. 2018–2022

    Data science institute co-director

    From 2018 to 2022 he serves as associate provost for research development and technologies and as co-director of the Vanderbilt Data Science Institute.

  6. 2023

    Prompt patterns for ChatGPT

    He co-authors A Prompt Pattern Catalog to Enhance Prompt Engineering with ChatGPT, submitted to arXiv in February 2023. Prompt engineering for large language models becomes the focus of his recent research.

  7. May 2024–January 2025

    Director of operational testing

    The Senate confirms him in February 2024, and from May 2024 to January 2025 he serves as Director of Operational Test and Evaluation for the Department of Defense.

  8. Since 2025

    Inaugural dean at William & Mary

    In January 2025 he becomes the inaugural dean of William & Mary's School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics.

Sources and credits

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  1. Resume for Douglas C. Schmidt cs.wm.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Douglas C. Schmidt | Leadership Team | W&M School of Computing, Data Sciences and Physics cdsp.wm.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Douglas C. Schmidt - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Biographical Information for Douglas C. Schmidt dre.vanderbilt.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. [2302.11382] A Prompt Pattern Catalog to Enhance Prompt Engineering with ChatGPT arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. U.S. Senate confirms Schmidt to lead operational testing and evaluation for the Department of Defense | News | Vanderbilt University news.vanderbilt.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.