PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Gail C Murphy

Gail C Murphy is a computer scientist whose research includes software recommenders, program comprehension, and tools for software developers. She earned an honours B.Sc. at Alberta, completed graduate study at Washington, joined UBC's computer science faculty in 1996, and co-founded Tasktop in 2007. ACM named her a Fellow in 2017, and SIGSOFT gave her its Outstanding Research Award in 2023 for work on software engineering recommenders and program comprehension. After completing a nine-year term as UBC's Vice-President, Research and Innovation, she took up the President and CEO role at Science World in October 2026 and is a professor of computer science at UBC.

Timeline

  1. 1987–1996

    Software work and graduate study

    She earns an honours B.Sc. at the University of Alberta in 1987 and works as a software designer at MPR Teltech from 1987 to 1992. She completes an M.Sc. at the University of Washington in 1994 and a Ph.D. there in 1996.

  2. 1996–2006

    UBC faculty appointments

    She joins the University of British Columbia as an assistant professor in 1996, becomes an associate professor in 2001, and becomes a professor in 2006.

  3. 2007

    Co-founding Tasktop

    She co-founds Tasktop Technologies with Mik Kersten and Robert Elves in 2007.

  4. 2015

    Royal Society of Canada fellowship

    She is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2015.

  5. 2017

    ACM Fellowship and UBC vice-presidency

    In August 2017, she becomes UBC's Vice-President, Research and Innovation. ACM names her a Fellow in 2017 for her contributions to software engineering recommenders and program comprehension.

  6. 2023

    SIGSOFT Outstanding Research Award

    SIGSOFT gives her its Outstanding Research Award in 2023 for contributions to recommenders for software engineering and program comprehension.

  7. October 2026

    President and CEO at Science World

    She completes a nine-year term as UBC's Vice-President, Research and Innovation before taking up the role of President and CEO at Science World in October 2026. She remains a professor of computer science at UBC, where her group develops tools to aid the evolution of large software systems and studies how developers work.

  1. 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.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Sources and credits

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  1. Gail Murphy | Computer Science at UBC cs.ubc.ca. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Happy 15th, Tasktop! Happy 5th, Planview Hub! blog.planview.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. UW CSE Ph.D. alum Gail Murphy elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada news.cs.washington.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Professor Steve Seitz, alumni Gail Murphy and Geoff Voelker named Fellows of the ACM news.cs.washington.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. UBC computer scientist named VP research and innovation science.ubc.ca. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. Outstanding Research Award www2.sigsoft.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  7. Senior Leadership Team - Science World scienceworld.ca. Checked 19 October 2026.
  8. Gail C Murphy | UBC | Professor (Computer Science) blogs.ubc.ca. Checked 19 October 2026.