Ivar Jacobson
Also known as Ivar Hjalmar Jacobson
Ivar Jacobson is a Swedish computer scientist whose software-engineering work included Waypointer, a tool that used intelligent-agent techniques to support the Rational Unified Process. He earned an engineering degree from Chalmers and a doctorate from the Royal Institute of Technology, worked on Ericsson telephone-switch software, and developed OOSE and use cases. At Rational, he worked with Grady Booch and James Rumbaugh on UML; later, he founded Ivar Jacobson International. He wrote Use Case 2.0 and helped launch SEMAT, whose work produced Essence. He received Chalmers' Gustaf Dalén medal in 2003 and became a director of Ivar Jacobson Consulting Limited in February 2020; the company dissolved in June 2026.
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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
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1962–1986
Engineering and software design
Jacobson is a Swedish computer scientist. He earns a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Chalmers in 1962 and a doctorate from the Royal Institute of Technology in 1985. At Ericsson, he proposes software components for telephone switches in 1967 and introduces use cases for software requirements in 1986.
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1987–1992
Objectory and OOSE
He starts Objective Systems in April 1987; Ericsson takes a majority stake in 1991 and renames it Objectory. He develops Object-Oriented Software Engineering (OOSE), published in 1992.
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1995–1996
Working on UML at Rational
His Objectory company joins Rational in 1995, where he works with Grady Booch and James Rumbaugh on UML. The team releases UML 0.9 and 0.91 in 1996.
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2000
Waypointer agent techniques
With Agneta Jacobson, he founds Jaczone AB; the company develops Waypointer to support the Rational Unified Process with intelligent-agent techniques.
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2003
A Chalmers medal
He receives the Gustaf Dalén medal from Chalmers in 2003.
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2004
Founding Ivar Jacobson International
He forms Ivar Jacobson International in mid-2004.
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2005–2014
Use Case 2.0 and Essence
He writes the Use Case 2.0 paper in 2005, integrating ideas similar to user stories into use cases. In December 2009, he launches SEMAT with Bertrand Meyer and Richard Soley to build a rigorous basis for software engineering. Its work leads to Essence, an OMG standard adopted in November 2014.
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February 2020–June 2026
A consulting company directorship
He becomes a director of Ivar Jacobson Consulting Limited in February 2020; the company is dissolved in June 2026.
Sources and credits
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