PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Richard N. Taylor

Also known as Dick Taylor

Richard Taylor is a software engineering researcher and UC Irvine professor emeritus whose work on software architecture includes the C2 style and, with Roy Fielding, the REST style for Internet applications. A Colorado native, he earned a master's degree in 1976 and a doctorate in computer science in 1980 at the University of Colorado at Boulder, then directed the Institute for Software Research from 1999 through 2017. He chaired Roy Fielding's 2000 dissertation committee, and their paper "Principled Design of the Modern Web Architecture" earned the 2017 ACM SIGSOFT Impact Paper Award. He was named an ACM Fellow in 1998, received the ACM SIGSOFT Outstanding Research Award in 2009, and coauthored the textbook Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory and Practice with Nenad Medvidović and Eric Dashofy. He supervised 30 Ph.D. students, was named to the inaugural class of the ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Academy in 2026, and is Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Information and Computer Sciences at UC Irvine.

Born
1952
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1976–1980

    Computer science at Colorado Boulder

    A Colorado native, he moves from CU Denver to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he earns a master's degree in 1976 and a Ph.D. in computer science in 1980. He returns to academia after a brief stint at Boeing.

  2. 1985–2010

    ACM Fellow and SIGSOFT awards

    He receives a Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1985 and is named an ACM Fellow in 1998. The ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Service Award follows in 2005, ICSE's Most Influential Paper Award in 2008 for "Architecture-based runtime software evolution" with Peyman Oreizy and Nenad Medvidović, and the ACM SIGSOFT Outstanding Research Award in 2009. UC Irvine designates him a Chancellor's Professor in February 2010.

  3. 1999–2017

    Directing the Institute for Software Research

    He establishes the University of California's Institute for Software Research in July 1999 and directs it through 2017. The institute works with established companies, startups, government agencies and standards bodies to develop software technologies and bring them into practical use.

  4. 2000–2017

    REST with Roy Fielding

    He chairs the committee for Roy Fielding's 2000 UC Irvine dissertation, whose fifth chapter describes Representational State Transfer (REST), and calls REST's principles the basis for the Web we enjoy today. He and Fielding present "Principled Design of the Modern Web Architecture" at ICSE 2000, and the paper earns them the ACM SIGSOFT Impact Paper Award in 2017. Fielding is one of the 30 Ph.D. students he supervises.

  5. 2009

    A software architecture textbook

    In 2009, he and two former students, Nenad Medvidović and Eric Dashofy, publish the textbook Software Architecture: Foundations, Theory and Practice. His research on architecture covers styles such as C2 and, with Fielding, REST, along with the xADL architecture description language and the ArchStudio environments.

  6. October 2018

    A graduate award in his name

    In October 2018, UC Irvine's Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences announces the Richard N. Taylor Graduate Award in Software Engineering, the first award in the school dedicated to software engineering. Donations and pledges from 23 alumni reach just over $100,000 by fall 2018.

  7. 2026

    Inaugural SIGSOFT Academy class

    He is named to the ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Academy in 2026 as part of its inaugural class.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor Emeritus at Irvine

    He is Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Information and Computer Sciences at UC Irvine and Director Emeritus of the Institute for Software Research. His 31-year career at the campus includes official retirement in 2013.

Career

  1. Since 1999University of California, IrvineProfessor, Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Information and Computer Sciences

Education

  1. 1980University of Colorado BoulderMaster's degree and Ph.D. in computer science
  2. University of Colorado Denver

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of California, Irvine. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of California, Irvine. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of California, Irvine. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes University of California, Irvine. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Richard N. Taylor yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Richard Taylor ics.uci.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Master mentor – UC Irvine News news.uci.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. Software engineering researcher receives college's top alumni award | Computer Science | University of Colorado Boulder colorado.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. SIGSOFT - ACM Special Interest Group on Software Engineering sigsoft.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. Richard N. Taylor Graduate Award in Software Engineering Established – Institute for Software Research isr.uci.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-based Software Architectures ics.uci.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. A matter of protocol – UC Irvine News news.uci.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. ACM SIGSOFT Impact Paper Award www2.sigsoft.org. Checked 22 October 2026.