PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Tim J. Menzies

Tim Menzies is a computer scientist whose research applies AI to software engineering. After a Ph.D. in cognitive science at the University of New South Wales in 1995, he became an associate professor at West Virginia University, where he directed the Modeling Intelligence Lab. In 2004, he and Jelber Sayyad conceived the idea of making software-engineering research reproducible by publishing its data, and Menzies went on to co-found the PROMISE conference series. He joined NC State in 2014, was named an IEEE Fellow in 2018, an Automated Software Engineering Fellow in 2023 and an ACM Fellow in 2024, and entered the inaugural class of the ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Academy in 2026. He is a professor at NC State, directs the Irrational Research Lab and has edited the journal Automated Software Engineering since 2022.

Timeline

  1. 1986–1995

    Cognitive science at UNSW

    He studies at the University of New South Wales in Australia, earning a B.S. in computer science, a Master of Cognitive Science and a Ph.D. in cognitive science, with the doctorate in 1995. He has worked on advanced modeling and AI since 1986.

  2. 2004–2007

    Starting the PROMISE series

    One night in 2004, walking around Chicago's Grant Park, he and Jelber Sayyad resolve to make software-engineering conclusions reproducible by having authors publish their data with their papers. He co-founds the PROMISE conference series devoted to reproducible experiments in software engineering. His 2007 paper in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Data Mining Static Code Attributes to Learn Defect Predictors, tops his list of most-cited papers.

  3. 2009–2012

    Modeling Intelligence Lab at WVU

    By 2009, he is an associate professor at West Virginia University's Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, a former research chair for NASA, and director of the Modeling Intelligence Lab. In 2011, he teaches data mining and artificial intelligence and leads projects for NSF, NIJ, DoD and NASA's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. In 2012, he co-chairs the program committee of the Automated Software Engineering conference.

  4. 2014

    Joining NC State

    He joins the Department of Computer Science at North Carolina State University in 2014. He becomes director of the RAISE lab (real world AI for SE) and curator of the PROMISE repository of software-engineering project data.

  5. 2018–2024

    IEEE, ASE and ACM fellowships

    He becomes an IEEE Fellow in 2018 and an Automated Software Engineering Fellow in 2023. In 2024, the ACM names him a Fellow for contributions to the foundation and application of AI to software engineering.

  6. Since 2022

    Editor-in-chief of Automated SE

    He becomes editor-in-chief of Springer Nature's Automated Software Engineering journal in 2022, after first serving as an associate editor. The journal publishes research on AI and automation for building, testing and maintaining software.

  7. 2026

    SIGSOFT Academy and Springer award

    He receives a 2026 Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award as an Editor of Distinction. He is also inducted in 2026, with NC State colleague Laurie Williams, into the inaugural class of the ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Academy, which honors individuals whose cumulative work has shaped modern software engineering research, practice and education.

  8. As of October 2026

    Irrational Research Lab at NC State

    He is a full professor at NC State and directs the Irrational Research Lab, which studies software engineering for AI and finds that smaller, interpretable models repeatedly match or beat larger ones on real SE tasks. He co-created the PROMISE repository and its successor, the MOOT repository (Many Multi-Objective Optimization Tasks). He has advised 24 Ph.D. students and drawn $19M in grants from NASA, NSF, NSA, LexisNexis, Microsoft, Meta and the National Archives.

Career

  1. Since 2014North Carolina State UniversityProfessor
  2. 2009–2012West Virginia UniversityAssociate professor, Director
  3. NASAResearch chair

Education

  1. 1995UNSW SydneyPhD

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes North Carolina State University. 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.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes North Carolina State University. 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.
  3. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes North Carolina State University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes North Carolina State University. 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.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Tim J. Menzies yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Tim Menzies Named ACM Fellow csc.ncsu.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Tim Menzies | AI & SE timm.fyi. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. ai @ wvu: Tim Menzies ai-at-wvu.blogspot.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Tim Menzies Featured in 'People of ACM' csc.ncsu.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. tim.menzies | ICSE 2011 2011.icse-conferences.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Research | Tim Menzies timm.fyi. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Menzies Named a 2026 Springer Nature Editor of Distinction csc.ncsu.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Williams, Menzies Inducted into Inaugural Class of the ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Academy csc.ncsu.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. IRL · Irrational Research Lab timm.fyi. Checked 20 October 2026.