A Technical History of the SEI

Robert J. Kent
President of SOSSEC Inc.
In the summer of 1984, I was a program manager in the United States Air Force Electronic System
Division at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts. I was given a directive to establish a
DoD Software Engineering Institute to address the perceived software crisis in the development of
mission-critical DoD systems. The following was to be the mission:
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) shall provide this: bring the ablest professional
minds and the most effective technology to bear on rapid improvement of the quality of operational
software in mission-critical computer systems. The Institute shall accelerate the reduction
to practice modern software engineering techniques and methods and shall promulgate
use of modern techniques and methods to help the mission-critical systems. The Institute
shall establish standards of excellence for software engineering practice.
During 1985, a competitive source selection process was undertaken by the Department of Defense
to select a university team to address the mission of the SEI and its establishment as a federally
funded research and development center. Seven university teams competed for the award of
the DoD’s SEI. Of these, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, emerged as the
leading candidate after an exhaustive selection process. CMU’s vision for the Institute was considered
outstanding and its past history in engineering science was more than expected. CMU was
subsequently awarded a five-year, $100 million contract that has renewed every five years up to
this date and is going through the renewal process this year.
At the outset, the Institute, which was headquartered on the campus of CMU, had trouble with
startup due to various pressures from the DoD, the academic community, and industry. These
pressures resulted in the replacement of two directors in the first year of operation, stalling the
SEI’s effectiveness. At this point, in 1986, Dr. Larry Druffel was selected to be the director of the
SEI. Larry brought not only an outstanding background in the science of engineering but a passion
for the vision and a leadership style that was able to harmonize the various cultures and agendas
surrounding the SEI. Over the following 10 years, Larry was able to revamp the very nature
and methods by which the DoD approached software-intensive systems. One of his achievements
was to bring focus to the SEI’s specific initiatives aimed at improving engineering capabilities.
One of these initiatives led to the development of the software maturity model and the process
models derived from it. They have stood the test of time and have fundamentally changed the industry.
It was Larry’s early innovations that set the course for this revolution.
This report details the evolution of the SEI from its inception to today, and how Larry was able to
establish the SEI as a national asset in software engineering. His legacy, which now has been
passed through three additional generations of capable and visionary leaders, has been lasting and
the Institute continues to lead the nation in software engineering under the able guidance of Dr.
Paul Nielsen. Larry has continued to be involved in each generation of leadership as a special advisor
so his vision continues to set the sense and direction for the SEI. Anyone who has an interest
in the evolution of software engineering should read this report.
CMU/SEI-2016-SR-027 | SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE | CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY
Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited
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