David Parnas, Founding Director of the Software Engineering Program at McMaster University, has made outstanding contributions to the science and art of software engineering through the development of basic concepts in software design, software specification methods and the methodology for inspection of safety-critical software.  He has provided visionary leadership in developing educational programmes for computing and software engineering, and in defining the professional role of software engineering.He is currently a Professor Emeritus of the Department of Computing & Software at McMaster University.