John Foreman
SEI Fellow
For 35 years, John Foreman has worked in the complete lifecycle of software and systems, developing and transitioning software technologies. Foreman is currently the director of the Client Technical Solutions Directorate in the Software Solutions Division of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). He is responsible for providing direct acquisition and technical support to the Ground, Air, Space, C4, Enterprise Sectors, Intelligence Community, and Civil Agencies. In this role, he manages a $20+ million portfolio of work and supervises 52 full-time and 6 part-time software engineers. He has also led the SEI's research and development activities focused on the application of agile methods in government contexts.
Prior to his current position, John was chief engineer for Air Force Programs and was responsible for providing direct acquisition and technical support to space, command and control, and unmanned and aircraft system acquisition programs in the Air Force. In this role, he managed a $9 million portfolio of work and supervised 17 full-time and 6 part-time software engineers.
In addition to directing acquisition/technical support, he played a leading role in defining and executing the SEI's independent technical assessments (ITAs), developing the SEI's body of knowledge on Agile methods, developing process in execution reviews (PIERs), and developing and maintaining the Software Acquisition Survival Skills (SASS) course and various senior leadership courses and seminars. He serves as a trusted advisor to senior Air Force program managers and policy makers
From 1996 to 2004, John was director of the SEI's Dynamic Systems program and had management, technical, and financial responsibility for the COTS-Based Systems initiative, Performance Critical Systems initiative, and the TIDE (Technology Insertion, Demonstration, and Evaluation) project.
From 1991 to 1995, Foreman completed a by-government-request assignment as the program manager for the Software Technology for Adaptable and Reliable Systems (STARS) program at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Under his direction, the program defined and successfully demonstrated product lines, a new paradigm in software development. This approach is characterized by fusing technology and management techniques and incorporates a process-driven, domain-specific, reuse-based approach to software and systems development supported by appropriate software tool technology. This approach was successfully incorporated into operational systems at AF Space Command, Colorado Springs, and at Army/CECOM, Ft. Monmouth, NJ.
Prior to Foreman's assignment with DARPA, he was manager of the SEI's Ada and STARS support group, which worked toward (1) removing technical and managerial impediments to adopting Ada and (2) developing and transitioning new software engineering design approaches and paradigms facilitated by Ada. Foreman was the primary author of the Ada Adoption Handbook: A Program Manager's Guide.
From 1980 to 1986, Foreman was a branch manager for Texas Instruments (TI), responsible for planning, directing, and executing TI's Ada technology-insertion strategy, including providing support to embedded, mission-critical development programs in avionics, command and control, and missile systems.
While serving in the U.S. Air Force (USAF), Foreman's assignments focused on developing and maintaining large mission-critical software systems in C4I-class applications. He was also a faculty member at the USAF Academy, where he developed, taught, and directed courses in computer science and software engineering.
Foreman holds a BS from the USAF Academy (1973) and an MS in Computer Science from Florida Institute of Technology (1976).