Nancy Leveson facts for kids
Nancy G. Leveson is an American expert in making computer systems and software safe. She is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. Her work helps prevent accidents in complex systems.
Nancy Leveson earned her degrees in computer science, mathematics, and management from the University of California, Los Angeles. She completed her PhD in 1980. Before joining MIT, she taught at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Washington. She has studied important safety systems, like the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). This system helps airplanes avoid crashing into each other. She also looked into problems with the Therac-25 machine, which was used for radiation therapy.
Leveson has been an editor for the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering journal. She is also a member of several important groups. These include the ACM, the IEEE Computer Society, and the AIAA.
About Her Work
Nancy Leveson is a professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. She also teaches Engineering Systems. Her research focuses on how to make systems and software safe. She studies how people interact with computers to prevent mistakes.
In 1999, she received the ACM Allen Newell Award for her excellent computer science research. In 1995, she won the AIAA Information Systems Award. This award recognized her for creating the field of software safety. It also honored her for promoting safe practices in engineering. These practices are very important when people's lives and property are at risk. In 2000, she was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). This was for her important work in making software safer.
She has written over 200 research papers. She is also the author of three books. These books include "Safeware: System Safety and Computers" (1995) and "Engineering a Safer World" (2012). Her most recent book, "An introduction to system safety engineering," was published in 2023. She also advises many companies on how to prevent accidents. In 2005, she received the ACM Sigsoft Outstanding Research Award.
Nancy Leveson developed special methods for understanding accidents. These methods are called STPA (System Theoretic Process Analysis) and STAMP (System Theoretic Accident Model and Processes). They help experts figure out why accidents happen. They also help design safer systems.
In 2020, she received the IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies. This award was for her work on STAMP and other tools. These tools help analyze accidents and improve safety.
Books by Nancy Leveson
- Erik Hollnagel, David D. Woods, Nancy Leveson, Resilience Engineering: Concepts and Precepts. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007. ISBN: 978-0-754-68136-6.
- Nancy G. Leveson, Safeware: System Safety and Computers. Addison-Wesley, 1995. ISBN: 0-201-11972-2.
- Nancy G. Leveson, Engineering a Safer World: Systems Thinking Applied to Safety. MIT Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-262-01662-9.
- Leveson, Nancy (2023). An introduction to system safety engineering. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN: 978-0-262-37675-4.
