Professor James Tomayko Dies After Long Illness

James Tomayko recently co-authored "Human Aspects of Software Engineering." He was a member of the Carnegie Mellon faculty for more than 16 years.

Carnegie Mellon professor and alumnus James Tomayko (HS'71,'80), a founder and former director of the Master in Software Engineering (MSE) program in the School of Computer Science (SCS), died on Monday, Jan. 9, after a long illness. He was 56.

A teaching professor in the School of Computer Science's Institute for Software Research International, Tomayko directed the Software Development Studio for the MSE program and was also a part-time senior member of the technical staff of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI).

Tomayko was a frequent speaker at numerous professional seminars on software fault tolerance, software development management and software process improvement in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Great Britain and Brazil. His courses on managing software development and overviews of software engineering are among the most widely distributed courses in the SEI Academic Series.

Tomayko authored three books on spacecraft computer systems and software. For the past decade he researched the history of fly-by-wire technology, and published three papers on the subject. He recently co-authored "Human Aspects of Software Engineering," which was published in 2004. In addition, he served on the editorial staff of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

Tomayko has been an active member of the university community and has been very involved in alumni affairs. He was a member of the Andrew Carnegie Society Executive Board and a former president of the Alumni Association Board (2000-2002).

He is survived by his wife Laura, daughters Gabriela and Alison, and brother John.

Friends are being received at the John A. Freyvogel & Sons Funeral Home, 4900 Centre Avenue at Devonshire Street. Visitation is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, and 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

The funeral will be Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Paul Cathedral, Oakland. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Jim Tomayko Memorial Fund, Institute for Software Research International, 5321 Wean Hall, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

January 10, 2006