James Whittaker joins Google
June 2nd, 2009 | Published in Google Testing
By Patrick Copeland
I'm excited to announce that James Whittaker has joined us as our newest Test Director at Google.
James comes to us most recently from Microsoft. He has spent his career focusing on testing, building high quality products, and designing tools and process at the industrial scale. In the not so distant past, he was a professor of computer science at Florida Tech where he taught an entire software testing curriculum and issued computer science degrees with a minor in testing (something we need more schools to do). Following that , he started a consulting practice that spanned 33 countries. Apparently, fashion is not high on his list as he he has collected soccer jerseys from many of these countries and wears those during major tournaments. At Microsoft he wrote a popular blog, and in the near future you can expect him to start contributing here.
He has trained thousands of testers worldwide. He's also written set of books in the How to Break Software series. They have won awards and achieved best seller status. His most recent book is on exploratory testing is coming out this summer. It is not a stretch to say that he is one of the most recognizable names in the industry and has had a deep impact on the field of testing. If you have a chance, strike up a conversation with James about the future of testing. His vision for what we'll be doing and how our profession will change is interesting, compelling and not just a little bit scary.
Join me in welcoming James to Google!