James Martin (author)

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Dr. James Martin (born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England) is a consultant and author, was nominated for a Pulitzer prize ^[1] for his book, The Wired Society: A Challenge for Tomorrow (1977). A former Student of Keble College, Oxford, where he gained a degree in physics, he has written over a hundred books ^[2] many of which were best sellers in the information technology industry. He joined IBM in 1959.

He has written extensively on his computer systems design methodology information engineering and also on computer-aided software engineering, of which some say he is the father. He was an early promoter of fourth-generation programming languages. He was also the primary author of the Rapid Application Development methodology.

With Dixon Doll, Martin established the information technology consultancy firm DMW (Doll Martin Worldwide) in 1981. This was later renamed James Martin Associates (JMA), and its clients have included the United States and United Kingdom governments. In the late 1980s, JMA was divided into two halves: one half was sold to Texas Instruments Software in 1991, while the other part remains independent and is now known as Headstrong. In the UK, the DMW information technology consultancy was re-formed in the late 1980's and is still operating successfully as an independent company. Martin also co-founded software company KnowledgeWare with Fran Tarkenton.

With the largest alumni philanthropic donation ever made to a UK university, Martin gave $100 million in 2005 to help establish The James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford; its stated goal is to "formulate new concepts, policies and technologies that will make the future a better place to be". His book The Meaning of the 21st Century: A Vital Blueprint for Ensuring our Future was published in 2006.

Martin also founded Data Base Design. DDI Inc. which competed with Knowledgeware in areas such as data base design tools. He lives on his own private island, Agar’s Island, in Bermuda. According to Computerworld's 25th anniversary issue, he was ranked fourth among the 25 individuals who have most influenced the world of computer science.