Barton P. Miller

Barton P. Miller is a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and the Amar & Balinder Sohi Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he has made significant contributions to computer science research and education. As a faculty member in the Computer Sciences Department within the College of Engineering, he directs major research initiatives including the Paradyn Tools project and leads cybersecurity efforts as Chief Scientist of the DHS-funded Software Assurance Marketplace (SWAMP) research center.

Miller received his B.A. degree from the University of California, San Diego in 1977, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1980 and 1984. His educational background laid the foundation for his pioneering work in software testing and analysis.

His research spans multiple critical areas of computer science, with a primary focus on binary code analysis and instrumentation, software security, and distributed and parallel program performance. Miller is particularly renowned for founding the field of Fuzz random software testing in 1988 and dynamic binary code instrumentation in 1992. His work bridges theoretical computer science with practical applications, addressing real-world challenges in high-performance computing systems, cybersecurity, and scalable distributed systems. His research has direct applications in national security through his work with DHS and TrustedCI, the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.

Miller's publications reveal a consistent focus on binary analysis tools, security vulnerability detection, and performance optimization techniques. His recent work shows increasing emphasis on ransomware analysis, GPU performance optimization, and practical security tool development for developers. The trajectory of his research demonstrates how foundational work in binary instrumentation has evolved to address contemporary cybersecurity challenges while maintaining relevance to high-performance computing environments.

Among his notable honors, Miller is a Fellow of the ACM and recipient of the prestigious Jean-Claude Laprie Award in Dependable Computing, an R&D 100 Award, and multiple best paper awards including at HPDC 2009 and CCGrid 2018. His contributions to the field have been recognized through distinguished lectureships at institutions including Ben Gurion University and IBM T.J. Watson Research Center.

As an educator, Miller has mentored numerous students and taught courses spanning operating systems, software security, and distributed systems. He has received teaching awards and developed educational resources including free and open software security training materials. His work with TrustedCI has focused on cybersecurity for scientific communities, helping researchers secure their computational infrastructure while maintaining research productivity. Miller also co-directs the MIST software vulnerability assessment project in collaboration with colleagues at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Miller directs the Paradyn Tools project, which investigates program scalability and binary program analysis technologies for use in HPC, systems design, and cyber-security. His work extends to practical applications through collaborations with government agencies including DHS and the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force. His research group has developed tools like Dyninst, MRNet, and the Wisconsin Safety Analyzer that have become foundational in their respective domains.