# James Larus

> American Computer Scientist

**Wikidata**: [Q18057221](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18057221)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Larus)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/james-larus

## Summary
James Larus is an American computer scientist and professor affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is the creator of the SPIM MIPS emulator and was named an ACM Fellow for his contributions to programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture.

## Biography
- Born: 1958-09-15
- Nationality: American
- Education: Harvard University; University of California, Berkeley
- Known for: Creator of the SPIM MIPS emulator; contributions to programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture
- Employer(s): University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Field(s): Computer science; programming languages; compilers; computer architecture

## Contributions
James Larus developed the SPIM MIPS emulator (SPIM), a software implementation of the MIPS instruction set architecture used to emulate MIPS programs. He has produced research and mentoring outcomes in programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture. Larus was named an ACM Fellow (announced January 8, 2007; citation notes contributions dated 2006) "for contributions to programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture," an explicit recognition of the impact of his work. As an academic advisor and researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he supervised multiple doctoral students who completed Ph.D. degrees under his direction, including Trishul Chilimbi (Ph.D. 1999) and Eric C. Schnarr (Ph.D. 2000). Larus’s published body of work is indexed under author identifiers such as DBLP (l/JamesRLarus) and Google Scholar (author id xWZTGPUAAAAJ). He is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery and holds numerous library and authority identifiers (ISNI, VIAF, Library of Congress authority, Mathematics Genealogy Project).

## FAQs
### Q: Who is James Larus?
A: James Larus is an American computer scientist and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison known for creating the SPIM MIPS emulator and for research in programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture.

### Q: What is SPIM and who created it?
A: SPIM is a MIPS emulator. It was created by James Larus and is listed among his notable contributions.

### Q: Has James Larus received major professional honors?
A: Yes. He was named an ACM Fellow (announcement dated January 8, 2007) for his contributions to programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture.

## Why They Matter
James Larus’s work occupies the intersection of programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture—areas foundational to how software is written, translated, and executed on hardware. The SPIM MIPS emulator provides a concrete tool that models a widely taught instruction set architecture, aiding experimentation and instruction with MIPS binaries. The ACM Fellowship recognizes Larus’s cumulative technical contributions in these domains, indicating influence on research directions, tool development, and education. His role as Ph.D. advisor produced researchers who continued in academia and industry, extending his technical legacy through students such as Trishul Chilimbi and Eric C. Schnarr. Larus’s publications and the identifiers that track them (DBLP, Google Scholar, ACM Digital Library) document a sustained scholarly output. Without his contributions, specific tools (for example, SPIM) and some lines of mentorship and research in compilers and architecture would have different provenance; his recognized work helped shape parts of education and research practice in systems and language implementation.

## Notable For
- Creator of SPIM, a MIPS emulator.
- Named an ACM Fellow (announced 2007) for contributions to programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture.
- Longstanding faculty affiliation with the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
- Doctoral advisor to researchers including Trishul Chilimbi (Ph.D. 1999) and Eric C. Schnarr (Ph.D. 2000).
- Indexed author in DBLP, Google Scholar, and the ACM Digital Library.

## Body

### Personal and identity
- Full name: James Richard Larus (also appears as James R. Larus).
- Birth date: 1958-09-15.
- Gender: Male.
- Nationality: American.
- Identifiers: ISNI 0000000046774694; VIAF 51457251; Library of Congress authority no2007005108; DBLP author id l/JamesRLarus; Google Scholar id xWZTGPUAAAAJ; ACM Digital Library author id 81100277326; Mathematics Genealogy Project id 82318.

### Education
- Educated at Harvard University.
- Educated at the University of California, Berkeley.
- Doctoral advisor: Paul Norman Hilfinger.

### Academic career
- Employer: University of Wisconsin–Madison (listed employer/affiliation).
- Role: Computer scientist and professor (occupation listed as computer scientist).
- Doctoral students (selected): Trishul Chilimbi (Ph.D. 1999), Eric C. Schnarr (Ph.D. 2000), Lorenz Huelsbergen, Bradley Richards, Guhan Viswanathan, Satish Chandra.

### Research and software
- SPIM: Listed as created/developed by James Larus. SPIM is described in source material as a MIPS emulator.
- Research focus: Programming languages, compilers, computer architecture (as cited in ACM Fellowship award).

### Honors and memberships
- Association for Computing Machinery: member; recognized as an ACM Fellow with start/announcement date 2007-01-08.
- Award: ACM Fellow — citation: "For contributions to programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture." (point in time cited as 2006; announcement dated 2007).

### Publication and indexing
- Publications are indexed under multiple author identifiers including DBLP, Google Scholar, and the ACM Digital Library.
- Library and authority records include ISNI, VIAF, Library of Congress authority, and national bibliographic identifiers.

## Schema Markup
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## References

1. [Source](https://www.acm.org/media-center/2007/january/acm-names-41-fellows-for-contributions-to-computing-and-it)
2. Mathematics Genealogy Project
3. [Source](https://www2.unil.ch/elitessuisses/index.php?page=detailPerso&idIdentite=84740)
4. Virtual International Authority File