Principles of Operating Systems

James L. Frankel's areas of interest combine attributes of both hardware and software in the area known as computer systems. He has made contributions in distributed, parallel, and high performance computing; compiler and operating system design; ubiquitous computing/the Internet of Things (IoT); and home automation. Frankel earned a PhD and an SM in applied mathematics from Harvard University. He holds numerous patents and has authored many research papers.

Frankel's career has bridged academia, research labs, and industry. In addition to the Extension School, he has taught in Harvard's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as an adjunct professor. He has also been a Visiting Scientist at MIT. In the realm of corporate research labs, Frankel has worked at IBM Yorktown Heights, Xerox PARC, the corporate research lab of Digital Equipment Corporation, and at Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs. In an industrial setting, he has worked at Thinking Machines Corporation, built Frankel and Associates, Inc. as a consulting enterprise, and had founding and leadership roles at CommerceTone, Auripay, and Incentive Targeting.

He is an avid northern latitude sailor and downhill skier.