In Memoriam
James (Jim)
Mullin
1940 — 2024
We regret to announce the passing of Professor Emeritus Dr. James Mullin in July 2024.
Jim Kevin Mullin
February 9. 1940 -July 21, 2024
Jim graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1963 with a
PhD in Electrical Engineering. His distinguished career
included employment with Bell Lab in New Jersey, World
Health Organization in Geneva, and as a professor in
the Computer Science Department of the University of
Western Ontario until his retirement in 1998.
Dynamic hashing and Bloom filters (memory storage and
retrieval) were his main areas of research, and his writing,
published in such journals as The Computer Journal,
Information Systems, and IEEE Transactions
on Software Engineering, is still widely cited today.
Jim was known among his friends as an outdoorsman,
hiker, world traveler, garage sale aficionado,
appreciator of red wine, hike leader, bridge player,
and wildflower photographer. He will be mourned by many.
Charles
Dunham
1938 — 2024
We regret to announce the passing of Professor Emeritus Dr. Charles Dunham in March 2024.
It is a very sad month for the Computer Science Department as we have lost another of our Professor Emeriti, Dr. Charles Dunham. Dr. Dunham was a member of the department since at least 1975. Even after he retired, he would still come to the department at least once a week to work on his research. He was a brilliant researcher. One of his primary fields of study was "Best Approximations". He also had a gentle, kind soul. Rest in peace Professor Dunham.
Alexander
Keewatin (Kee) Dewdney
1941 — 2024
We regret to announce the passing of Professor Emeritus Dr. Alexander Keewatin (Kee) Dewdney on March 09, 2024.
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Alexander Keewatin (Kee) Dewdney. Professor Dewdney dedicated over a quarter of a century to serving Western's Computer Science Department. He joined Western just 5 years after the Computer Science Department was established, thus he was a key player in the direction of the department’s early curriculum and research focus. Not only was he a computer scientist but he was also a mathematician, an artist and a writer (he wrote two science fiction novels and more than 10 books on puzzles and possibilities, and he had a monthly article in Scientific American magazine in the late eighties). Upon retirement, he became a mathematical biologist with an interest in conservation. Dr. Dewdney was a member of the Computer Science Department from 1968 to 1996 and he was a professor emeritus from 1996 onward.
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Gerhard Beckhoff
1930 — 2020It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Gerhard Beckhoff on January 15, 2020, in London, Ontario.
Gerhard was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Computer Science at Western, which he helped establish in 1965. He was also Acting Department Chair from 1970-1971. Gerhard retired from Western in 1984.
He had a passion for learning and knowledge that never waned during his life, completing his final research paper in 2018.
John Barron
1955 — 2019The Computer Science Department announces with heavy hearts the passing of Dr. John Barron.
John was one of the hardest working and most beloved members of our Computer Science faculty. He was a key member of the department, serving as Acting Chair from 2016-2017, and as Associate Chair on several occasions.
John was a brilliant researcher, a caring professor, and a supportive supervisor at Western for 31 years. Our broken hearts go out to his wife, Dr. Tatyana Barron, his twin children Rose and Brian, his stepson Benjamin, and his brothers and sister. Our department will not be the same without John.
Helmut Jürgensen
2019The Computer Science Department is deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Helmut Jürgensen.
Dr. Jürgensen began his career at Western in 1983. While he eventually received the title of Professor Emeritus upon his retirement, to say he was retired would be misleading. He continued to supervise students, do research and come to his office in Middlesex several times a month until just weeks before his passing. His passion for computer science, mathematics, and research was limitless.
Dr. Jürgensen's research legacy is one of profound interdisciplinary. He completed a PhD in the field of philology (and impressed students thereafter with his deep knowledge of Sanskrit, Hittite, and many other ancient languages) and went on to obtain his habilitation in semigroup theory.
Dr. Jürgensen is regarded as one of the world's foremost information theorists and coding theorists, but also made deep and lasting contributions to formal language theory, automata theory, semigroup theory, and human computer interaction. He was especially committed to applied accessibility research.
If you were a CS student at Western in the 80's, 90's or early 2000s, you would have likely had him teach you one of your third or fourth year theoretical CS courses, or perhaps applied logic in second year. We send our condolences to his wife and daughters who continued to support him with his research until this year.
Sylvia Osborn
1949 — 2018It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Dr. Sylvia Osborn on May 23, 2018, in London, Ontario.
Sylvia was born and raised in Timmins, Ontario before attending the University of Waterloo, where she completed Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral degrees in Computer Science. Sylvia then took a position as a professor at the University of Western Ontario, where she worked for 40 years until her retirement.
Sylvia was a loving and devoted wife and mother, who was also able to forge an accomplished career as a teacher, mentor, and internationally-recognized researcher in the field of computer databases – one of few women working in computing during this era.
She was a brilliant scientist; a leading researcher in databases; an amazing teacher, supervisor, and mentor to hundreds – if not thousands – of Computer Scientists; a pioneering woman in a field full of men; a departmental head and outstanding professor; and a beautiful person.
She will be sorely missed by her colleagues and by the many students whose lives she touched in her long, illustrious career.
Sheng Yu
1950 — 2012It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Sheng Yu on Jan. 23, 2012, in London, Ontario.
Sheng was a full professor at the Department of Computer Science, the University of Western Ontario. He obtained both his Masters and PhD degrees in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo, in 1983 and 1986, respectively. His main research areas were in automata and formal language theory and their implementations. He also worked in parallel and object-oriented programming languages. He has served as program committee chair and member for a number of conferences, as well as editorial board member for several other journals. He has published more than a hundred and thirty research articles and was an established researcher in his research areas.
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John (Jack) M. Carroll
1925 — 2011It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of John (Jack) M. Carroll on Feb. 25, 2011, in London, Ontario.
Jack was the beloved husband of Billie, father of Jim (deceased), Jack (Mary Beth), Bill (Ann), Rob (Nancy), Rick (Nancy), Sandi and Alex (Jeanie). Grandfather of 11, great-grandfather of 19, and pre-deceased by Hailey (2001).
Jack was a Professor Emeritus in the Computer Science Department at Western, where he taught database management systems, systems analysis, and computer simulation. He also did research in computer security and wrote a text book on the subject. Jack went back to school to earn his LL.B. from Western's Faculty of Law and worked for the law firm of Peel, Colvin, & Nolman in London, Ontario, specializing in criminal justice practice.
Ted Elcock
1927 — 2008It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Edward Wray Elcock on Jan. 31, 2008, in Courtenay, BC.
Ted is survived by Marjorie, his loving and devoted wife of 55 years, and by his three sons, Mark, John and Simon (Ginny). Ted was born in Leeds, England, and it was there that he began his formal education, completing his Physics, B.Sc. Honors at Leeds University. Ted enlisted into the Royal Navy and served upon an aircraft carrier as a meteorologist for three years. It was after leaving the Navy that he completed his Ph.D. in Physics at Leeds University, and began his career in academics.
In 1951, he joined the University of Aberdeen as a lecturer and, while teaching, he conducted research that assisted in laying down the foundations of the logic programming language PROLOG. In 1974, he left Scotland, accepting the position of Professor of Computer Science in London, Ontario, Canada. He became a Full Professor and Chairman of the University of Western Ontario's Computer Science Department. It was from UWO that Ted retired in 1991, relocating in Coutenay, British Columbia.
In his retirement, he was able to dedicate much of his time to improving his golf game, fishing, painting, playing bridge and became involved in a variety of volunteer projects within the community. He was one of the founding members of Elder College. Ted was first and foremost a committed husband and father. He nurtured his children with wisdom as his guide, and humour and love as his tools.
At Ted's request there will be no funeral, just think of him when you look to the mountains, or hear the sound of the clarinet.
Karin
Gatermann
1961 — 2005
The Department of Computer Science mourns the passing of Dr. Karin Gatermann on January 1, 2005, in Germany.
Karin became a member of the Department of Computer Science at Western on July 1, 2004, and was cross-appointed to the Department of Applied Mathematics. She had previously been awarded an Ontario Research Chair in Computer Algebra in 2001, and a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Computer Algebra in the Department of Computer Science was awarded her in December 2004.
Her work was of the highest quality, in breadth of application and profundity of thought. Her careful organization and efficiency helped her to make the most of her very considerable talents. In addition, she had a warm and caring nature, always looking out for the best interests of her students. She had graduated six Masters (Diploma) students in Germany prior to coming to Western, and had begun to supervise one student here.
When she held the Ontario Research Chair in 2001--2002, she took many opportunities to explore Southern Ontario, and enjoyed driving through the farmlands surrounding London (she was prone to state that she was a "farmer's daughter" and retained a great love of cultivated landscapes). Her friends remember that she often stopped to take pictures of pleasant views, especially if cows were prominent in the scenery. She was a keen gardener, and during her stay took great care of the garden of the home she had rented, to the great pleasure and astonishment of her (sabbaticant) landlords. After she relinquished this Chair, she returned to Germany and from there visited other research institutions, on the Heisenberg stipend, before finally accepting an offer as assistant professor here at Western.
Shortly after her return to Canada in June 2004 to take up her position and apply for a Tier II Canada Research Chair (which she was awarded in December 2004), however, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and with liver cancer. She returned to Germany immediately and was promptly and efficiently treated, but ultimately to no avail. She passed away New Year's Day 2005, peacefully at her parents' home in Germany. She is survived by her parents, Reinhold and Hannelore Gatermann, and her brother Reiner. Donations to the German Cancer Society in lieu of wreaths were requested.
In her all-too-short time here at Western, she won the respect and friendship of many people of all ranks. She will be very greatly missed.
John Hart
1923 — 2002We regret to announce the passing of Professor Emeritus John F. Hart on July 20, 2002.
John came to Western in 1959 and was the first head of the Department of Computer Science, serving from 1964 to 1978. John was also a founder of ATN (Audio-Tactile Network) and facilitated the education of non-sighted students at Western.
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Dong Han
1971 — 2002It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Dong Han on Feb. 21, 2002, in London, Ontario.
Mr. Han was 31 years old and is survived by his wife Lijian Xu and family in Kitchener, California, and China. He was a Master's student of Charles Ling.
To the family, friends and colleagues of Mr. Han, we wish to express our deepest sympathy.
Tributes
Everyone who knows Dong will remember that he was a very helpful and humorous person. He also worked very hard, and had made great progress in this Msc thesis. He entered our M.Sc. program only last September, and by yesterday, he had finished written codes for the new algorithm, and obtained all experimental results. All he had left is to write his thesis. He also had a job waiting for him in Kitchener.
Dong passed away peacefully this early morning. A few friends, his wife, and I were with him all the time at University Hospital.
First, we wish to express our deepest sorrow for Dong. He was a very kind person and a good friend of ours. If there is anything we could do to help Dong's family, please let us know.
In the brief amount of time that I had contact with Dong, he was one of the most cheerful and pleasant people I have met.
He always had a smile to give or some humorous observation to bring to light. It is quite unbelievable that only yesterday his light-heartedness was so apparent.
He will be missed.
I was astonished when saw this email just now. Can't believe it. He's such a good person. Why it happens to him? Too sad to say anything...
I am very sorry to hear the bad news about Dong Han. I can not believe the fact that he passed away last night since we talked with each other only a few days ago. Mr. Han was a very nice gentlemen, enthusiastic and liked to help others. I wish to express my deepest sympathy to his family.
I do not think that a few words can express my deepest sorrow feeling at this moment. Right now in my mind is only his smiling face. We come from same city in China. I hope I can do something for him.
I feel so sorrowful that I don't know what I should do. I hope I can do something for him and his family.