We are very sad to inform you that Professor James Alty died earlier this week. Professor Alty was Head of the Computer Science department twice and also served as the Dean of Science. We know he will be sorely missed.
Acting Head of Department Dr Iain Phillips said:
"Professor James (Jim) Alty joined Â鶹ֱ²¥ in 1990 and was on his 2nd term as HoD when I joined the Department of Computer Science in 1999. He became Dean of the Faculty of Science before leaving Â鶹ֱ²¥ for Middlesex, returning part-time until about 2008. He was heavily involved in LUTCHI, the Â鶹ֱ²¥ University of Technology (later Telecommunications) Computer Human Interaction Institute in the 1990s.
"When I met people at conferences and said I was from Â鶹ֱ²¥, Jim is the person they always mentioned. Our Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Jennings has mentioned several times that his first EPSRC grant was joint with Jim."
In his lengthy career as a computer scientist, Professor Alty had been appointed as Executive Director of the Turing Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Glasgow, founded the Scottish Human Computer Interaction Centre, and was a pioneer of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) in the UK.
He also composed music and conducted music research, giving seminars on musical composition across the UK and abroad.
The School of Science sends its condolences to his family.