John Tucker#
Short laudatio by Dines Bjørner#
John Tucker is a world authority on computability theory. Over 30 years he has invented and developed generalisations to any form of data and discovered a wealth of radically new applications (in algebra, programming, hardware, biology, physics). His programme shows huge independence and stamina;
his papers clarity and depth; his wide reading and detailed knowledge formidable scholarship. He has played a strong role in UK and in European computer science, despite massive responsibilities in Wales.
John Tucker has transformed computability theory. He has developed completely
new mathematical theories to answer the questions: 1. How can we specify,
program and reason about data? 2. What can be computed now and in the future?
3. What is the physical basis of data representations and computation?
He has created models, posed and solved open problems, and tested the theories
in applications (in cardiac modelling; high-level tools for 3D graphics;
microprocessor verification; analogue devices; and measurements by physical
experiments). These are highly original contributions. Tucker’s scholarship
is superb, e.g., his six major research surveys constitute 780 pages of
clear, thorough exposition, rich in references.
John Tucker has played a leading role in creating the Learned Society of Wales which is the new national academy of Wales, launched publically in May 2010. The President is Sir John Cadogan FRS, a Fellow
of Academia Europaea. The Society embraces research and scholarship in
arts, humanities, social science, science, engineering and medicine. (See: http://learnedsocietywales.ac.uk
) Tucker is one of the 18 creators of the initiative and one of the 58 Founding Fellows that launched the Society. He was elected by the Founding Fellows to the first Council of the Society, and then elected by the Council to be its first General Secretary 2010-13. Currently, the Society is electing the 100 strong Inaugural Fellowship. Tucker plays a fundamental role in the academic leadership of the Society.
As Head of Computer Science at Swansea since 1994, John Tucker built a strong research department: in the UK Research Assessment 2008 only 12 UK CS Departments received higher 4* (“world leading”) ratings than Swansea. As Head of Physical Sciences at Swansea since 2007 he has reorganised science at Swansea into a new College of Science. In 1985 he stared the British Colloquium on Theoretical Computer Science, was its president for 8 years; it is now in its 27th year. He helped found 3 new journals and 2 book series,
most recently Springer's historical series (2007).
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