Obituary: Professor Manny Lehman
4 February 2011
Professor Manny Lehman, Imperial’s first Head of the Department of Computing, died on 29 December 2010 in Jerusalem, Israel. Professor Susan Eisenbach, current Head of the Department of Computing, pays tribute:
“Manny first came to Imperial in the 1950s as an undergraduate to study in the Department of Mathematics, which was a pioneer in the design and implementation of one of the first computers, the Imperial College Computing Engine (ICCE I). After getting a degree, Manny went on to design the arithmetic and logic unit – the ‘brain’ within any computer – for ICCE II, the planned, electronic valve successor to the ICCE I, for his PhD. Manny went on to hold positions at Ferranti, the Israeli Ministry of Defence and IBM.
Manny returned to Imperial in 1972, joining the two-year-old Department of Computing and Control as Head of its Computing Section. In 1979, the Department of Computing came into existence and Manny became its first Head, a post he held from 1979–84. In 1989 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Manny’s vision was to develop a department with a strong engineering focus and his influence is visible to this day. When Manny arrived, Imperial taught only one computing programme, the MSc in Computing Science. Under his leadership, our first three and four- year undergraduate degree programmes were developed. He also brought research funding into the Department and set up the Imperial Software Technology Company. Manny remained in the Department until 2002.
Manny is survived by his wife, Chava, and his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He will be very much missed.”
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