Top computing honorary fellowship for Emeritus Professor

Emeritus Professor Simon Lavington has been awarded the 2024 Honorary Fellowship at The National Museum of Computing.

The Honorary Fellowship recognises outstanding contributions towards the history and ongoing development of computing.

Professor Lavington’s academic journey began with an Electrical Engineering degree from Manchester University in 1962. Following this, he embarked on pioneering research in automatic speech recognition, using the Atlas supercomputer.

After his PhD he became a member of the design team for the ground-breaking Manchester University high performance MU5 computer.

He moved to the University of Essex in 1986, as Professor of Computer Science, where he specialised in systems architecture.

One of the highlights of his career at Essex was leading the Intelligent File Store (IFS) project, which was granted a British Computer Society Silver Medal for Technical Achievement.

After retiring from Essex’s School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering in July 2002, Professor Lavington continued his passion for writing about computer history. He has authored numerous journal articles and books on the history of computing, with a focus on early British computers from 1945 to 1970.

Remembering his time at Essex, Professor Lavington said: “My 16 years at Essex were exciting times. Tony Brooker, the founding Professor of Computer Science and one of my heroes, was just retiring and there were fresh opportunities for collaborative research, both with industry and with other centres of academic excellence. We worked hard! In terms of grant income, our labours thankfully bore fruit.”

Situated on the historic grounds of Bletchley Park, The National Museum of Computing is an independent institution that brings computing history to life for the general public and specialists alike.

The Honorary Fellowship ceremony will take place on Wednesday 18 September. More information can be found on The National Museum of Computing website.