This week Jon Oberlander died. Jon was professor at University of Edinburgh School of Informatics. He was my PhD supervisor between 1998 and 2001, and recently our paths had met once more on the City Deal project on data driven innovation.
I find it hard to believe that Jon is gone, because he was one of the most vividly alive people I ever met. He had liquid silver intelligence and extraordinary energy. I have had the good fortune to meet a lot of highly intelligent people over the years (a perk of being an academic) but he was exceptional. I remember him at my viva, nodding vigorously, encouragingly, almost bursting with the effort of remaining silent while there was an interesting discussion to be had. He said a couple of times after I graduated that he didn't supervise my PhD, so much as witness it. I took this as a Jon way of saying that I was quite an independent student. But now I wish I had told him how glad I am to have had him as a supervisor and what it means to me.
One of my other colleagues was joking yesterday about how universities are getting a lot of bad press in the UK at the moment - "everyone hates universities", he said. But I don't. I feel very lucky to work at a university - at Edinburgh in particular - and that is because Jon taught me by example to love the best of academia. He loved ideas. They would come tumbling out of him, playfully, seemingly effortlessly. He would listen intently, pounce on new ideas and generously share them with colleagues. He connected people. He revelled in knowledge. I get to do all of these things in my job every day. All I need to do is remember once more why I work as an academic, and avoid being swept away by the flotsam and jetsam that goes along with it. This lifelong deep appreciation of creating and sharing ideas is the most wonderful gift and legacy from my PhD supervisor. Thank you, Jon.
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