Professor John Hughes
Professor John Hughes was the inaugural Director of the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (IICT) at UTS from 2002 until his untimely death in March 2006.

John joined what is now the Faculty of Information Technology at UTS in 1968 and with the exception of various periods of leave, spent his entire career in the institution. He was the first lecturer encountered by many groups of early computing students as he took them for the foundation programming subject. He was a wise and caring teacher and he was much loved for his entertaining lectures. Many of these students became his close friends.

But John's evident people skills and leadership meant that he was soon called to higher duties. He spent many years as the Sub or Acting Dean of the Faculty of Mathematical and Computing Sciences, followed by nine years as Dean from 1988 - 1997. The Faculty flourished in this period and was awarded one of the first federal Key Centres, in this case, in Advanced Computing Sciences and the University through the faculty also became a member of one of the longest standing Federal Cooperative Research Centres, the Distributed Systems Technology Research Centre CRC. In 1996 his talents were employed in a position created especially for him, that of Assistant Vice-Chancellor. At various other periods throughout his career, usually at times of crisis, he was appointed the Dean or Acting Dean of many UTS faculties, including Engineering.

His extensive and lengthy experience in Information Technology and more recently in Engineering made him a natural choice to head up IICT. Particular successes during his tenure were the substantial number of ARC grants awarded to IICT members and the work of many members of both faculties on a variety of projects with Alcatel. As John's French was fluent and Paris was one of his favourite cities, he also enjoyed the trips he had to make to Alcatel headquarters.

John's influence extended internationally with his work in computing education where he represented Australia on a numver of bodies. Closer to home, he spent over twenty years on the Board of the Australian Computer Society where he held a variety positions, principally the Chair of the Publications Board and more recently the Chair of the Accreditations Board. Accreditations of Software Engineering courses were usually in conjunctino with the Institution of Engineers Australia., another link between his interests. This brought him into contact with academics throughout Australia. His advice was often sought owing to his interest in and friendship with all with whom he worked and the wisdom he exhibited in so many judgements.

John was much loved throughout UTS and left his mark on the many faculties and divisions in which he served. The University has awarded John a Doctor of the University (honoris causa) and will commemorate him through the John Hughes Chair of Computing. The ACS has announced a John Hughes prize and the Faculty of IT has had a star in the constellation, Pictor named John Hughes. His spirit lives on in the Southern skies as we farewell a teacher, mentor and friend.

Memorial Service of Professor Hughes
A memorial service to celebrate John's life and achievements was held on Wednesday 17 May 2006 in the Great Hall. Members of John's family were there to confer the honorary degree. Professor Ross Milbourne opens the proceedings of the service followed by the Award of Doctor of the University (honoris causa) presented by the Chancellor, Professor Vicki Sara to Christine Hughes, John's sister. More.