Prof (JM) Johannes Michiel Hattingh
Born: 16 May 1940, died: 5 November 2022
Prof Hattingh grew up in Parys (Free State) and was 15 years old when he matriculated. During his first year of studies his father passed away and he had to work at Sasol for a few years. Thereafter he resumed his studies at PUK and completed the degrees BSc (1962, Mathematics and Statistics); Hons BSc (1963, Mathematics); MSc (1965, Statistics) and PhD/DSc (1971, Statistics and Operations Research) at the PU for CHO.
Following this, he and his wife Antoinette left for the USA where, amongst other things he did research at IBM's TJ Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. They returned to the PU for CHO (Department of Statistics and Operational Research) in 1974. He was transferred as a professor to Vanderbijlpark in 1975/1976 and together with two other academics formed a foundation for what would later become the Vaal Triangle Campus - up to that point, after-hours classes were presented by staff from various departments that commuted from Potchefstroom.
In around 1981 he moved back to Potchefstroom then as Director of Computer Services (ITB) and was later promoted to the position of Head Director within the university's wider management model. In 1990 he returned to academia as a staff member/professor within the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems. From 1991 he was the head of department until the establishment of the School for Computer, Statistical and Mathematical Sciences. Although he was then officially retired, he continued to be involved in the department's postgraduate teaching and research programs for many years.
During his involvement in Computer Science and Information Systems, he introduced and established the department as a research-oriented environment and was the supervisor and promoter for numerous M and PhD students. In addition, he took leadership at the Telkom Centre of Excellence and attended conferences with his students worldwide.
This is a concise summary of Michiel/Giel Hattingh's contribution and involvement in the university and "our" department. Thanks to Antoinette, Christiaan and Karien for allowing us to share him with you. May you be comforted in this very sad time.