James Alty

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James Lenton Alty (21 August 1939 – 6 December 2022) was a British computer scientist and Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at Loughborough University. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, England, and studied at the University of Liverpool, where he earned first-class Honours in Physics in 1961 (winning the Oliver Lodge Prize) and a PhD in Low Energy Nuclear Physics in 1966. He started his career as a systems engineer with IBM UK, rising to Senior Systems Engineer and then Sales Executive by 1972. Alty then led the Computer Laboratory at Liverpool University from 1972 to 1982 and served on the Computer Board for Universities and Research Councils from 1975 to 1981, chairing the influential Microprocessor Report which helped universities gain over £20 million for microprocessor work. He was Professor of Computer Science at Strathclyde University from 1982 to 1990 and later Executive Director of the Turing Institute in Glasgow. He joined Loughborough University in 1990 as Professor of Computer Science and served as Dean of Science from 2000 to 2003, becoming Emeritus in 2004. With about 30 years of work in human–computer interaction, he published more than 100 research papers and attracted over £4 million in funding. Alty also had a long-standing interest in music, composing Christmas carols, piano pieces and fanfares. He died in 2022 at the age of 83.