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Obituary
Arthur Craven
Dr Arthur Craven,
Emeritus Reader in Mathematics, died on 21 September at the age of 74, after
suffering with heart problems for some time.
 Arthur’s early career was in the education branch of the
RAF, where he attained the rank of Squadron Leader, gained a University of
London PhD, headed a department at the RAF Technical College, Henlow, and
lectured part-time at the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield (later Cranfield
University). He came to Sussex in 1964 as a Lecturer and was promoted in the
1960s to Senior Lecturer and then Reader.
Arthur played a crucial role in the earliest days of
computing at Sussex, serving in 1965 as Acting Director of the new Computing
Centre when its role was to send data on paper tape or punched cards to mainframes
elsewhere. He was intimately concerned in the purchase of the University’s
first computer, an ICL 1905 mainframe, in 1966, and in the appointment of the
Centre’s first staff.
Arthur later served as Chairman of Mathematics in the School
of Mathematical and Physical Sciences from 1977 to 1980. He was an applied
mathematician with interests initially very close to engineering, but possessed
a hunger for new problems that led him into areas far removed from his
background in fluid mechanics. His later papers were in medical journals, where
he collaborated with clinicians and contributed the mathematical and
statistical modelling aspects of their joint work. He also co-authored a very
successful and influential text on statistical computing.
He retired in 1988 but continued part-time teaching for
several years more, and was made an Emeritus Reader in 1992.
There will be a private cremation followed by a memorial
service on Tuesday (2 October) in Kingston parish church (near Lewes) at 2.30
pm. At Arthur’s own request there are no flowers, but donations may be made in
lieu to Great Ormond Street children’s hospital.
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Friday 28 September 2001
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