Two academics killed in car crash
Sunday, 08 Jul 2007 14:23
Dr McLaren was a leading geneticist
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Two leading academics have died after a high-speed car crash on the M11.
Professor Donald Michie, 84, and his ex-wife Dame Anne McLaren, 80, were killed yesterday travelling from Cambridge.
The Scottish couple were leaving the M11 motorway on their way back to the home they shared in London when the accident happened.
Professor Michie was a researcher in artificial intelligence and worked for the British code-breaking group at Bletchley Park during the second world war.
He had been preparing to give a major lecture at Edinburgh University, where he had worked in the 1960s.
Dr McLaren, who stayed close friends with Professor Michie after their divorce in 1959, was a leading geneticist who became the first female officer of the Royal Society.
She was a member of the Warnock Commission that advised on ethical issues on the use of genetics.
The couple, who worked together at University College London in the 1950s, leave three children. Professor Michie also leaves one son from a previous marriage.
Their son, Jonathan Michie, said: "This is a tragic event. The one consolation in the case of Anne is that her 80th birthday this year had been widely celebrated and honoured by both her Cambridge institute and both her Cambridge colleges."
Professor Michael Fourman, head of the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, said Professor Michie would be sorely missed.
"Donald was one of the early leading proponents of artificial intelligence and robotics and was the founder of both the experimental programming unit and the department of machine intelligence at Edinburgh in the 1960s," Professor Fourman said.
"He will be sadly missed. Our thoughts are with his family at this time."