Alan Rector, MD, PhD

Dr. Rector was born in the United States and went to college at Pomona in California before obtaining additional training at the University of Chicago and the University of Minnesota (where he obtained his MD degree in 1970). After a year of internship in Minnesota, he was drawn to the research program of Dr. Tim deDombal in Leeds, England. The rest is history, for his newfound homeland in the United Kingdom became the basis for all his subsequent training (a PhD from the University of Manchester in 1986) and his medical informatics research. He is now professor of medical informatics in the Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, and an elected fellow of both the British Computer Society and the British Medical Informatics Society. Dr. Rector is one of the pioneers in the use of description logics in medical terminologies. In the PEN&PAD Project, he showed informaticians how to use knowledge representation methods to drive adaptable intelligent user interfaces based on user-centered design. He is also a pioneer, through his GALEN program, in the use of description logics in developing medical terminologies. He has been a consistent contributor to our understanding of the challenges in medical terminology and in the structure of medical records, including the relationships between terminology and EMRs. Alan now leads the Medical Research Council (MRC)- sponsored Cooperative Clinical E-Science Framework consortium of seven UK universities, National Health Service (NHS) trusts, and Cancer Networks. He represents the epitome of a dedicated, diligent, and thoughtful academic who has made medical informatics his career. A frequent visitor to our shores, Dr. Rector is a wonderful contributor to our field and to our comradeship on both sides of the Atlantic.