Johannes Dewald Roode (July 16, 1940 – Sept 27, 2009) was a South African academic and Professor at the
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...
, specializing in
Information Systems
An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, information storage, store, and information distribution, distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems a ...
research.
Biography
Dewald Roode received a B.A. in
theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...
, an M.A. in
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
from the
University of Potchefstroom
The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (abbreviated as PU for CHE) was a South African university located in Potchefstroom. Instruction was mainly in Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with other institutions to cr ...
in South Africa, another in
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
from the same institute, and a PhD in
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve deci ...
under the supervision of
Guus Zoutendijk Guus is a common Dutch given name. It is a diminutive of the name Augustus. The female variant of this name is "Guusje".
People named Guus include:
* Guus Albregts (1900–1980), Dutch economist and politician
* Guus Berkhout (born 1940), Dutch e ...
at the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
.
In 1988 Roode was appointed to head the new Department of
Informatics
Informatics is the study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval. According to ACM ''Europe and'' ''Informatics Europe'', informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which ...
at the
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...
, while continuing on a part-time basis with consultancy work. Within five years of starting, the Department of Informatics at the
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...
was internationally known, and welcomed a regular stream of international visitors who contributed tremendously to the continued development of the Department.
After his early retirement in 2001, Roode was a visiting professor in the Department of
Information Systems
An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, information storage, store, and information distribution, distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems a ...
at the
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...
from 2003 till his death in 2009, and also at the
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, a university in Cape Town, South Africa, is the only university of technology in the Western Cape province, and is also the largest university in the province, with over 32,000 students. It was formed by ...
since 2004. Apart from his continued academic involvement with various universities, he completed a six-year term in 2007 as chair of Technical Committee 8 on Information Systems of the
International Federation for Information Processing
The International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) is a global organisation for researchers and professionals working in the field of computing to conduct research, develop standards and promote information sharing.
Established in 196 ...
(IFIP), and was a member of the Steering Committee of IFIP’s World Information Technology Forum in
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
in 2003 and in
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
in 2005. In 2008, he developed and presented a series of 14 seminars on research and innovation core skills for the South African
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is South Africa's central and premier scientific research and development organisation. It was established by an act of parliament in 1945 and is situated on its own campus in the cit ...
(CSIR). Roode supervised more than 30 doctoral students to completion.
He was the recipient of the 2008 Association for Information Systems
Leo Award
The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...
for exceptional lifetime achievement in the Information Systems discipline. In 2008 Dewald Roode was also honoured by the
International Federation for Information Processing
The International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) is a global organisation for researchers and professionals working in the field of computing to conduct research, develop standards and promote information sharing.
Established in 196 ...
(IFIP) with the highest accolade for service, the Silver Core.
Work
His work embraced
antipositivism
In social science, antipositivism (also interpretivism, negativism or antinaturalism) is a theoretical stance that proposes that the social realm cannot be studied with the methods of investigation utilized within the natural sciences, and that ...
since the
positivist paradigm had failed to embrace the complexities inherent in
africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n academic research. To share his insight, Roode exercised an early retirement option from the
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...
in 2001 enabling him to work at different universities, and to devote more time to the high-level training of individuals in the
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
industry who had not had the opportunity to receive formal tertiary education.
He published widely on the sociotechno divide in society and more broadly on the Information Systems discipline.
A framework for understanding the emerging discipline of information systems
2002. Accessed June 2, 2009
See also
* 217510 Dewaldroode
In Britain and its colonies (except Scotland), 1751 only had 282 days due to the British Calendar Act of 1751, which ended the year on 31 December (rather than nearly three months later according to its previous rule).
Events
January&n ...
, asteroid
Publications, a selection
* 1968. ''Generalized Lagrangian functions in mathematical programming''
* 1972. ''Modelle, rekenaars en werklikheid''
* 2008. ''Advances in Information Systems Research, Education and Practice: Ifip 20th World Computer Congress, Tc 8, Information Systems, September 7–10, 2008, Milano, Italy''. David Avison, George M. Kasper, Barbara Pernici, Isabel Ramos, Dewald Roode. Springer, 2008.
References
External links
Dewald Roode, 2008 LEO Winner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roode, Dewald
1940 births
2009 deaths
Afrikaner people
South African people of Dutch descent
South African social scientists
South African computer scientists
Information systems researchers
Academic staff of the University of Pretoria