February 6, 1917 – August 3, 2007
Dr. John Rose, known as Jack, was the last of his generation. Other members of his family in Poland were killed in the Holocaust. His only surviving close relative, older brother Dr. Isaac Rosenbaum, spent World War II in Paris as a doctor for the French underground. Dr. Rose served in the Royal West Kent Regiment of the British Army in Italy before beginning his career in education.
His beloved wife, Fay, and brother Isaac, predeceased him. He is survived by two sons and a daughter, all with families, including eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Dr. Rose was President of the Blackburn College of Technology, founder and editor of seven international journals including Kybernetes and Robotica, and author or editor of more than 50 books on chemistry, cybernetics, automation, biomedical computing, environmental issues and medical biotechnology. He was honoured by the Queen for his sevices to education.
After retirement Dr. Rose was active as a consultant to industry. He was research director of Dainichi-Sykes Ltd. that supplied the first generation of robots to Jaguar Cars UK, and was appointed Research Professor of Robotics at the University of Salford and the University of Central Lancashire. It was in his 89th year that he relinquished editorship of the journal Robotica. He was also the founding Director-General of the World Organisation of Systems and Cybernetics.
The foregoing is mainly from a funeral obituary kindly supplied by Prof. Paul Rose. A more complete account will appear later. We offer condolences to his friends and family in this sad loss.