Ülo Kaasik
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Ülo Kaasik | |
|---|---|
 Kaasik (right) with mathematician Mati Abel in 2009 | |
| Born | November 9, 1926 Tallinn, Estonia |
| Died | April 17, 2017 Tartu, Estonia |
| Alma mater | University of Tartu (then Tartu State University)[1] |
| Known for | Establishment and early leadership of the University of Tartu Computing Centre (1959); development of computing and programming education at the University of Tartu[2][3][4] |
| Awards | Order of the White Star, 3rd Class (2001)[5] National research award for long-term achievement (2007)[6] Honorary citizen of Tartu (2013)[7] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics; Computer science[2][8] |
| Institutions | University of Tartu[2] |
Ülo Kaasik (9 November 1926 – 17 April 2017) was an Estonian mathematician who spent most of his academic career at the University of Tartu and is credited in institutional and professional-society accounts with organising the creation of the university's computing centre in 1959 and advancing the teaching of computing and programming there.[2][3] He later received national and local recognition, including the Order of the White Star (3rd Class) and being named an honorary citizen of Tartu.[5][7][9]
Kaasik graduated in mathematics from the University of Tartu in 1953.[1] University of Tartu accounts state that he was associated with the university from 1948 and began a long period of teaching from 1953, later serving in leadership roles within the faculty and shaping its development, including an increased emphasis on discrete mathematics alongside traditional areas of mathematics.[2][3]
Computing and teaching
According to both the University of Tartu and the Estonian Mathematical Society, Kaasik led the establishment of the University of Tartu Computing Centre in 1959; these accounts describe the centre as an early university computing centre in the Soviet period and note the acquisition of the Ural-1 computer and the start of regular instruction in computer use and programming at the university.[2][3] A later historical overview of statistics and related teaching at Tartu similarly credits his organisational work in securing an early electronic computer for the university and links this to expanded training of mathematically oriented specialists, including in statistics and programming.[4]
In broader overviews of Baltic-region computing history, Kaasik is also mentioned as one of the figures associated with early, mathematically oriented computer science education at the University of Tartu around the end of the 1950s.[8]
