On June 16, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Franz-Josef Kevekordes, one of the founding members of today's computer science department at Paderborn University, passed away.
Born in 1934 in Fredeburg/Westphalia, Franz-Josef Kevekordes started his academic career in 1955 with the study of electrical engineering, which he completed in 1962 at the Technical University Carolo-Wilhelmina in Braunschweig as Diplom-Ingenieur. From 1962 to 1967, he helped to set up the still young department for automation technology with a focus on "process automation in the processing industry" at Siemens in Erlangen. In 1968, he switched to teaching, initially as a civil engineer at the State Engineering School in Paderborn, which later became the Comprehensive University of Paderborn and is now the University of Paderborn. During this time, he was also actively involved in an advisory capacity in the establishment of the private substitute vocational school of Nixdorf Computer AG.
Following his work as a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences, he was appointed professor in 1981 with the task of representing the then young, interdisciplinary field of "Computer Engineering". This subject area combines problems of computer science with research into the design, structure and function of complex computer architectures. It focuses on the development of software solutions for the control of digital hardware and networked systems. In 1987 Franz-Josef Kevekordes was appointed university professor. Until his retirement in 1996, he served as head of the Information Technology and Process Laboratory (IPL). In this responsibility, in addition to supervising numerous student theses, he managed many projects with mainly local companies.
"I got to know Mr. Kevekordes when I was still a student. I remember him as a very pleasant lecturer who was always very conscientious in preparing for his lectures," says Prof. Dr. Christian Scheideler, Vice Dean of Computer Science at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics.
