Head and shoulders image of Dr. Andrew D. Booth, dean of Engineering, 1962-1972.

Bio/Historical Note: Andrew Donald Booth (1918-2009) was raised in Weybridge, Surrey, England, and educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School. In 1937 he won a scholarship to read mathematics at Jesus College, Cambridge. Dr. Booth left Cambridge without taking a degree, having become disaffected with pure mathematics as a subject. He chose an external degree from the University of London instead, which he obtained with a first. From 1943-1945 Dr. Booth worked as a mathematical physicist in the X-ray team at the British Rubber Producers' Research Association (BRPRA), Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, gaining his PhD in crystallography from the University of Birmingham in 1944. In 1945 he moved to Birkbeck College, University of London, where his work in the crystallography group led him to build some of the first electronic computers in the United Kingdom, including the All Purpose Electronic Computer, first installed at the British Rayon Research Association. Dr. Booth founded Birkbeck's department of numerical automation and was named a fellow at the university. He also did early pioneering work in machine translation. He married mathematician and computer engineer Kathleen Hylda Valerie Britten (1922-2022) in 1951 and they both performed research. Dr. Booth and his wife resigned suddenly from Birkbeck College in 1961 after a chair was not conferred on him. Dr. Booth was professor and head of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan (1962-1963). He served as dean of Engineering and university professor (1963-1972). Dr. Booth served as president of Lakehead University (Thunder Bay, ON) from 1972-1978. Booth died in Sooke, British Columbia, at age 91.