Joan Walsh was one of the first Fellows recruited by the Atlas Laboratory working on the solution of partial differential equations.
After leaving Atlas she joined Manchester University becoming the first woman professor and Vice-Chancellor. At the time of writing, she was Emeritus Professor, Manchester Centre for Computational Mathematics, after her retirement.
She was NAG's first Chairman and she worked hard to maintain the delicate balance between financial viability and NAG's ideals of collaboration and not-for-profit status.
Joan died in 2017; Len Freeman and Professor Nick Higham wrote an obituary originally published at: https://nhigham.com/2018/04/18/joan-e-walsh-1932-2017/
By Len Freeman and Nick Higham
Joan Eileen Walsh was born on 7 October 1932 and passed away on 30 December 2017 at the age of 85.
Joan obtained a First Class B.A. honours degree in Mathematics from the University of Oxford in 1954. She then spent three years working as an Assistant Mistress at Howell's School in Denbigh, North Wales. In 1957 Joan left teaching and enrolled at the University of Cambridge to study for a Diploma in Numerical Analysis. This qualification was awarded, with Distinction, in 1958. At this point, Joan returned to the University of Oxford Computing Laboratory to study for a D.Phil. under the supervision of Professor Leslie Fox. She was Fox's first doctoral student. Her D.Phil. was awarded in 1961.
Between October 1960 and March 1963, Joan worked as a Mathematical Programmer for the CEGB (Central Electricity Generating Board) Computing Department in London. In April 1963, she was appointed to a Lectureship in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Manchester. She progressed through the positions of Senior Lecturer (1966) and Reader (1971) before being appointed as Professor of Numerical Analysis at the University of Manchester in October 1974. For the academic year 1967-1968 Joan had leave of absence at the SRC Atlas Computer Laboratory -- a joint appointment with St Hilda's College, Oxford.
Joan led the Numerical Analysis group at the University of Manchester until 1985, after which Christopher Baker took over. This was a period of expansion both for the Numerical Analysis group at Manchester and, more generally, for numerical analysis in Britain. This expansion of British numerical analysis was supported by special grants from the SRC (Science Research Council) to provide additional funding for the subject at the Universities of Dundee, Manchester and Oxford, from 1973 until 1976. This funding supported one Senior Research Fellow and two Research Fellows at each Institution. Joan helped establish the Manchester group as one of the leading Numerical Analysis research centres in the United Kingdom (with eight permanent staff by 1987)?a position that is maintained to the present day.
Joan was Head of the Department of Mathematics between 1986 and 1989, and subsequently became Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester in 1990. She held the latter role for four years, and was responsible for undergraduate affairs across the University. Joan's tenure as Pro-Vice Chancellor coincided with substantial, and sometimes controversial, changes in undergraduate teaching?for example, the introduction of semesterisation and of credit-based degree programmes; Joan managed these major changes across the University with her customary tact, energy and determination. Joan was an efficient and effective administrator at a time when relatively few women occupied senior management roles in universities.
After 35 years' service, Joan retired from the University in 1998 and was appointed Professor Emeritus.
In retirement, Joan returned to her studies; between 2000 and 2003 she studied for an MA in Contemporary Theology in the Catholic Tradition at Heythrop College of the University of London.
Over the years, and particularly during her tenure as Pro-Vice Chancellor, Joan sat on, and chaired, numerous University committees, far too many to list. She had a very long relationship with Allen Hall (a University Hall of Residence) where she was on the Hall Advisory Committee from 1975 until her retirement in 1998.
Joan served leadership roles nationally, as well as in the University. She was Vice President of the IMA (1992-1993) and a member of the Council of the IMA (1990-1991 and 1994-1995). She was elected Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) in 1984. She was a member of the Computer Board for Universities and Research Councils for several years from the late 1970s. She encouraged the creation of its Software Provision Committee, formally constituted in 1980 with Joan as its first Chairman, which she led until 1985. She was also President of the National Conference of University Professors (1993?1994). Further, she was a member of the Board of Governors at Withington Girls' School, a leading independent school, for six years between 1993 and 1999.
Nowadays, all computational scientists take for granted the existence of software libraries such as the NAG Library. It is unimaginable to undertake major computational tasks without them. In 1970, Joan was one of a group of four academics who founded the Nottingham Algorithms Group with the aim of developing a comprehensive mathematical software library for use by the group of universities that were running ICL 1906A mainframe computers. Subsequently, the Nottingham Algorithms Group moved from the University of Nottingham to the University of Oxford and the project was incorporated as the Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG) Ltd. Joan became the Founding Chairman of NAG Ltd. in 1976, a position she held for the next ten years. She was subsequently a member of the Council of NAG Ltd. from 1992 until 1996. In recognition of her contribution to the NAG project Joan was elected as a Founding Member of the NAG Life Service Recognition Award in 2011.
Joan's research interests focused on the numerical solution of ordinary differential equation boundary value problems and the numerical solution of partial differential equations, and conducted much of her research in collaboration with PhD students.
Joan was an important figure in the development of Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing at the University of Manchester and in the UK more generally. Her essay Numerical Analysis at the Victoria University of Manchester, 1957-1979 gives an interesting perspective on early developments at Manchester.
