Our story

The story of our School is one of growth and change.

In 1971, the School of Computing Mathematics was established, with a cohort of 47 students and under the leadership of the inaugural Head of School, Professor Bob Churchouse.

Professor Churchouse, who was taught by Alan Turing while studying for his undergraduate degree at Victoria University Manchester, was also the Director of the Cardiff University Computer Centre for a short while.

Initially, Computing Mathematics was offered as a half subject - combined with Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or Solid-State Physics.

Computing became a subject in its own right with the introduction of a degree in Computer Systems with Applied Science, paving the way for the development of the expansive list of courses we offer currently.

Teaching in the School has always been a blend of innovation and resourcefulness. Our earliest staff, with DEC VAX Computers and, later, Sun Workstations at their disposal, embarked on the journey of imparting knowledge in the rapidly evolving field of computing. One particularly ingenious endeavour was the establishment of the university's range of IP addresses, a milestone achieved through the collaborative efforts of staff members.

Today, Dr Kathryn Jones is the Head of the School of Computer Science and Informatics, and we are now home to a cohort of more than 1,300 students across undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes, as well as 200 colleagues from around the world.

Just as we did in our earliest days, we pride ourselves on our innovative teaching and groundbreaking research across a wide range of subject areas, impacting every aspect of society from government and security to healthcare and the arts.