Richard J. (Rick)
Sutcliffe, is Professor of Mathematics and Computing Science at Trinity Western
University in British Columbia, and has been Adjunct Professor in the nearby
School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University.
At TWU, Rick has coordinated academic computing curriculum
and facilities, served on numerous campus committees, and has also been
Assistant Dean and Acting Dean (Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences), and
Chair of the University Senate.
Sutcliffe has represented Canada on international computing
standards committees and has published a text in computing science, written
another on ethical and social issues in technology, and has authored more than
fifty articles and reviews in a variety of trade and technical publications.
He has been a columnist for several magazines and and
newspapers (The Northern Spy, Anodidacticus, The Dialectical Apple, Through a
Glass Darkly). He coined the terms "New Renaissance",
"Metalibrary", "concinnity", "Fourth
Civilization" and "wired campus", has been a leader in
electronic publication, and has been active on the Internet since the 1970s. He
has also been an invited speaker at numerous churches, educational and
computing conferences, and technical symposia at local, national, and
international levels.
Rick Sutcliffe is the author of several fictional works in
various stages of publication. These are Irish-flavoured Christian science
fiction and deal with a variety of technology and ethical issues in
thought-provoking plots set on alternate earths. His first novel, "The
Peace" was originally published electronically in June 2000 and became its
publisher's best-seller. Others in the same series followed. He revived The
Northern Spy electronically, and also has a Philology site at opundo.com.
Affiliated companies sell domain names and do web hosting.
Prior to his academic career, he taught secondary school for
twelve years in Langley, BC, last at Mountain Secondary School. There, he
served as his school's math/computer science department head, physics teacher,
staff chairman, club sponsor, and scholarship counsellor. He brought the
International Baccalaureate programme to public schools for the first time, was
active in curriculum development and was among the first to use microcomputers
in secondary schools.
He has research interests in standards, programming
languages, data structures, and in the social, ethical, and religious aspects
of high technology. He is active in Aldergrove Fellowship Baptist Church,
having been chairman, treasurer, deacon, elder, youth worker, librarian and
Bible teacher. He has built two houses, gardens, writes software, and been
active in politics. He has travelled extensively as a speaker and to represent
the Canadian Standards Association and the Standards Council of Canada at ISO
meetings. He presently resides in Bradner, B.C. with his wife Joyce. They have
two married sons, Nathan (Charlene) and Joel (Jen) and six grandchildren.
