Vlad Petruv
Died September 2003
It is with the utmost sadness that we have to report that Vlad Petruv died in September 2003. He had a suspected heart attack and died in bed, while on holiday with his wife Zdenka in Majorca.
Vlad had worked at Southampton Institute for 30 years, the last six of which he was part time. He had a great intellect, was one of the real characters of the world and knew and was liked by everybody. He always had only good things to say and was a really popular lecturer amongst the students.
On arriving here in 1972 from Czechoslovakia via the West Indies, his first responsibility was as Course Leader for the then new BSc Mathematics course, which was the very first degree to be validated within the former Southampton Institute. Later he designed and led the BSc Information Systems course, which was the forerunner of the current, very successful, BSc (Hons) Business Information Technology. He also taught on BSc's in Computer Studies, Software Engineering and Computer Networking together with the MSc in Software Engineering.
Those who came into contact with Vlad will always remember him. The lamp-posts around will now feel more comfortable, knowing they will not have to move out of the way to avoid Vlad as he walks down the road reading a cowboy novel or newspaper. The Czech beer industry is likely to suffer a sales slump.
Most of all, though, we are all missing a happy character, with a laugh that reverberated far beyond Southampton.