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In Memoriam: Professor Terry Fancott (1939-2020)


Members of the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science community were saddened to learn of the death of their colleague, Professor Terrill Fancott from the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering.

He passed away on Monday, June 8, 2020.

Dr. Fancott’s contribution to Concordia was significant – he was instrumental in the continuous improvement of the Computer Science Program and in the introduction of the Software Engineering Program. He opened the Computer Science Digital Laboratory and bought the first minicomputer in the early seventies. More recently, faculty and students know him as the driving force behind the popular Hackathon event, among other things

A rewarding career remembered

Dr. Fancott first started teaching at Concordia University (then Sir George Williams University) in 1969. He was appointed full-time Assistant Professor on October 1, 1971. He was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in 1981. In June 2011, he was promoted to the rank of Professor. He was a registered member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ) since January 1961.

Dr. Fancott was appointed Associate Dean under Dean M. N. S. Swamy from 1986 to 1993, then again under Dean Nabil Esmail from 1997 to 2008, and again under Dean Robin Drew from 2008-2009. He served on the Board of Governors and on numerous committees and task forces at different university levels. Dr. Fancott also served as President of Concordia University Faculty Association (CUFA), and was a member of the Collective Bargaining Committee for both CUFA and Concordia University Part-Time Faculty Association (CUPFA).

Outside Concordia, Dr. Fancott was a member of the OIQ Board of Examiners, assessing the qualifications of applications to the Order. Nationally, he also served as member of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board teams.

Life Before Concordia

Dr. Fancott received his PhD in 1968 from Université de Paris, France. Prior to joining Concordia University he held design engineer positions with L.M. Ericsson AB in Stockholm Sweden (1961-64) and was a Design Engineer (Research and Development) with CAE in Montreal from 1964-1968. From 1968 to 1971, he was a Member of the Scientific Staff and Project Manager, RCA Ltd, Montreal Research Laboratories.


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