Ranulph Glanville: AA 4th Year Project, 1970, Flow Diagram for ‘Absentee Shopping’ system.
The AA Archives have received a set of AA student drawings, diagrams, music scores and writings by Dr Ranulph Glanville, a world renowned Cybernetician, researcher and educator who sadly died in December last year. Ranulph studied at the AA from 1964-71 and, after graduating, taught as a First Year Tutor until 1978. From the AA he moved on to lecture at the University of Portsmouth and worked as a Professor in Australia, Hong Kong & Belgium as well the at the RCA and UCL.
Glanville’s career was defined by pioneering work in Cybernetics but also by his belief in research as a form of design and the influence of music on his output. An expert and confident orator he spoke frequently at institutions around the world and published in excess of 350 academic publications. From Brunel University he earned two PhDs for Cybernetics in 1975 and Human Learning in 1987 and in 2006 was awarded a DSc in Cybernetics and Design. Glanville was also the President of the American Society for Cybernetics from 2008 until his death. He leaves behind a wealth of work and influence whose effects are still being felt with the world of both cybernetics and academia.
Ranulph’s complete archive of papers have been donated to the University of Vienna, where they will sit alongside those of the cyberneticians Gordon Pask (Ranulph’s tutor at the AA) and Heinz von Foerster. The AA Archives, are making high resolution scans of the AA-related material and will make them available via its online catalogue later in 2015.