In memoriam

Remembering Jonathan Miller

1943 - 2021

Jonathan sadly passed away on 4 January 2021 in his home surrounded by his family. He had been fighting pancreatic cancer for three and a half years. Jonathan was 77.

He was born in Port Elizabeth and moved to Cape Town before he was one year old. He went to SACS and then UCT where he studied Applied Mathematics and Physics. He began his career as a statistician but found his passion in technology where he spent most of his career – starting as ICT Manager at Caltex and then becoming a Senior Lecturer at the Graduate School of Business from 1980 –1998. During this time he served as Chairman of the MBA Programme from 1981-1984 and in 1990. He gained his PhD from UCT in 1989 on the topic of “The Effectiveness of Computer-Based Information Systems: Definition and Measurement.”

After returning from being a visiting scholar at New York University, Stern School of Management, he established the University of Cape Town Centre for Information Systems. This was a university-wide body aimed at facilitating interdisciplinary research on IT topics with an advanced computer laboratory for research and commercial purposes. He was its Director from 1992 to 1999.

He went on to create his own consultancy, Trigrammic Consultancy, advising on and evaluating Information and Communications Technology policies and programs for governments and NGOs in Africa (South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Botswana, Ethiopia,) and the Eastern Caribbean States, United States, Canada and United Kingdom, Syria and Sri Lanka.

As Chair of the Computer Society of South Africa, he brought the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) to South Africa, providing an internationally-recognised computer qualification for many. He also brought ThinkQuest to South Africa, giving local students an opportunity to participate in an international competition to create original educational websites and win scholarship funds.

Aside from technology, Jonathan loved science, philosophy, especially unravelling ‘consciousness,’ Sam Harris, art, jazz, traveling and golfing – from a young age playing on courses with his father, on the UCT Varsity team and as a member at Rondebosch Golf Club for many years. He met his wife Alyce in New York City in 1972 (on a blind date!) and convinced her to move to South Africa where a ‘three-year plan’ turned into a family. They had two daughters and lived at Lothlorien, a Cape Dutch-style house that he designed and built in 1975 on Valley Road (opposite the World of Birds). Many GSB MBAs enjoyed parties at his residence. Jonathan shared his passion for travel with the family and they traveled the world including the USA, Europe, Asia, Central America and the Middle East.

Jonathan is survived by Alyce and two daughters, Joanna and Lorien.