Brief biographical details – Nick Rossiter

Born: Dawlish, Devon (son of George Friend and Betty Rossiter of Teignmouth)

Family background: Rossiters were jewellers and opticians in Teignmouth from 1878-1963, descending from watchmakers in Weston super Mare (1840 onwards) and millers in Tiverton (c1710-1841). Rossiter is an Irish name: the Somerset branch are presumed to have come from Wexford, Ireland, in the 16th century and settled at Combe St Nicholas, near Taunton. The Devon branch, based in Tiverton, started in the late 17th century and is believed to have been initiated by the dispossessed Catholic landowners from Wexford following the Limerick treaty. My descent is from the Devon branch. My maternal side is much more interesting than initially thought with the mother-of-mother line running through Nicholls, Holbrook, May and Dashper back to the 1830s. DNA testing confirms a southern Irish (Leinster, Celtic) paternal origin and an eastern maternal origin, possibly non-Ashkenazi Jewish. See Family History Research – Paternal/Maternal side including review of DNA techniques– Presentation (pdf); mtDNA mother-of-mother Rossiter – Nicholls – Holbrook – May – Dashper – Illustrated Report (pdf).

Married: Anna Makosch (1949-2007) in Teignmouth 1972; two children

School: Teignmouth Grammar School, Devon (A-levels: Chemistry, Physics, Pure and Applied Mathematics)

University: Hull University (BSc Chemistry with Mathematics, PhD Chemistry The oxidation of hydrogen and deuterium)

Employment:

Liaison Scientist, Experimental Information Unit, Oxford University

Senior Research Associate, Medusa Project, Computing Laboratory, Newcastle University

Programming Adviser (Databases), Computing Laboratory, Newcastle University

Lecturer in Computing Science, Newcastle University (1989-2002)

Reader in Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences (Databases), Northumbria University (2002-2009)

Visiting Research Fellow, Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences, Northumbria University (2009-)

Short Biography: Nick Rossiter has a BSc in Chemistry with Mathematics and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Hull University. He is currently a Visiting Research Fellow in Northumbria University's School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences, where he was formerly a Reader in Databases. His research interests include theoretical aspects of information systems and modelling in databases.

Nick Rossiter Visiting Fellow home page