Dr Paul Fox passed away shortly before his 49th birthday. Paul was an extremely well liked acoustician and signal processor who worked at several key institutions across Europe.
He was born on 11 May 1966. After schooling at Oakmeeds School, Burgess Hill, then Haywards Heath Sixth Form College, he was awarded a BA Hons and an MA (both in Engineering Science) at the University of Oxford in 1987 and 1995 respectively. He then moved to the University of Reading and in 1995 was awarded a PhD in Cybernetics with the thesis title ‘A state space approach to multivariable deconvolution’. Sponsored by a Marie Curie award from the EU, he carried out research into limited diffraction beams for medical ultrasound at the Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway (1998-2000). An accomplished linguist, he used his French, Spanish, Italian, German and English to work at the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Toledo, the University of Warwick, and the University of Sydney.
Paul is extremely fondly remembered at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research at the University where he worked as a Lecturer from 2005 to 2010. He showed great empathy in supporting students and colleagues, and was the first to volunteer when, for example, unexpected issues (such as staff illness) meant that a colleague, student or contract could be helped by his taking on extra load, often working evenings and weekends at the University to help someone out. There was huge admiration and respect for the quality of his work, his dedication, and his loyalty and empathy.
After leaving the University, Paul worked in Italy, at what is now the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation in La Spezia, and after that he set up a consultancy in the private sector, first in Italy and then in Brighton. However, failing health made it increasingly difficult for Paul to work, and on 25th April he suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage.
Paul’s tragic death has shocked the many colleagues, former students, and friends from around Europe, Australia and the USA, many of whom have expressed the enormous respect they have for the man, his work, his dedication to others, his commitment to always completing the job, and above all, for his humanity.