Seminar with Sir Dermot Turing
San Diego Biomedical, as part of its Communication & Collaboration series, will host an October 28 noon seminar with Sir Dermot Turing. Sir Dermot is a Trustee of Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire (U.K.) and author of Prof: Alan Turing Decoded, a biography of his uncle Alan Turing (1912-1954). Alan Turing was one of Bletchley Park’s leading cryptanalysts and a founder of the science of artificial intelligence whose story was portrayed in the Oscar-winning film, The Imitation Game. Sir Dermot Turing was educated at Sherborne and King’s College, Cambridge. After completing his D.Phil. (Ph.D.) in Genetics at New College, Oxford, Sir Dermot moved into the legal profession working first for HM Treasury Solicitor’s Department and then for Clifford Chance.
Alan Turing led the team that decoded the German’s “Enigma” that is credited with ending WWII an estimated two to three years early and sparing 14 to 21 million lives. In 1952, he was convicted of gross indecency after admitting a sexual relationship with a man. His criminal record resulted in the loss of his security clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), where he had been employed following service at Bletchley Park during the war. He died of cyanide poisoning in 1954, aged 41.
In 2013, Queen Elizabeth II granted a Alan Turing a posthumous pardon under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.