Professor Andy Hopper

Andy Hopper, the newly appointed Professor of Communications Engineering has become a well-known personality through his personal success in the field of wealth creating, high technology spin-off companies for which Cambridge has become a centre.

He studied computer technology at Swansea before coming to the Computer Laboratories in Cambridge in 1974 to start his PhD under the supervision of David Wheeler, collaborator with Maurice Wilkes, who worked on the development of the first computer and was the inventor of programming subroutines.

Hopper's PhD was on a local area communications network, and he developed a system known as the Cambridge Ring, which was a serious contender to the Ethernet. Technology developed as a result of this research led to the development of the BBC microcomputers by Acorn, a company founded jointly with Herman Hauser in the 1970s. This was to become the most successful UK company in terms of personal wealth creation.

Acorn was eventually taken over by ARM, which has itself become one of Cambridge's biggest success stories. Hopper is currently Managing Director of the Cambridge Research Laboratory for AT&T and is responsible for directing the work of 50 full time staff. In addition he has four other company directorships.

All this helps Hopper to enjoy his enviable lifestyle which includes a large house near Cambridge complete with an airstrip from which he can fly himself and his family in his six-seater Cesssna to wherever they want. Click on the picture to share the excitement of a skiing trip with the Hopper family.