David J. C. MacKay

Sir David John Cameron MacKay (22 April 1967 – 14 April 2016) in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and from 2009 to 2014 was Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). MacKay wrote the book Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air.

Education MacKay was educated at Newcastle High School and represented Britain in the International Physics Olympiad in Yugoslavia in 1985, receiving the first prize for experimental work. He continued his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Natural Sciences (Experimental and theoretical physics) in 1988.

MacKay's contributions in machine learning and information theory include the development of Bayesian methods for neural networks, the rediscovery (with Radford M. Neal) of low-density parity-check codes, and the invention of Dasher, a software application for communication especially popular with those who cannot use a traditional keyboard. He cofounded the knowledge management company Transversal. In 2003, his book Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms was published.

His interests beyond research included the development of effective teaching methods and African development; he taught regularly at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cape Town from its foundation in 2003 to 2006. In 2008 he completed a book on energy consumption and energy production without fossil fuels called Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air. MacKay used £10,000 of his own money to publish the book, and the initial print run of 5,000 sold within days. The book received praise from The Economist, The Guardian, Like his textbook on Information theory, MacKay made the book available for free online. In March 2012 he gave a TED talk on renewable energy.

MacKay was appointed to be Chief Scientific Advisor of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, United Kingdom, in September 2009.

Awards and honours MacKay was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2009. His certificate of election reads:

In the 2016 New Year Honours, MacKay was appointed a Knight Bachelor "for services to scientific advice in government and science outreach".

Personal life David MacKay was born the fifth child of Donald MacCrimmon MacKay and Valerie MacKay.

He married Ramesh Ghiassi in 2011.

Illness and death MacKay was diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer (malignant adenocarcinoma) in July 2015, He died in the afternoon of 14 April 2016. He is survived by his wife and two children.