• Roger Moore (Univ. of Sheffield): I've just learnt that Prof. John Laver - founder of the Centre for Speech Technology Research (CSTR) Edinburgh - passed away last week. A phonetician by training, John had a big influence on UK speech technology during the 1980s/90s + he was a lovely soft-spoken guy. RIP John.

• Gerry Docherty, Secretary, International Phonetic Association (IPA): It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that former President of the IPA (1991-5) Professor Emeritus John Laver CBE, FBA, FRSE, passed away in Scotland on 6th May after an extended period of ill health.

John was Professor Emeritus of Speech Science at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, but the large part of his career

was built at the University of Edinburgh where he was based from 1966-2000, becoming Professor of Phonetics in 1985. John’s influence on the field of Phonetics was very significant indeed, in particular his hugely influential work on the phonetic description of voice quality beautifully set out in his eponymous 1980 CUP monograph.

John provided mentoring and support to generations of Phonetics and Speech Science researchers both in Edinburgh and beyond, applying his customary incisive analytic skills, his rigorous approach to phonetic taxonomy, and his unfailing ability to shed new light on the complexities of phonetic theory. John was a relentless advocate for the field of Phonetics, seeing it as occupying a pivotal position at the intersection of a wide range of disciplines. This vision was spectacularly brought to life in 1984 when John established the highly innovative Centre for Speech Technology Research at Edinburgh which he directed from 1984-89, and then chaired until 1994.

In the latter years of his career, John served as Vice Principal of Edinburgh University and held a number of external appointments, including a period as Chair of the British Academy's Humanities Research Board during which he steered its transition into the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. After he was appointed to Queen Margaret University in 2001 John undertook a number of senior academic roles, including a period as Acting Principal, before his retirement in 2004.

John’s loss will be deeply felt by many members of the IPA who have worked or studied with him over the years, or who have had their understanding of the field shaped by reading his work or by hearing one of his inspirational talks. For those of us who knew John very well as a colleague and/or student, it does feel like the end of an era.

• Joseph Mariani (Directeur de Recherche Émérite, LIMSI-CNRS): I've just learned that John Laver passed away.  It's a very sad news. John has played a very important role in the structuration of the speech research community in Europe. He has been very influential in
  initializing the reflection at a conference in Aarhus and in organizing the European Conference on Speech Technology in Edinburgh in 1987, which resulted in the launching of ESCA, the European Speech Communication Association, in 1988 and in the first Eurospeech in 1989. He was a member of the very first ESCA Board. He was a great scientist, a visionary person and a faithful friend. We will miss him.
  

• Steve Renals (University of Edinburgh): I am sorry to inform you that Professor John Laver FBA died in hospital in the early hours of Wednesday 6 May. He was Professor of Phonetics at Edinburgh until 2001, and was then Research Professor of Speech Sciences at Queen Margaret University until his retirement in 2004. He made many contributions to phonetics, and also sociolinguistics, include significant work on voice quality. He was the founder of the Centre for Speech Technology Research in 1984, of which he was Director (1984-89) and then Chair (1991-94). He was also instrumental in the foundation of AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) in the 1990s. Amongst many other honours and awards, he was awarded the CBE for services to Phonetics and the Humanities in 1999.

• Isabel Trancoso (Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, Univ. Lisbon)): He was one of our pioneers and our community should be told about this sad news. Some times when I’m teaching my classes and the students are making too much noise I wish I could speak like John Laver did, not loud at all, and yet command all our attention.

• Maxine Eskenazi (Carnegie Mellon University): He will be missed.

• Phil Green (Sheffield Univ.):Back in the days when the Alvey program was starting (mid-80s) it was John who persuaded me to apply for funding. The grant we got at Sheffield was associated with the 'Alvey Demonstrator' at CSTR. I owe John a lot.

• Jean-François Bonastre (and Joe Campbell): John’s pioneering work in phonetics had such profound impact that I recall precisely the place and time when I first read it. His work has lasting impact that continues to this day. For example, the forensic phonetics community occasionally gets off kilter until someone discovers Laver’s pioneering work and all is well again. Thank you John, RIP.

   

• Bruce Millar (Australian National University): It is a very sad event for those of us in Australia as John was a great supporter of our efforts to establish the field of Speech Science and Technology in our country. He accepted our invitation to be a Keynote Speaker at our inaugural Australian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology in 1986 when such conferences were a novelty. He then backed our resolve to commence a biennial conference series which continues to this day. The field in Australia owes a lot to his vision, his commitment to assisting us and bringing his characteristic personal encouragement.

•