Dirk Dekker studied mathematics at the University of Amsterdam and obtained his doctorate in 1958 with Prof. Johannes de Groot on a subject in topology, 'Paradoxical decompositions of sets and spaces'. He then went to work at the Mathematics Department of the Mathematical Centre, now known as the Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica (CWI). In 1971, he was appointed professor of numerical mathematics at the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, a few UvA academics were involved in computer science, including Dirk Dekker. To come together in one department and also to maintain contact with their specific domain, the science faculty, and in particular the mathematics and physics, allowed some of their manpower to devote time on computer science. As a result, Dirk Dekker and several colleagues decided to switch to computer science. In 1981, Dirk Dekker became the first chairman of the Interfaculty Working Group Informatics and was one of the founders of the current Institute for Informatics and of the informatics educational programmes of the University of Amsterdam.

He became emeritus in 1992.

We remember him with respect and as a fine colleague.