Born and educated in Holland, he also studied in Indonesia, Namibia and Australia.
He undertook a degree in Mathematics at the University of Western Australia, then a PhD in Computer Science at Cambridge University.
After three years lecturing in information retrieval and artificial intelligence at Australia’s Monash University, Professor van Rijsbergen returned to the Cambridge Computer Laboratory to hold a Royal Society Information Research Fellowship.
In 1980 he was appointed Chair of Computer Science at University College Dublin. Six years later he moved to Glasgow University, where he is still based.
Professor van Rijsbergen’s research has been devoted to information retrieval (theoretical and experimental). His current research is concerned with the design of appropriate logics to model the flow of information.
He has been involved in a number of EU projects and working groups on information retrieval. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, IEE, BCS and ACM. Professor van Rijsbergen was Editor in Chief of the “Computer Journal” from 1993 until 2000.
He has served as a programme committee member and editorial board member of the major information retrieval conferences and journals.
He was Chairman of the most recent REA panel in Computer Science and Informatics. He is Chairman of the panel for Computer Science and Informatics (PE6) for the European Research Council.
He has written and co-written several books, including his latest, “The Geometry of Information Retrieval (CUP, 2004).