Arbenigwr trawsnewid digidol yn derbyn Cymrodoriaeth er Anrhydedd

Jonathan Whelan

Mae’r awdur, arbenigwr o fri ar drawsnewid busnesau a Chymrawd Cymdeithas Cyfrifiaduron Prydain, Jonathan Whelan, wedi’i anrhydeddu’n Gymrawd er Anrhydedd ym Mhrifysgol Aberystwyth heddiw (dydd Mercher 13 Gorffennaf 2022).

Mae gan Jonathan Whelan radd mewn Mathemateg a Thystysgrif Addysg i Raddedigion o Brifysgol Aberystwyth. 

Mae wedi gweithio yn y diwydiant technoleg gwybodaeth ers dros dri degawd, ac mae ganddo brofiad helaeth o bensaernïo newid busnes a llunio strategaethau ar gyfer sefydliadau byd-eang, yn enwedig ym maes trawsnewid digidol. 

Mae’n awdur ar saith llyfr ac wedi cyhoeddi nifer o erthyglau, yn canolbwyntio'n bennaf ar newid a thechnoleg, ac yn enwedig y cyfleoedd a'r ystyriaethau sy'n wynebu defnyddwyr technoleg ym myd busnes.

Cyflwynwyd Jonathan Whelan fel Cymrawd er Anrhydedd gan Dr Fred Long o’r Adran Cyfrifiadureg ar ddydd Mercher 13 Gorffennaf 2022.

Mae’r cyflwyniad llawn ar gael isod, yn yr iaith y’i traddodwyd.

Cyflwyno Jonathan Whelan gan Dr Fred Long

Dirpwy Ganghellor, Dirprwy Is-Ganghellor, darpar raddedigion, gyfeillion. Pleser o’r mwyaf yw cyflwyno Jonathan Whelan yn gymrawd Prifysgol Aberystwyth.

Pro Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor, prospective graduates and supporters. It is an honour and a privilege to present Jonathan Whelan as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Jonathan received his undergraduate degree from the Department of Mathematics at Aberystwyth and so you may wonder why I am here from the Department of Computer Science to introduce him rather than a mathematician. It is because it is in the field of Computing that he has distinguished himself.

Jonathan was born in Tywyn and came to study Mathematics at Aberystwyth. After his degree, he stayed on in Aberystwyth to do teacher training, and then started teaching Mathematics at Penglais School just up the hill.

His change of career to computing came when he realised that one of his teaching colleagues would need to die for him to get promoted at Penglais, and he followed a very common path for Mathematicians at that time, taking a graduate job with NatWest Bank and being rapidly trained in Computing and its value to businesses.

Like many mathematicians, he had a natural affinity for it, and over the following 15 years he rose to a position of responsibility in the bank, and in 1996 concentrated his efforts on a very important issue known as the millennium bug – that many computers would hit problems in the year 2000 because of the limited way that dates were represented.  This problem has been played down by the media since then, because when the year 2000 happened, there were very few problems caused by this millennium bug, but that was because of the efforts of many professionals such as Jonathan.

In Jonathan’s case, he did not just make sure that NatWest’s computers were immune to the millennium bug, but he also acted on his concern for smaller companies without the resources of NatWest, producing an influential book to guide those smaller companies to avoid the problems the millennium bug was going to cause. The book was recommended by the UK Government as a guide to addressing the millennium bug.

Since then, Jonathan has held influential positions in several very large enterprises, including Network Rail, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

His area of expertise has been business architecture – not just the technical side of computing, but how you arrange a business most effectively, employing technology to facilitate your business goals.

He has distinguished himself in that area, both in the direct effect he has had in large companies, and as an author. His writing career has been underpinned by his passion to help individuals and organisations to better understand, use and exploit technology.  He has authored seven books and written articles for local and national newspapers, professional, trade and retail publications, nationally and internationally, focused on change and technology, and in particular the opportunities and issues that face business users of technology.

All this means that the recognition he is receiving here is both appropriate and well earned.

Dirpwy Ganghellor, mae’n bleser gen i gyflwyno Jonathan Whelan i chi yn Gymrawd. 

Pro Chancellor, it is my absolute pleasure to present Jonathan Whelan to you as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Anrhydeddau Prifysgol Aberystwyth 2022

Yn rhan o'r seremonïau graddio bydd y Brifysgol hefyd yn cyflwyno deg Cymrodoriaeth er Anrhydedd i unigolion sydd â chysylltiad ag Aberystwyth neu Gymru, ac sydd wedi gwneud cyfraniad eithriadol i'w dewis feysydd.  

Mae'r Cymrodyr eleni yn cynnwys ffigurau blaenllaw o'r celfyddydau, darlledu, y gyfraith, amaethyddiaeth, a'r sectorau gwyddoniaeth a thechnoleg.

Dyma Gymrodyr er Anrhydedd 2022 (yn y drefn y’u cyflwynir):

• Yr Athro Fonesig Elan Closs Stephens DBE, Comisiynydd Etholiadol Cymru ac yn Gyfarwyddwr Anweithredol ar Fwrdd y BBC, yn ogystal â bod yr aelod dros Gymru ar y Bwrdd hwnnw
• Myrddin ap Dafydd, awdur, cyhoeddwr ac Archdderwydd Cymru
• Yr Anrhydeddus Ustus Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, Barnwr Llys Apêl, Malaysia
• Harry Venning, cartwnydd, darlunydd ac awdur comedi arobryn
• Dr Zoe Laughlin, cyd-sylfaenydd a chyfarwyddwr ‘Institute of Making’
• Rhuanedd Richards, Cyfarwyddwr Cenedlaethol BBC Cymru
• Jonathan Whelan, ymgynghorydd TG, awdur a Chymrawd Cymdeithas Gyfrifiaduron Prydain.
• Tom Jones OBE, amaethwr a chadeirydd Ymddiriedolaeth Elusennol Stadiwm y Mileniwm ar adeg ei sefydlu
• Ei Anrhydedd y Barnwr Nicholas Cooke CF, cyn Uwch Farnwr Cylchdaith yn y Llys Troseddol Canolog, “yr Hen Feili”
• Gwerfyl Pierce Jones, cyn-Gyfarwyddwr a Phrif Weithredwr Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru

Professor Tim Woods (Pro Vice-Chancellor), Jonathan Whelan, Professor Dame Elan Closs Stephens DBE (Pro Chancellor)

Rhannu