IN MEMORIAM: Professor Branislav Lazarević (1940-2008)
Branislav Lazarević, Full Professor Emeritus of Information Systems of the Faculty of Organizational
Sciences, University of Belgrade, passed away in Belgrade on November 30th, 2008. With his death,
the national academic and science community has lost one of its most distinguished, profound and
influential members.
Professor Lazarević was born on March 18th, 1940 in Laćarak, near Sremska Mitrovica, in Serbia. When
he was very young his parents moved to Belgrade, where he later attained all of his educational
degrees. He graduated in Technical Physics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of
Belgrade in 1962, at the age of 22. He received his MSc and PhD degrees from the same institution in
1966 and 1972 respectively.
The first part of his career, from 1962 to 1974, he spent as a researcher at the Nuclear Institute
“Boris Kidrič“, in Vinča (nearby Belgrade), when it was one of the most significant science centres
in the former Yugoslavia. In 1968-1969, he also spent a year as a researcher in the Institutte fur
Atomenergi, Oslo, Norway on a grant from the International Atomic Energy Agency. In this part of his
career, his research work was related to various problems in System Theory, in general, and
automatic control of nuclear reactors, in particular. He made a significant contribution to the
field with his approach to the problem of solving partial differential equations using digital
computers, which was also the subject of his PhD thesis.
In 1974, he joined the Faculty of Organizational Science, University of Belgrade, where he started
his fruitful career as a university professor, scientist and researcher in the field of information
systems. He had a crucial role in establishing the newly created Information Systems Department and
contributed enormously over the years to the constant enhancement of its curriculum, transforming
the Faculty of Organizational Sciences into a leading national educational institution in the
information systems area. He created a new school of thinking regarding information systems
development. Generations of students will always remember his inspiring and insightful lectures in
analysis and design of information systems, data modelling, logical and physical database design and
software engineering. Many of his students have become leading information system developers in
their companies. He mentored a number of MSc and PhD candidates, several of whom are now respected
professors at universities all over the world.
As a visiting professor he also taught at other schools within the University of Belgrade and at
several Universities throughout the former Yugoslavia. From 1984-1986 he was a visiting professor at
Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, USA. During this period, he also spent one semester
teaching at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA.
In addition, Professor Lazarevi? held various posts at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences,
serving as the head of the Information Systems Department for many years and being the Vice Dean
(1974-1978) and the Dean (1980-1983). His contribution to the development of the Faculty of
Organizational Sciences is immeasurable. He greatly contributed to the establishment of an
international cooperation with similar educational and research institutions in the USA, UK and
continental Europe. He was also the founder of the Laboratory for Information Systems (LABIS), where
he led a research group.
Drawing on his deep theoretical knowledge and practical research background, Professor Lazarevi? has
made original contributions to the field of information systems development in several important
areas. In the area of semantic data modelling, he proposed semantically rich extensions to the P.
Chen’s Entity-Relationship model, enabling the capturing of more semantics and automatic generation
of database structural integrity rules. His research was later employed in the ARTIST CASE tool,
developed in LABIS in late 1980s and early 1990s. In the area of system analysis, he proposed a
special utilization of Structured System Analysis that resulted in an easier and better
decomposition of system functionality. Later, he combined this approach with Object Oriented
Analysis and UML Use Case diagrams. He was a strong advocate of using abstractions and abstract
mechanisms in managing complexity, a notorious and perpetual enemy of information system developers
and software engineers.
He published over 100 papers in national and international journals and conferences. He was author
and co-author of several significant books on the subject, which had great influence far beyond the
Faculty of Organizational Science and the University of Belgrade. He was a chair and member of
program committees as well as an invited speaker at numerous national and international scientific
conferences. He was an active member of several national and international professional associations
(ETRAN, Serbian Informatics Society, IFIP and ACM). He was the leading founder and the first
Editor-in-Chief of the ComSIS Journal, the first Serbian international journal in computer science
selected for the SCI list by Thomson Reuters.
Professor Lazarević had a colossal influence in the field of information systems development not
only as an academic, but as a great practitioner as well. He led and supervised numerous information
system development projects for various companies and government agencies throughout the former
Yugoslavia. He never declined an invitation to give a speech, teach a course or give invaluable
advice. He also helped many software development companies with his insightful consulting.
But, above all, Professor Lazarević was a real gentleman with an exceptional intellect and
outstanding personality. He had a great mind and a good heart with a free spirit and good humour,
which impressed anyone who met him. A man of many talents, he was an original thinker, brilliant
writer, great orator, excellent organizer and an outstanding scientist and engineer. He was a source
of great inspiration for many, especially for his colleagues who had the enormous privilege to know
him and work with him.
dr Siniša Nešković
Head of Information Systems Chair
Faculty of Organizational Sciences
University of Belgrade