More than four decades have passed since José Nuno Oliveira first stepped into the University of Minho (UMinho). On 14 November, Auditorium A1 at the Gualtar Campus in Braga was the setting for a farewell that stirred emotions and memories. The UMinho community – and beyond – gathered to celebrate José Nuno Oliveira’s dedication to teaching, research, and the training of generations in Computer Engineering.
The final lecture and recognition from the community
José Nuno Oliveira’s final lecture, “Quien sabe por Algebra, sabe scientificamente”, symbolised the continuity between past, present, and future: a gesture of academic tradition, but also of hope in the new generations, where computing education should begin at an early age.
During the ceremony, colleagues, former students, and faculty, alongside UMinho’s Rector Rui Vieira de Castro and the President of the School of Engineering António Vicente, highlighted José Nuno Oliveira’s pivotal role in establishing UMinho as a national reference in Computer Engineering.
Emotional testimonials spoke of “classes with soul”, where science, thoroughness, and humanity intersected, and where programming and formal methods came alive – meaningful not only as technique but also as philosophy, a tool, and a culture of formative and scientific work.
“One lesson was more than a lesson: it was an example, an experience that stays with you, because he taught with both the mind and the heart,” recalled one participant. Pedro Guedes de Oliveira, Emeritus Professor from INESC TEC, also shared his testimony during the session, highlighting “José Oliveira’s deep approach to all the themes he worked on”.
A living legacy: from academia to schools
With José Nuno Oliveira’s retirement, a chapter in university teaching closes, but another opens: the legacy. Through ENSICO, his computational literacy projects in high schools across the country continue to advance the vision that computing education should start early, using accessible and pedagogical methods. José Nuno Oliveira is one of the co-founders of this association and actively contributes to content creation and scientific guidance.
His work from early on at the INESC TEC hub at UMinho – to which he contributed from the early on -, alongside his national and international contributions, has made him a reference in formal methods and reliable software (a field essential to the development of robust and high-assurance software in Portugal). His influence extends beyond classrooms to research, industry, and future generations of computer scientists and engineers.
A farewell and collective gratitude
At the end of the ceremony, deep gratitude was expressed for decades of dedication, for shaping professionals and researchers, and for helping to build an academic community defined by excellence, curiosity, and intellectual integrity.
“The University is stronger today because it could count on you. The Department of Computer Science and the School of Engineering are more prestigious because they were developed on the foundations you helped to build,” emphasised UMinho’s Rector.
The retirement ceremony coincided with the final lecture of Pedro Rangel Henriques, also a lecturer in UMinho’s Department of Computer Science.
José Nuno Oliveira, born in Apúlia, Esposende, aged 70, taught at UMinho from 1978, after earning a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Porto, and a master’s and PhD in Computer Science from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with INESC TEC and UMinho.
News, current topics, curiosities and so much more about INESC TEC and its community!
