PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Timothy Francis Cootes

Also known as Tim Cootes, Tim F. Cootes

Timothy Francis Cootes builds statistical models of shape and appearance for computer vision at the University of Manchester. After a mathematics and physics degree at the University of Exeter in 1986 and a civil engineering doctorate on a storm sewer overflow at Sheffield City Polytechnic, he joined Manchester in 1991. With Chris Taylor, he published Active Shape Models in 1995, and with Edwards and Taylor he introduced active appearance models for face analysis in 1998. He became a professor of computer vision in 2006, a Fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition in 2010, and a Distinguished Fellow of the British Machine Vision Association in 2014. He is a professor in the Division of Informatics, Imaging and Data Sciences, where he analyses bones and joints in medical images.

Works
574
Citations
35,017
h-index
69

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 17 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1986–1991

    From Exeter to Manchester

    He completes a combined mathematics and physics degree at the University of Exeter in 1986. A civil engineering doctorate at Sheffield City Polytechnic studies a storm sewer overflow, and he joins the University of Manchester in 1991.

  2. 1993–1995

    Two research fellowships

    He is awarded an SERC postgraduate fellowship in 1993 and an EPSRC Advanced Fellowship in 1995. His research builds statistical models of the shape and appearance of objects in images.

  3. 1995

    Active shape models

    With Chris Taylor, he develops Active Shape Models in 1995. The models describe object shape from labelled examples and deform to fit a new image.

  4. 1998

    Active appearance models

    Edwards, Cootes and Taylor introduce active appearance models for face analysis at the 3rd International Conference on Face and Gesture Recognition in 1998. They describe the approach for computer vision at the European Conference on Computer Vision in 1998.

  5. June 2001–August 2006

    Lecturer then professor

    He becomes a lecturer in June 2001 and a reader in computer vision in August 2005. In August 2006 he is appointed a professorial research fellow and professor of computer vision. He chairs the British Machine Vision Association from 2002 to 2005.

  6. 2010

    Fellow of the IAPR

    He is elected a Fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition in 2010 for contributions to the development of statistical models of shape and appearance.

  7. 2014

    BMVA Distinguished Fellow

    The British Machine Vision Association names him Distinguished Fellow for 2014.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor in Manchester

    He is a professor of computer vision in the Division of Informatics, Imaging and Data Sciences at the University of Manchester. He uses statistical shape and appearance models to analyse bones and joints in medical images.

Sources and credits

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  1. Timothy Cootes - Research Explorer The University of Manchester research.manchester.ac.uk. Checked 16 October 2026.
  2. Tim Cootes' CV personalpages.manchester.ac.uk. Checked 16 October 2026.
  3. The British Machine Vision Association : Tim Cootes bmva.org. Checked 16 October 2026.
  4. Active shape model - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 16 October 2026.
  5. Tim Cootes: Research personalpages.manchester.ac.uk. Checked 16 October 2026.
  6. Active appearance model - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 16 October 2026.
  7. Chronological List of IAPR Fellows – International Association for Pattern Recognition iapr.org. Checked 16 October 2026.
  8. Tim Cootes: Overview personalpages.manchester.ac.uk. Checked 16 October 2026.