The College Record 2022

JOHN WOOD
Obituaries
“Generous”, “considerate”, “kind”, “reliable”: adjectives
that came up frequently as we compiled this tribute to our
friend Dr John Wood, who died in November 2021 – as did
“accomplished”, “quick-witted”, “curious”, “modest” and
“mischievous”.
John was brought up in Greenwich, and at school he was
good at languages, studying German, Russian, and French, as well as science,
and his eventual passion, mathematics. He took his Oxford entrance exam at 16,
matriculating at Queen’s in 1973, then studying for his Masters at Sussex and his
PhD at Cardiff. He joined Ferranti in Bracknell before moving to GCHQ, where he
developed a first-class team as well as displaying his love of cryptic puzzles and
quizzes (John was a contributor to the very popular GCHQ Puzzle Book published
in 2016).
John was an adept and enthusiastic problem-solver. He embraced mathematical
challenges, becoming a respected contributor to Project Euler with its mathematical
and computer problems that got harder and harder, and he enjoyed undertaking
research to solve these and other puzzles. He delighted in finding elegant solutions
to puzzles which were obvious to others only once he had explained them (a true
mathematician!). He applied that enthusiasm to puzzles of all types, from pub team
and GCHQ quizzes to the Goodworth Clatford Christmas Quiz, copies of which he
generously bought and sent to friends to help promote their charitable fundraising:
he achieved 100% on several occasions, although it was the challenge that appealed
to John more than the winning, and he enjoyed engaging supportively with the
compiler on the nuances of the puzzles. He was in the audience several times for
TV programmes such as QI, Have I got News for You and I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue,
which appealed to his love of facts and his sense of humour.
John’s passion for mathematics was a constant thread throughout his life, maintaining
an interest in Dr Peter Neumann’s work to promote mathematics in schools and
helping his friends’ children who were studying mathematics at university (he was
very pleased for them in their achievements).
John’s quiet generosity was apparent in other ways too. He enjoyed spending time
with friends – day trips from his home in Cheltenham, long weekends exploring
different places in the UK and abroad, and regular visits to Japan, which he loved –
and he excelled in finding the best public transport travel options and interesting
places to visit, particularly cafés, delis, local markets, pubs, and discovering ‘off the
beaten track’ gems (he never learnt to drive but would habitually walk long distances).
His family was very important to him, and he loved visiting them: spending time with
people, being interested in them, and quietly helping when he could were defining
122 The Queen’s College | College Record 2022