Nicholas Britton obituary

My husband, Nicholas Britton, who has died aged 67 of bone cancer, was a pioneering mathematical biologist whose research covered a huge range of subjects, from how malaria is transmitted to the growth of tree rings, and dialects in bird song.

His teaching and work on modelling techniques made an important contribution to inspiring and training the generation of researchers who are currently applying these skills and knowhow to solving the problems of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nick was born in London, to Barbara Ferris, a teacher, and Geoffrey Britton, a university lecturer in medieval English. Sunday lunch was punctuated by debates about seemingly obscure facts. At Haberdashers’ Aske’s school, Nick developed his mathematical talent and also enjoyed Russian and learning to play the clarinet. With a scholarship, he studied mathematics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he played bridge and rowed, graduating in 1975. Completing a DPhil in two years, he won the university’s prize for the best DPhil in 1978.

After a couple of years as a lecturer at Oxford and then Liverpool universities, in 1980 he accepted a lecturing post at the University of Bath, which became his academic home for 40 years. There he founded the international Centre for Mathematical Biology, which opened in 1994. Working at the confluence of two disciplines, in his case maths and biology, demands patience, respect and teamwork, and Nick honed these skills. He wrote a guide to the subject, Essential Mathematical Biology, published in 2003.

His varied research included: how human tumours grow, the growth of tree rings, validating the “gate control” theory of pain, bird-song dialects, social exclusion dynamics, and disease transmission in malaria, influenza and dengue fever. With Nigel Franks, he unravelled complex ant colony behaviours such as decision-making. His final publication shows how damage to honey bee populations is caused by the deformed-wing virus in varroa mites.

Nick’s students and colleagues recall an enthusiastic teacher, generous with inspiring and life-changing ideas. As head of mathematical sciences (2006-09) at Bath, he nurtured significant expansion in the field. Through chairing a committee of the International Society for Mathematical Biology (2008-15), he initiated modelling workshops, realising a commitment to support low- and middle-income countries.

After retiring in 2016, he put his lifelong concern about disadvantage into practice, becoming a financial adviser for Citizen’s Advice in Bath.

We met at a concert at Bath festival in 1983, and married in 1987. We shared a love of jazz, opera and ballroom dancing. Private, gentle, wry and modest, Nick was a devoted father to our daughter, Rachel. They loved exploring rock pools and hunting for fossils, and countryside walks. A confirmed internationalist and insatiable traveller, he visited 67 countries in his lifetime.

Nick is survived by Rachel and me, and by three sisters, Alison, Hattie and Edwina, and his mother.