John Needham

We are very sad to announce the death of John Needham, who was the Permanent Secretary of the Open University Students Association for many years.

John was a wonderful source of support to our students, and a very caring and understanding colleague. Following his retirement at the turn of the millennium (where he was bought a bike as a leaving present – as shown in the photo above), he was awarded an honorary Masters degree (MUniv) by The Open University in April 2001 as a mark of his tremendous service to the Association.

John’s other passion was golf, and would often be found playing 18 holes with a few of the CEC members of that time. He also loved a good laugh, and really went out of his way to help both staff and students.

We are so sorry to hear of John’s passing, and our thoughts and sympathies go out to his family and friends.

John (on the right) at the 1985 Open University Students Association Conference.