Leslie Colin Woods


Leslie Colin Woods was a New Zealand mathematician.

Early Life

Woods was born on 6 December 1922 in Reporoa, New Zealand. Woods' father was a fisherman. His surname was originally Woodhead.
His school education was completed in New Zealand schools. In his autobiography Against the Tide: An Autobiographical Account of a Professional Outsider, he gives credit to his school teachers, including Colin Maloy and G J Park, for kindling his interest in science and encouraging him to take up a career in academia.

Education

Woods completed his BSc in 1944 and his MSc in 1947.

Career

Woods was the Nuffield Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Technology at Sydney. He was elected a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford in 1961 where he researched the theory of magnetically-confined hot plasmas. Woods was professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford from 1970 until his retirement in 1990.

Personal life

In 1943, Woods married Betty Bayley.
On 15 April 2007, Woods died in Oxford, UK.

Honours and awards