My friend and colleague John Richardson, who has died aged 73 of bowel cancer, enjoyed a distinguished career, first in cognitive psychology and lately as a student-centred higher education researcher. He was a leading contributor to the development of the UK’s National Student Survey and a greater understanding of students from traditionally underrepresented groups.
Born in Overseal, Derbyshire, John grew up with his mother, Mavis (nee Watts), in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, following her separation from his father, Edwin Evans, a miner and Baptist lay preacher. In 1956 Mavis, by then a civil servant, married Denis Richardson, a clerk whom she had met when both were working in different branches of GCHQ.
