PROFESSOR Hugh Michael, who died in August aged 82, was an applied mathematician who spent his working life at University College London (UCL), where he joined the highly respected Mathematics Faculty in 1953, and stayed there for the next four decades.

Born in Barry, he faced a tough start to life when he suffered the loss of his mother when only two years old.

He spent most of his childhood being brought up by his grandparents, and attended Barry County School, where he quickly excelled academically.

He went on to take a Glamorgan County scholarship to University College Cardiff, where he graduated with a first class honours degree in 1947, but not before doing National Service.

This took him to the Telecommunications Research Establishment at Malvern, working with some of the brightest mathematicians of the day.

In 1946 he joined the Royal Navy as a Lieutenant Instructor, but his passion to deepen his knowledge of mathematics meant his stay was short. He returned to University College Cardiff and continued his studies at Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge, before joining the staff at UCL.

As a researcher, he spent time working with the Non Destructive Testing Centre based at UCL, where his work helped predict the size of fatigue cracks in tubular steel structures, which was of particular benefit to oil and gas companies working in the North Sea. This led to him receiving the Roy Sharpe Prize by the British Institute of Non Destructive Testing in 1989.

Although naturally shy, he was able to combine innovative research with excellent tutorial skills, and many of his students remember him for his enthusiasm and warmth.

Among his other interests was a great love of music. He was a talented pianist, and took great pleasure from writing his own compositions in later years.

A devoted family man, he is survived by his wife, Mary, their four children and three grandchildren. Happily, they were able to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary in March 2007.

He will be remembered as a kind, considerate and talented man with good humour and a strong sense of public service.