Dr Brian Westwood was an Emeritus Fellow of Churchill College at the time of his death in April 2026. He had been a Fellow of the College since 1966 and became an Emeritus on his retirement in 2004.

Brian was a committed member of the College Fellowship, taking on various posts including the role of Fellows’ Steward from 1970-73 and again from 1994-96. He was Secretary, then Chairman of the College’s Wine Committee from 1973-2015, and Wine Steward from 1973-2015. Many of the Fellows remember him as a warm and friendly member of the College, who took his teaching responsibilities and his responsibilities to the College community very seriously and who will be much missed.

Professor Christopher Tout, the current Fellows’ Steward recalls Brian’s  “excellent ability to choose a wine that would be good in twenty or more years and communicate to a novice why that would be the case” as well as that he was highly respected by the other college Wine Stewards and wine merchants across Cambridge for his knowledge and interest, always buying at least a case from any tasting he attended.

In his academic life, Brian first worked for the University as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Physics but moved in 1970 to the Computing Service, where he was appointed to write the case for the IBM mainframe as Computer Officer. He then became Senior Computer Officer, Assistant Director and finally Deputy Director from 1988 until he retired in 2004. His main areas of responsibility in the Service were finance, relations with the Computer Syndicate and other senior management bodies within the University and with the Computer Board and other external funding authorities. In the early 1990s, he played a major role in the University and College joint project for the installation of the Granta Backbone Data Network which connects all University and College institutions throughout the city (now including the voice telephone service) and is still going strong after 25 years.

The College is grateful for Brian’s contribution over the years; he is fondly remembered by all who knew him and our thoughts are with his family.