Professor Graham Taylor

Dear Colleagues,

I write with terribly sad news; Professor Graham Taylor died peacefully on the morning of the 30th of July. All our thoughts and wishes must be with Rachel his wife, and their two children. Colleagues in Biology, the wider MPLS Division, Jesus College, and across the entire University knew Graham and I feel I can speak for us all in expressing the deep grief this news brings. Graham’s death represents a profound loss to every bit of the collegiate University he touched.

At the University, Graham was known as a leading scientific researcher and the authority on understanding the flight of birds and insects. The award of the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant was a marker of his exceptional contribution. At first glance bird flight might seem a rather academic interest, but the opposite was true. On visits to his lab out at Wytham, I saw videos of birds adjusting their aerodynamic surfaces to exquisitely control their speed and heading in ways no human flying object can yet achieve. I watched hawks learning to navigate complex environments much faster than current AI-enabled drones. Graham and his co-workers were building sophisticated models of flight control and navigation that have applications from machine learning to turbine blade design. Graham’s intellectual leadership and Directorship of the Field Station has driven the growth of an interdisciplinary centre of excellence in understanding flight and navigation that now includes fish. The lab and woods at Wytham are a unique research asset; a jewel in the University crown. During Covid-19 and following the Tinbergen closure, Wytham proved invaluable to the Biology Department and the University. There are many hands that made this possible under the most trying of conditions, but I don’t think anyone would disagree that Graham, as the Director, was the key figure in managing it. Colleagues in Biology will write more about his work in due course.

Graham was an undergraduate, postgraduate, Junior Research Fellow, Royal Society University Research Fellow, Research Councils UK Academic Fellow, Associate Professor with Tutorial Fellowship, and RSIV at Oxford University. As it defined his career, he contributed immeasurably to our University’s continuing success in recent years. Graham became Associate Head of MPLS for Capital and Estates in 2019 and served as the Deputy Head of Division from 2022 to January 2026. It was Graham who shaped the strategy behind our current capital plan and his contribution to our success cannot be overstated.

On a personal level, Graham was my most valuable confidante whose judgement I trusted. He could have sat back and let me, an outsider to Oxford and MPLS, flounder. Instead, from my first day he made it a priority to help me. If he told me something would not work at Oxford I realised he was always right. Yet at the same time, no one was more impatient to drive the change required to keep MPLS as a world leader. Mostly he told me how we would get things done and I followed his advice. As my predecessor, Sam Howison, remarked, Graham combined an unshakable grasp of detail with strategic insight, humanity and common sense. He represented the best interests of MPLS at the University level: his calm, rigorous and piercing analysis won arguments and made friends of opponents. Graham’s fairness and integrity were widely recognised and consequently his input was sought on strategic projects across Oxford. The phrase “a true servant of the University”, was never more honestly deserved. There is no doubt that he would have gone on to the highest levels of University leadership.

Graham stepped down in January 2026 to focus on his medical treatment for an aggressive brain tumour. I visited him up to the last few days. His dedication to and deep affection for Oxford University and MPLS never left him. He was a friend to me, and I shall miss him greatly.

Jim
Professor James Naismith, Head of the MPLS Division