Wrigglesworth , John M , 1941-2005 , lecturer

John M Wrigglesworth was born 4 July 1941 in West Yorkshire; educated at Rothwell Grammar School and Birmingham University, received a first class honours degree in physics, 1959-1962, an MSc in Radiobiology, 1963 and a PhD in Medical Biochemistry, 1965. His first publications were on the enzymology and radiobiology of the ileum and after obtaining his doctorate, Wrigglesworth took his first postdoctoral post, at University of California, Berkeley, working in the laboratory of Professor Lester Packer, 1967-1970; he then returned to England and was appointed as a lecturer in Biochemistry at Chelsea College, 1970. He met Beatrix Price in 1970 and married her in 1971. Wrigglesworth joined the Biochemistry Department at Chelsea College under Harold Baum. During this time he published extensively on iron, membrane topology and the mechanism of electron and proton translocation by cytochrome c oxidase; was made an Honorary Fellow of Peter Mitchell's Glynn Research Institute, 1991; later being awarded a DSc by London University for research in molecular bioenergetics; he was head of teaching in Molecular Life Sciences, King's College London, 1997 to 2000 and retired in 2004.

During the 1980s, whilst at Chelsea College, Wrigglesworth was active with the Association of University Teachers, chairing the local AUT and was very involved in the attempt to prevent the closure of the College. Wrigglesworth became a member of the Biochemical Society, hosting the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology meeting in Birmingham, in 2000; served as Society Treasurer from 1997 to 2002 and acted as a Trustee of the Biochemical Society Staff Pension Scheme. Towards the end of his time at King's College London Wrigglesworth took a course in philosophy and qualified in medical ethics. Wrigglesworth died 24 June 2005.

Publications: Energy and life (Taylor & Francis, London, 1997) and Biochemical research techniques: a practical introduction Edited by John M. Wrigglesworth Wiley, Chichester, c1983).