Mike Grannell 1956 to 1964

Mike Grannell, of Welling, arrived at St Mary’s College in September 1956 just before the school acquired Grammar status and moved from Main Road to Chislehurst Road. Mike did not particularly enjoy his time at the school but puts his achievements down to one or two teachers including the exceptional Maths teacher Fred McAndrew, universally (and affectionately) known as ‘Moomin.’

Under McAndrew’s guidance, Grannell would develop into one of the finest mathematicians the school produced. He left St Mary’s in July 1964 after winning a scholarship to Imperial College, London, gaining a 1st Class Honours BSc in Mathematics three years later.

He then stayed on to do a PhD, which he completed in September 1970.

“From September 1970 until December 1972 I worked for Phillips & Drew (Stockbrokers),” says Mike “then I taught mathematics at Hornchurch Grammar School (which converted to Emerson Park Comprehensive) from January 1973 until August 1974. I then moved to a lecturing post at Preston Polytechnic (subsequently, Lancashire Polytechnic and then University of Central Lancashire) where I stayed from September 1974 until July 1997. I then held a variety of posts with the Open University from 1997 until retirement in 2008. I am currently an emeritus professor of mathematics with the OU and still do a bit of research and help with one of their MSc modules. My OU home page is at http://mcs.open.ac.uk/mjg47/