John Farrington
One of the founding members of STSG John Farrington sadly passed away on 19th July 2025. John’s academic career at the University of Aberdeen spanned more than 40 years. Across the transport industry dozens of people say their interest in transport arose from John’s inspiration.
One thing that made John’s work so social within the STSG community was that he set transport studies in a social context long before most of his contemporaries. Following that social thread across 4 decades made him a pioneer in using the narrative of accessibility to understand transport change and to lead research on the digital rural economy to make the most of the cross disciplinary skills at Aberdeen University in rural studies.
Most of all John was was kind, honest and humble, always finding time for people who needed help, and never bowing to institutional pressure if that conflicted with his values.