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My friend, former colleague and PhD supervisor, David Evans, who has died aged 85, was an applied mathematician admired for his academic leadership.

During a five-year term as pro-vice chancellor at the University of Bristol (1997-2002), he was instrumental in introducing a novel strategy into the admissions system. Drawing on robust statistical evidence that showed students from disadvantaged backgrounds achieved, on average, better degree outcomes than their peers, he successfully advocated for the lowering of entry tariffs for specific groups. The scheme drew criticism from the national press, one newspaper article branding David a “tin-pot Trotskyite”, but the idea has since been adopted by UK universities.

Born in Shotton, North Wales, David was the younger child of Jack, a clerk in the local steelworks, and his wife, Kathleen. He studied mathematics at Manchester University, staying to complete a PhD, before taking up research positions in the US for two years. In 1969 he was appointed to a lectureship at Bristol University, where he remained until retiring in 2006.

His research related to the mathematical theory describing how ocean waves interact with marine structures. He is best known for his pioneering work on wave power: the design and operation of devices that harvest energy from ocean waves as a renewable energy source.

In response to the 1973-74 oil crisis, the UK government recognised a need to reduce its dependence on fossil fuel and launched an ambitious 10-year research wave energy programme. David was quick to respond and, as well as developing underpinning theory, in 1976 he proposed his own converter concept known as the “Bristol Cylinder”, a remarkably ingenious idea based on complex mathematical theory.

He worked with experimentalists, engineers and policy-makers to refine the concept; the Bristol Cylinder emerged as one of five leading designs from the UK wave energy programme. In 1982, after a report commissioned (though never published) by the incoming government concluded that the prospects for wave energy looked poor, funding was withdrawn and the impetus was lost.

David loved sport, especially tennis and cricket, and enjoyed travel, politics and classical music – he was also a very good pianist.

His first wife, Janet Dowell, a schoolteacher, whom he met while they were students together at the University of Manchester, died in 1999. He is survived by his second wife, Catherine Hunt, a lecturer in the history of art at the University of Bristol, whom he married in 2003.