10 March 2025
Writing: Dr Mark Fenton
The Challoner’s community was saddened to learn of the recent passing at the age of 92 of a great friend of the school - Dr John Maynard. He had been a member of the governing body of DCGS in the 1990s and 2000s, serving as Chairman of Governors between 1997 and 2002.
As a governor, his wise counsel was highly valued by Headmasters and fellow governors. When John spoke in meetings everyone would listen intently because they knew that his exceptionally sharp mind would immediately get to the nub of the matter and zero in on the key points with a precision that few others could match. His interventions were critical in influencing some of the most important decisions the governing body has made in recent times, including becoming a specialist Science College in 2002, an Academy in 2010 and, of course, in the appointment of the Head and other senior leaders.
John’s contribution to Challoner’s was practical, though, as well as cerebral. Long before the school professionalised its fundraising efforts, it was John Maynard who rolled up his sleeves and led the fundraising which enabled the Sports Hall to be built in 2000. John was also a regular member of interview panels, particularly for those involving his beloved subject of Chemistry. His ability to sum people up was legendary, as was his deadly final interview question ‘Why does paint stick to a wall?’ which flummoxed more than a few unsuspecting applicants (the answer, by the way, involves Van der Wals Forces).
John was born in 1932 and grew up in west Wales. He excelled academically at grammar school and went on to study Chemistry at University College, London where his PhD research won the Rosa Morison Memorial Medal. In 1958, John began what was to be a long and highly distinguished career working at the Radiochemical Centre in Little Chalfont. The UK’s first facility designed for the production of isotopes for medical and industrial use had been built on the site, and by the mid-1960s the Grove Centre (as it was later known) was employing around 450 people and selling its products successfully all over the world.
After a four-year spell setting up a new facility in Cardiff which was later named in his honour, John returned to Buckinghamshire as Managing Director of the Grove Centre in 1982. In the same year, the state-owned company was the first to be privatised by Mrs Thatcher’s government – controversially, since the sale price was thought by many to be too low – and was renamed Amersham International plc. John remained with the business through its various incarnations until his retirement after 40 years of service, earning him an O.B.E.
John’s funeral was held on 4 March in Gerrards Cross and was attended by three Heads of Challoner’s – Mr Atkinson, Dr Fenton, and Mr Hill – a mark of the esteem in which he was held and the significance of his contribution to the school over more than two decades.