The Department of Law regrets to announce the death of Professor John Yelland at his home on Saturday November 15th 2008. After brief appointments at the University of Bristol and at the Law Commission, John came to Queen Mary College in 1973 and (apart from a year as a visitor at the University of Texas at Austin) spent the rest of his career here. He was able to teach effectively and with enthusiasm over an astonishingly wide range of the undergraduate curriculum. He excelled at the exposition of complex case law and the cut and thrust of tutorial discussion. Although he liked to hide behind a sharp-witted and sardonic exterior, he had a great interest in the lives and welfare of his students and a shrewd understanding of their personalities and strengths. His principal scholarly interests were in the field of Credit and Security and he collaborated notably with Sir Roy Goode in publications and in their admired LLM course.
In 1994 he became Head of the Department of Law and he was later persuaded to extend his term of office until 2000. This was a particularly arduous period in university life and he performed outstanding service in maintaining the activities and morale of the department. He was rewarded with the outstanding research assessment and the high esteem in which his department was held.