In Memory of Professor Christopher Hood CBE FBA (1947-2025)

I recently learned of Professor Christopher Hood's passing. While his massive impact on public administration is well-documented, I want to share my personal story as a former doctoral student who will always be grateful for his mentorship.

I first met Professor Hood back in 2011 when I was working on my Oxford DPhil application. I had discovered his work during my MSc at LSE through his brilliant former student Martin Lodge, and thought - perhaps ambitiously - that I should try to meet him to discuss my research ideas.

The meeting happened at LSE, where he was visiting at the time. I remember spotting his caricature among other LSE luminaries on the wall next to our table. From the start, I was struck by how warm and good-humored he was.

When I told him about my research interests, we got talking about my connection to public administration. Beyond the academic stuff, I shared how I'd grown uncomfortable with the common view of bureaucrats as mere obstacles - partly from watching my mother's dedicated career in public service.

I think what really caught his interest was the chance to explore public administration in Colombia, which was new territory for him. He agreed to supervise me, provided I found a co-supervisor who knew Colombia well - he was pleased to hear I'd already reached out to Eduardo Posada-Carbó.

For the next four years, we met without fail at least monthly. These supervision sessions in his All Souls College office (the Oxford of Oxford, as we used to say) were intense but fascinating. Though I'd always leave with hundreds of comments and new tasks, his clarity and incredible generosity left me energized and eager to dive back into my research.

He was always kind and good-humored, with one memorable exception - when I committed the cardinal sin of showing up late because of a stubborn bike lock. He had this wonderful way of thinking of others too - sending birthday presents to my eldest son and giving me a traditional Scottish quaich when I graduated.

On my graduation day, he joined my family for dinner at the Old Parsonage Hotel. I got him laughing heartily that night when I suggested he might have taken me on as a student just to prove he could guide anyone to graduation within Oxford's timeframe - even a lawyer with imperfect English, who got married and had two kids during the DPhil, and took a government job before finishing his final chapters. I suspect I was right, though he was too kind to confirm it.

The last time we met was in a small London café. When I told him about becoming dean of a social sciences faculty in Colombia, he predicted three phases with uncanny accuracy: initial struggles from inexperience, some achievements, and then removal just as I was getting the hang of it.

We kept in touch over email after that. I'd share updates about my career and my kids, and tell him how grateful I was for his mentorship - especially when my thesis became a book with a UK publisher, and when I finished my Spanish book on regulation, which drew heavily from his brilliant work on cultural theory. He'd tell me about his latest books (somehow managing to publish one or two every year) and share little stories about his family life.

I owe Professor Hood so much. I hope to honor his memory by sharing his extraordinary work and trying to match - if not his vast knowledge and curiosity - then at least his generosity toward students, while applying his insights to improve public administration in Latin America.

Goodbye, Professor Hood. Thank you for believing in me and my ideas - it was one of the greatest honors of my life.