Sound barrier was broken by Maths graduate

The man who recently broke the sound barrier—as well as the world land speed record—in dramatic style, Mr Andy Green, is an Oxford alumnus (Worcester 1980–3), who gained a first in Maths. He drove the twin jet propelled car of the British Thrust SSC team to the first supersonic land speed record, of 763 miles per hour, more than 75 m.p.h. faster than the record set by his project team leader, Richard Noble, in 1983. While at Oxford, he was a member of the University Air Squadron and rowed for his college 1st VIII and OUBC. After Oxford, Mr Green trained as an RAF Tornado pilot. He has spent much of his spare time in recent years, including a holiday in the Jordanian desert last year, preparing for the record attempt. Dr Daniel Lunn, Tutor in Mathematics at Worcester College, said: `I wasn't at all surprised to hear of Andy's success. It would never have occured to him that he might fail! `He was one of those people who always achieved what he set out to do. While at Oxford, he made up his mind that he was going to get a first and he did; he decided he wanted to be a top pilot and he is one. He also took up rowing from scratch and ended up in the 1st VIII.'