Remembering Professor Béla Novák 1956 - 2025

We are saddened to announce the passing of our much loved Governing Body Fellow, Professor Béla Novák, who passed away on the evening of 22 February. His loss is deeply mourned by his family, friends, colleagues, and the academic community.

Professor Novák, the College's Professor of Integrative Systems Biology, was a brilliant scientist, a passionate researcher, and a cherished mentor and colleague. Professor Novák was elected to a Professorial Fellowship in April 2007. His contributions to his field were immense, driven by a profound enthusiasm for discovery. Beyond his remarkable intellect, he was known for his kindness, generosity, and warmth. 

Professor Judith Armitage has shared the following tribute:

Béla was a wonderful, kind, thoughtful, intelligent man. He was recruited from Budapest in 2007 to be the Professor of Systems Biology and we immediately knew we had someone special. He had two great loves in his life, using mathematical modelling to make sense of experimental data, in particular the control of cell division, and his wonderful family. He was not driven by personal ambition but a genuine desire to understand how cells 'decide' to divide or not. He had a wonderful, dry, sense of humour underpinning everything, including presenting data. His talks were always entertaining - few could explain 'bifurcation' or 'toggle switch' and keep the expert and amateur alike engaged. He was totally devoted to his family and proud of all their achievements and was looking forward to having more time with them after retirement. He affected everyone he met, in a very positive way, and we will miss him deeply and his quiet, quirky jokes.

During this difficult time, the College extends its heartfelt condolences to Professor Novák’s family and loved ones. As a mark of respect, the College flag is being flown at half-mast.