He entered St John's College, Cambridge, in 1961 and started lecturing at Woolwich Polytechnic (today University of Greenwich) in 1964, having completed only his bachelor's degree.
A few years later he met John Ffowcs Williams and started to work for him at Imperial College London, while simultaneously studying for his doctorate (awarded in 1969) at the same place.
Later, he became a well-loved Master of Jesus College (1997–2000), and was head of the Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics Department (DAMTP) in Cambridge between 1991 and 2000, where he was held in huge regard by the faculty and students.
[citation needed] In his first paper, Crighton studied the sound wave associated with turbulent flow over a discontinuous surface formed by two semi-infinite flexible planes.
[4] Holders of the medal include Frank Kelly, Peter Neumann, Keith Moffatt, Christopher Zeeman, John Ball and David Abrahams.