In Memoriam: Professor John C. Hull
We were saddened to learn of the passing of Professor John C. Hull, whose work has shaped modern quantitative finance more than almost any other individual.
We did not have the privilege of knowing Professor Hull personally. Yet for more than 25 years, his ideas have been a constant presence in our work.
Like many quants, we learned our craft with Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives open on our desks—often in several editions at once. It was more than a textbook; it was the shared language of our profession. Clear, rigorous and practical, it taught generations of engineers how to think about derivatives, risk and markets with discipline and with respect for both theory and reality.
That influence did not end with education. It lives on in production systems.
The Hull–White interest rate model—sometimes affectionately referred to as “HW1” and “HW2” in codebases and conversations—has been part of our daily work for decades. It sits quietly inside pricing engines, risk systems, scenario generators and calibration routines. It runs overnight. It runs intraday. It runs when markets are calm and when they are not.
Much of what we have programmed, optimised and deployed over the past quarter-century rests on foundations that Professor Hull helped lay. His work shaped not only what we built, but how we approached building it: with clarity, robustness and a deep respect for no-arbitrage thinking.
For a company of engineers and quants, that is a profound legacy.
We are grateful for the intellectual tools Professor Hull gave our industry, and for the quiet confidence his work continues to provide—every time a model converges, a curve bootstraps cleanly, or a risk number makes sense when it matters most.
Our thoughts are with his family, colleagues and students around the world.
The Engineering and Quant Team at Algorithmica