IAN Moore, who has died aged 54, was a Fellow of Oxford University’s Wadham College loved and respected by students and academics alike.

He moved to the city almost half a century ago after living in Germany and the United States, but Oxford became very much his home.

A prodigious worker with outstanding intellect, Mr Moore made a career from his love of biology, once saying ‘if he ever won the lottery, he would carry on working’.

After teaching at Pembroke and Magdalen colleges he settled at Wadham, rising through the ranks to Senior Research Fellow.

But work was far from his only joy in life and the dedicated family man, proud father of children Anna and Gareth, had many passions, chiefly his love of sailing on boat Hazelrigg.

A man who lived with a purpose, Mr Moore will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Mr Moore was born on May 14, 1964, in Birmingham and lived in the city throughout his childhood.

The eldest of three, he was very close to siblings Dianne and Keith, spending as much time as possible in the countryside walking, camping, skiing and fishing.

This love of the great outdoors doubtless complemented an interest in biology from an early age, although a passion for punk rock was never far behind.

After outstanding A-Level grades he studied Biological Sciences at Edinburgh University, developing a specialism in molecular biology.

An able student, the keen scientist even skipped the first year of his undergraduate degree and started from the second.

He graduated with a first class degree and completed his PhD at the institution, before carrying out post-doctoral work at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne. During this time, Mr Moore met fellow PhD student, Karen, and they married in 1991, living in Germany.

Boulder University in Colorado was his next stop, where colleagues noted how his relentless work ethic meant he often worked through the night and took power naps during the day.

In the 1990s, Karen gave birth to children Anna and Gareth and Mr Moore was always incredibly proud of both.

While he and Karen eventually parted ways, the two had separated amicably.

In 1994, Ian was lured back to the UK to take up a role as departmental demonstrator at the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford.

This began a 24-year career at the university, but also a change in Mr Moore’s academic interest.

Earlier in his career, he much preferred research to teaching but soon discovered the joy of watching students grow, becoming an enthusiastic and gifted tutor.

The feeling was mutual, with many of his former students attending his funeral at East Hanney Crematorium on Friday.

Mr Moore was elected to a Wadham Fellowship by Special Election in Biology from September 1, 2010, to August 31, 2013, and to a Tutorial Fellowship in 2013, before becoming Senior Research Fellow.

His research investigated the molecular mechanisms that facilitate the fundamental processes of growth, division, and spatial patterning of plant cells.

He also developed genetic technologies that allow transgene activity to be controlled in space and time in a variety of plant species.

Mr Moore was an attentive gardener, but his other great passions included border morris – a type of morris dancing – as part of dancing group Armmaleggon.

Music stayed with him and he even once declared that if he had not been a scientist, he would have been a punk rocker.

But even this was trumped by his love of sailing, with Mr Moore defying his cancer diagnosis to spend the last two weeks of his life on his boat with various friends.

He died peacefully at about 2am on August 31 at Sobell House Hospice, surrounded by his family.

He is survived by children Anna and Gareth, parents Stan and Edith, and siblings Dianne and Keith.