We were saddened to learn of the passing of John C. Hull, whose work has shaped modern quantitative finance more than almost any other individual.
For more than 25 years, his ideas have been a constant presence in our work and that of many others.
Like many quants, we learned our craft with Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives on our desks. It was not just a textbook; it was the shared language of our profession. Clear, rigorous and practical, it taught generations of engineers how to approach derivatives, risk management and markets with discipline and respect for both theory and practicality.
His 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 last quarter of a century rests on the foundations that Professor Hull helped to lay. His work shaped not just 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 unassuming confidence his work continues to provide every time a model converges, or 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 & Quant Team at Algorithmica