The growth of tephra studies and tephrochronology as a field of research in the last four decades owes an enormous debt to the contributions of John Westgate. John has been one of the clear leaders of this field over this time. Through a career spanning some 40 years, he has been instrumental in the development of research techniques that have led to the global expansion of tephra studies. In particular, he has stressed a multi-proxy approach to tephrochronology, requiring the careful application of glass composition, petrology, and the understanding of field settings and stratigraphy in the development of robust tephrostratigraphic frameworks (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). In turn, these techniques and records have helped to solve some of the most complex and longstanding problems in the geosciences, geoarchaeology, and other disciplines. John has had a major impact in all countries where he has worked, where he has been a committed researcher, leading and encouraging in his usual fashion and always publishing high-quality and groundbreaking papers that will be used for generations to come. Here we provide a brief summary of John's exceptional career, documenting his very substantial influence on tephra studies worldwide.