Higman's tutor was Henry Whitehead and it took a while before he realised that Higman was a natural pure mathematician since most students on a natural sciences scholarship would only take mathematics courses to support their science studies.
Higman's tagapagturo ay Henry Whitehead at ito kinuha ng isang habang bago siya realised na Higman ay isang likas na purong dalubbilang dahil karamihan sa mga mag-aaral sa isang natural na siyensiya karunungan lamang ay tumagal ng matematika kurso sa kanilang pag-aaral science.