Phillip Howell Rees (born 17 September 1944) is a British population geographer and demographer. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Population Geography at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

Biography

Born in Wales, he was educated at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The colle ...

, where he graduated with a double first in Geography in 1966 (MA 1970). He went on to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

where he gained an MA in Geography in 1968 and a Ph.D. in 1973 under the supervision of

Brian Berry Brian Joe Lobley Berry (16 February 1934 – 2 January 2025) was a British-American human geographer and city and regional planner. He was the Lloyd Viel Berkner Regental Professor in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at ...

. On 1 October 1970 Phil joined the School of Geography in the

helping drive the new wave of quantitative geography in Britain with colleagues including Alan Wilson (who joined the department on the very same day). A prolific author of research papers and books on many aspects of human population problems, between 1992 and 2002 he was also co-ordinator of the

ESRC The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundin ...

Jisc Jisc is a United Kingdom not-for-profit organisation that provides network and IT services and digital resources in support of further and higher education and research, as well as the public sector. Its head office is based in Bristol with ...

Census of Population Programme. Retiring from teaching in 2009, Phil's contribution to geography was marked with a symposium Phil's retirement symposium. celebrating the lasting international impact his work has had. Although retired from teaching he remains extremely active in research. In 1996 he was awarded the Gill Memorial Award from the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, in 1998 was made a fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

, in 2004 appointed as a

Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

and in 2009 he was awarded the Victoria Medal
Phil Rees receives the Victoria Medal. from the

References

External links

Phil's web page at the University of Leeds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Phil 1944 births Living people British geographers Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Leeds University of Chicago alumni Fellows of the British Academy Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Victoria Medal recipients