Philip Ivor Dee

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

FRS

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(8 April 1904,

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...

– 17 April 1983,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

nuclear physicist. He was responsible for the development of airborne radar during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Glasgow University named the Philip Ivor Dee Memorial Lecture after him.

Life

He was born in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

on 8 April 1904 the son of Albert John Dee a schoolmaster. He was educated at

Marling School Marling School is a grammar school with academy status for boys, with a co-educational Sixth Form located in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. It is on the Cainscross Road, the main route out of Stroud towards the M5, and is situated next to the ...

and then won a place at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

where he graduated MA in 1926. He thereafter took on research roles, initially as a student of

Charles Thomson Rees Wilson Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, (14 February 1869 – 15 November 1959) was a Scottish physicist and meteorologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the cloud chamber. Education and early life Wilson was born in the parish ...

, at the prestigious

Cavendish Laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...

during which time

Samuel Curran Sir Samuel Crowe Curran (23 May 1912 – 15 February 1998), Royal Society, FRS, FRSE, was a physicist and the first Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde – the first of the new technical universities in Britain. He ...

worked under him. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1941 and won its

Hughes Medal The Hughes Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "in recognition of an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications". Named after David E. Hughes, the medal is awarded with ...

in 1952. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he initially worked in the Ministry of Aircraft Production and in 1940 moved to the Telecommunications Research Establishment. Dee led the team which developed the

Village Inn Village Inn is a casual-dining restaurant chain in the United States. Its restaurants are known for their breakfast menu items. Also, they feature a variety of salads, sandwiches, burgers, melts, and dinner items. Their pies have won numerous a ...

radar system. After the

in 1945, he became Professor of Natural Philosophy at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. He was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

1946 Birthday Honours The 1946 King's Birthday Honours, celebrating the official birthday of King George VI, were announced on 13 June 1946 for the United Kingdom and British Empire. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new h ...

, having already been appointed an Officer of the Order (OBE) in the

1943 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1943 were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the British Empire. They were published on 2 June 1943 for the United Kingdom and Canada. The re ...

. In the same year he received government funding to build equipment to investigate

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

and placed Glasgow University as a world authority in that field during the 1950s. In 1946 he was also elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

Thomas Alty Thomas Alty FRSE FIP FRSC LLD (1899–1982) was a Scottish physicist and university administrator who became Chancellor of Rhodes University in South Africa. Life He was born in Liverpool on 10 September 1899. He studied Science at Liverpool U ...

, John Walton,

Edward Provan Cathcart Edward Provan Cathcart (18 July 1877 – 18 February 1954) was a Scottish physician and physiologist of international fame. The Cathcart Chair in Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow is named after him. Together with John Boyd Orr he pub ...

and

Robert Muir Robert Muir may refer to: * Robert Muir (pathologist) (1864–1959), Scottish pathologist *Robert Muir (politician) (1919–2011), Canadian politician * Robbie Muir (footballer) (born 1953), Australian rules footballer * Bob Muir (coach), American ...

. He was awarded the Society's

Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize The Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship is a quadrennial award made by the Royal Society of Edinburgh to recognise original work done by scientists resident in or connected with Scotland. The award was founded in 1887 by Dr Robert Halliday ...

for 1958-1962 in recognition of his work on nuclear physics. He retired in 1972 and received an honorary doctorate (DSc) from

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

in 1980. He died in Glasgow on 17 April 1983. His obituary was written by

Artistic recognition

His 1973 portrait by

Kathryn Kynoch Kathryn is a feminine given name and comes from the Greek meaning for 'pure'. It is a variant of Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: * Kathryn Beaumont (born 1938), English voice actress and school teacher best known for her Disn ...

is held by the

Hunterian Art Gallery The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

Family

He married Phyllis Elsie Tyte in 1929.

References

External links

Oral history interview transcript with Philip Dee on 5 November 1971, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives

BiographyProfessor P I Dee, OBE, FRS : Superintendent, Telecommunications Research Establishment, Ministry of Aircraft Production, 1939- 45
a 1945 drawing of Dee by Alex Macpherson {{DEFAULTSORT:Dee, Philip Ivor 1904 births 1983 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Radar pioneers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Life

Artistic recognition

Family

Archives

See also

References

External links