Peter H. Mann

Peter Henry Mann (5 September 1926 – 2 August 2008) was an English sociologist who spent most of his career at the University of Sheffield, eventually as a reader in sociology. He was a pioneering specialist in urban sociology . his PhD was awarded in 1955 for his thesis "Community and neighbourhood with reference to social status".

While completing his doctorate, Mann was the University Research Fellow in Sociology and was a pioneering specialist in urban sociology. Between 1975 and 1980, he was (with Professor Wilf Saunders) joint head of the Centre for Research on User Studies. After retiring, he was appointed Director of the Library and Information Statistics Unit at the University of Loughborough (1983–1991). Much of his later research was devoted to the sociology of books and reading, theatre-going, and the way that books are marketed.

Outside of academia, Mann was enjoyed working with amateur theatre groups, listening to brass bands, watching Rugby, and hosting parties with his wife Margaret. He died on 2 August 2008; in an obituary Eric Sainsbury remembered "with pleasure and gratitude Peter's commitment to sound research" and his role as a pioneering sociologist at the University of Sheffield.