Philip Dee

Philip Ivor Dee CBE FRS FRSE (8 April 1904 in Stroud – 17 April 1983 in Glasgow) was an English nuclear physicist. He was responsible for the development of airborne radar during World War II. The University of Glasgow named the Philip Ivor Dee Memorial Lecture after him.

Life

Dee was born in Stroud in Gloucestershire on 8 April 1904 the second of three sons of Maria Kitchen, daughter of William Tiley, a butcher of Ebley and Albert John Dee, schoolmaster in Cainscross. He was educated at Marling School, Stroud and gained a scholarship to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. In 1926 he graduated with an MA having obtained a first class in both parts of the natural sciences tripos. at the Cavendish Laboratory

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1941

He was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1946 Birthday Honours, having already been appointed an Officer of the Order (OBE) in the 1943 Birthday Honours.

In 1946, he received government funding to build equipment to investigate particle physics. This development placed the University of Glasgow as a world authority in particle physics during the 1950s.

In 1946, Dees was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Thomas Alty, John Walton, Edward Provan Cathcart and Robert Muir.

Artistic recognition

His 1973 portrait by Kathryn Kynoch is held by the Hunterian Art Gallery.

Family

In 1929 Dee married Phyllis Elsie, daughter of George Williams Tyte, a clockmaker. They had two daughters.

Archives The archives of Philip Ivor Dee are maintained by the Archives of the University of Glasgow (GUAS).