Sir Philip Robert Morris was born 6 July 1901, the younger son of Meschach Charles Morris, HM Inspector of Schools. He obtained a Second Class in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Trinity College, Oxford, in 1923, a Teacher's Diploma at London University in 1924, and became a lecturer in classics and history at Westminster Training College from 1923-1925. He then joined the Kent Education Authority, rising to the position of Director in 1938, and was appointed CBE in 1941. In 1944, he was appointed to the newly created position of Director-General of Army Education, which he held from 1944-1946 with the aim of building a bridge between the experiences of war and the return of servicemen to ordinary lives in peacetime. In 1946 he was knighted and appointed as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, a post which he held until 1966. In 1960 he was created KCMG. He served on many non-University committees including the Committee on the Supply and Training of Teachers (1943-1944) chaired by Sir Arnold McNair, was chairman of the Vice-Chancellors' Committee from 1955-1958, and sat on the Robbins Committee on Higher Education (1961-1964) amongst others. He was Chairman of the Bristol Old Vic Trust from 1946-1971, as well as a governor of the BBC from 1952-1960. He married Florence Redvers Davies in 1926, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. He died at Bryncoedifor, 21 November 1979.
From the guide to the Philip Morris Papers, 1942-1980, (University of Bristol Information Services - Special Collections)
