Peter Willis was educated at the universities of Durham and Cambridge (Ph.D. 1962), where his thesis on Charles Bridgeman: royal gardener was supervised by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner. After a year as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California in 1960/61, he practised as an architect in Edinburgh from 1961-1964. He held a fellowship at Harvard University in 1964/65, and then taught at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne as lecturer in architecture 1966-1979, and reader in the history of architecture 1979-1993. He was awarded the degree of D.Litt. by the University of Durham in 1992. His publications include several books and numerous articles and contributions to books on architectural and landscape history.
From the guide to the Willis Papers, ca. 1955 - ca. 1995, (Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections)
