Philip Ivor Dee was born at Stroud, Gloscestershire on 8 April 1904 , the son of Albert John Dee. He was educated at Marling School, Stroud and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he gained the degree of MA. In 1929 he married Phyllis Elsie Tyte, and had two daughters. From 1930 until 1933 he was Stokes Student at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and from 1934 until 1943 he was Lecturer in Physics at Cavendish Laboratory and Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. At the Cavendish Laboratory he worked closely with Charles Thomson Rees Wilson ( 1869-1959 ), Professor of Natural Philosophy. Under Wilson's direction he became responsible for the development of the 1 million volt H T set and with the direction of its experimental programme. From 1939-1945 he was Superintendent of the Telecommunications Research Establishment at the Ministry of Aircraft Production, at Swanage and Malvern, and was responsible for the development of the use of the magnetron for centimetric radar. In recognition of his work as a nuclear physicist he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1941, and was awarded an OBE in 1943 and CBE in 1946. In 1943 he was appointed Regius Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow , becoming Professor Emeritus on his retirement in 1972. Soon after his appointment he secured funds from the University and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for the purchase of an HT set similar to that at Cambridge, and later for a 300 MeV electron synchrotron. He personally supervised the design and construction of the synchrotron, which was completed in 1954. In the mid-1960s the synchrotron was replaced by an electron linear accelerator, which was installed at the Kelvin Laboratories at East Kilbride. He was a member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research from 1947-1952 , and was awarded the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society in 1952. In 1980 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of DSc by the University of Strathclyde . Professor Dee died in Glasgow on 17 April 1983.
Sources: Who Was Who , VIII; 'Obituary: Emmeritus Professor Philip I Dee, CBE, MA, FRS', College Courant , 71, (Glasgow, 1983).
From the guide to the Papers of Philip Ivor Dee, 1904-1983, Regius Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1943-1972, 1946-1972, (Glasgow University Archives Service)
