Philip England facts for kids

Philip Christopher England FRS (born 30 April 1951) is a British geophysicist and former Chair of Geology at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, whose research centres upon the evolution, deformation and metamorphism of mountain ranges and the development of island arcs. He has widely used applied mathematics to model mountain building, proving that they behave as extremely viscous fluids.

Early life and education

England was born on 30 April 1951. He studied physics at the University of Bristol, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1972. He then moved to the University of Oxford to undertake research in geophysics, receiving his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1976.

Academic career

England began his academic career in the Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, University of Cambridge: first as a NERC research fellow (1977–1979), then as an IBM research fellow (1979–1981). From 1981 to 1986, he was an assistant professor then associate professor at Harvard University. In 1986, he returned to the University of Oxford where he had been appointed a lecturer in geophysics and elected a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. In 2000, he was elected to the Chair of Geology. He served as Head of the Department of Earth Sciences from 2004 to 2011.

Awards and honours

He was awarded the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London in 2004, and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2016. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1999.

Personal life

His daughter is the middle-distance runner, Hannah England.