Fellows and Members will be sad to know that distinguished geographer, Professor David Rhind CBE, has died aged 81.
David graduated in geography and geology from the University of Bristol in 1965 and received a PhD in geomorphology from the University of Edinburgh in 1969.
He held academic posts at Edinburgh, the Royal College of Art and Durham, before becoming a Professor of Geography at the University of London in 1982. In this position he was a major contributor to the Chorley Committee, the UK Government committee of enquiry 'Handling of Geographical Information', which reported in 1987. He subsequently became Director General of Ordnance Survey, 1992-1998. He was Vice-Chancellor of City University, London from 1998-2007.
David was recognised by the Society with the Patron’s Medal in 1997. He received a DSc from the University of London in 1991 and further honorary doctorates from universities including Bristol, Loughborough, Southampton, Kingston, Durham, London Metropolitan, Royal Holloway, Edinburgh and City University London.
In 2002 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy. He was the first geographer elected to the Royal Society for nearly 50 years.
David held many other prominent roles, including Chair of The Nuffield Foundation, Deputy Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, and Non-Executive Director of the Bank of England.
In 2000, he received a CBE for services to Geographical and Social Sciences.
