Ron Johnston

Biography

Ron Johnston (1941–2020) was one of the most widely cited human geographers of his generation, author or co-author of more than 50 books and some 800 papers across political, urban, electoral and social geography. After posts at Canterbury (NZ), Sheffield, and Essex (where he was Vice-Chancellor, 1992–1995), he joined the University of Bristol in 1995. He was main editor of the first four editions of The Dictionary of Human Geography, and served as co-editor of Progress in Human Geography and Environment and Planning A from 1979 until he stepped down from both boards in 2006 — spanning the journal's entire Edward Arnold / Hodder Arnold era. He received the Prix Vautrin Lud in 1999, was elected FBA in 1999, and was appointed OBE in 2011.