Emeritus Professor John Aitchison

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Emeritus Professor John Aitchison, former Gregynog Chair in Human Geography at Aberystwyth University. John was one of those individuals who arrived at Aberystwyth as a student and never left. He arrived in 1960 to study in what was, at the time, the Department of Geography and Anthropology, before completing a PhD in the same department. He was appointed a Lecturer in 1967 before being promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1983, Reader in 1987, and to the Gregynog Chair in 1988. 

He was an inspirational lecturer who taught courses on the regional geography of France and on protected landscapes. He also led field courses to Dorset and France and could be relied upon to know the best restaurants in Bayeaux or the Left Bank of Paris. The many comments from former students since his passing testify to the clarity and passion that characterised his lectures. They also recall his great sense of humour and love of life.  

His research was wide-ranging and well-regarded. He co-founded the Rural Surveys Research Unit in 1988 with Dr Bill Edwards and the Unit kickstarted a new era of community-based research on rural Wales. John also led the Unit’s pioneering research on common land in Wales, for which he was awarded a Prince of Wales award. Another strand of John’s research focused on the geography of the Welsh language and his many books and articles on this theme, published with Harold Carter, became mainstays of academic and policy research on the language. 

John also established the International Centre for Protected Landscapes in the late 1980s, whose main activity was running a distance-learning MSc in Protected Landscapes. The MSc was extremely successful and attracted a significant number of students from around the world.  

Former colleagues will remember John as a supportive, affable and approachable individual. His unassuming character belied the major contribution that he made to academic life at Aberystwyth and internationally.  

His funeral service will be held at 10.30 on Monday, 22 June in Llanilar Church. We send our condolences to Pat, his wife, and the rest of the family.