Abstract
Paul Matthews died on 26 February 1987, following an accident while cycling in Cambridge. He was one of the most influential figures in the post-war revival of British theoretical physics and played a very significant role in the wider university community— in particular, as head of the Physics Department of Imperial College, chairman of the SRC Nuclear Physics Board and vice-chancellor of the University of Bath. Though retired, he was still extremely active both in research and on various public committees, most notably as chairman of the Government’s Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee. He was a man of transparent integrity and exceptional good sense.