Vice-chancellor at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom, Ronald Johnston was trained in geography in the United Kingdom and in Australia, countries that have a strong tradition of geography as an academic subject. Since receiving his Ph.D. in 1967, he has become one of the most prolific writers in human geography. Both his books and his research articles cover a broad spectrum, including statistical methods, detailed empirical and theoretical work in political and economic geography, and overviews of philosophical and methodological debates in modern geography. His work includes both introductory syntheses and in-depth regional or systematic topics.