Paul Harry Roberts FRS^[1] (13 September 1929—17 November 2022) was a physicist and applied mathematician interested in fluid dynamics in geophysical and astrophysical contexts. His work included important contributions to magnetohydrodynamics and dynamo theory.

Raised in Aberystwyth, Paul studied at the University of College Wales (the University of Aberystwyth), before taking up a place at Cambridge University in Gonville and Caius College, where he studied the Mathematics Tripos. He continued in mathematics at Cambridge with his PhD in fluid dynamos. He would then move to the US for one-year research position at Chicago University working with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar FRS.

Returning to the UK in 1955, he was stationed at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE), Aldermaston, for one year's national service. Following this, he secured a teaching position at the Newcastle branch of Durham University, but returned to Chicago University after two years as a tenured associate professor for another two-year period. The University of Newcastle separated from Durham in 1963, and Paul became the new Chair of Mathematics. There he remained for twenty-three years, working on topics including magnetohydrodynamics and dynamo theory.

Avoiding early retirement in the UK, Paul returned to the US in 1986, this time joining the mathematics department at UCLA^[2] and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP). Here he had several fruitful collaborations, including with Gary Glatzmaier, and with Stanislav Braginsky.

Paul was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Society and the American Academy of Arts and Science.

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