Dewi Z. Phillips

Dewi Zephaniah Phillips was born in Swansea He attended the Bishop Gore School, Swansea, and studied at Swansea University and the University of Oxford. He was Minister of Fabian Bay Congregational Church, Swansea, before beginning his academic career at Queen's College, Dundee, in 1961. In 1963 he joined the University College of North Wales, Bangor. In 1965 he returned to Swansea University, as a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy. In 1967 he was promoted to a senior lectureship, and again in 1971 when he became professor and head of department. He also served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts (1982–1985) and as Vice-Principal (1989–1992). In 1993 he divided his time between California and Swansea, after accepting the position of Danforth Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Claremont Graduate University in California, and in 1996, he became the Rush Rhees Professor Emeritus and Director of the Rush Rhees Archives and Peter Winch Archives in Swansea. His research interests included the philosophy of religion, ethics, philosophy and literature, Simone Weil, Søren Kierkegaard, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. He contributed much to Swansea University's reputation as a centre of Wittgenstein's philosophy. His commitment to the language and culture of Wales was clear. He was instrumental in the founding of the Taliesin Arts Centre in Swansea, and promoted the use of the Welsh language in local schools. He was honoured by membership of the Gorsedd Circle of the National Eisteddfod. Dewi Z. Phillips died in 2006.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/aug/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries