Terry McGee

{{Short description|New Zealand geographer (1936–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2019}} {{for multi|the Australian rules footballer|Terry McGee (footballer)|the Irish boxer|Terry Magee}} '''Terence Gary McGee''' (5 January 1936 – 26 June 2025) was a New Zealand urban geographer and social scientist.

== Life and career == McGee was born in Cambridge, New Zealand on 5 January 1936. He studied geography and history in his bachelor's degree at then-Victoria College of the University of New Zealand (now Victoria University of Wellington). His master's degree, also at Victoria University of Wellington, researched the Indian immigrants living in Wellington. While teaching at University of Malaya from 1959 to 1965, McGee also researched the migration of Malays to Kuala Lumpur which would later be used towards his doctoral research. He studied under Keith Buchanan for his doctoral degree at Victoria University of Wellington, which was completed in 1969. McGee taught at University of Hong Kong from 1968 to 1973 before moving to teach at Australian National University from 1973 to 1978. He moved to Vancouver in 1978 to take up the director role of the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia, which he had held for numerous years.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Kelly |first=Philip F. |date=August 2007 |title=Geographer, Asianist, urbanist: Celebrating the scholarship of Terry McGee |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8373.2007.00344.x |journal=Asia Pacific Viewpoint |language=en |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=250–269 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8373.2007.00344.x |issn=1360-7456|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He had also served as President of The Canadian Association of Geographers from 1989 to 1990.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=Terence McGee (1936-2025) |url=https://geog.ubc.ca/profile/terry-mcgee/ |access-date=8 July 2025 |website=Department of Geography, University of British Columbia}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> He retired in 2001. After retirement, he worked on an international development project to improve governance systems in Brazil's megacities between 2003 and 2006. He also co-published a book on urban spaces in China with his former graduate students.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 4, 2025 |title=Remembering Dr. Terence McGee |url=https://geog.ubc.ca/news/remembering-dr-terence-mcgee/ |access-date=July 16, 2025 |website=University of British Columbia}}</ref>

=== Personal life and death === McGee was married to his wife Lori for 50 years. They had two children and six grandchildren.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=Dr. Terence Gary McGee (Terry) |url=https://vancouversunandprovince.remembering.ca/obituary/terence-mcgee-1092969294 |access-date=8 July 2025 |website=Vancouver Sun and The Province Obituaries |language=en}}</ref>

McGee died on 26 June 2025, at the age of 89.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Terence MCGEE Obituary (January 05, 1936 - June 26, 2025) - Victoria, BC - The Times Colonist |url=https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/timescolonist/name/terence-mcgee-obituary?id=58792838 |access-date=9 July 2025 |website=Legacy.com}}</ref>

==Key themes== McGee's major academic work had mainly been in the following areas: * the geography of Southeast Asian cities * the informal economy in developing countries; * systems of food distribution in developing countries' cities; * the emergence of ''extended metropolitan regions''. * rural-urban migration<ref>Lea, J. P. (2006): Terence Gary McGee. In: David Simon (ed): Fifty Key Thinkers in Development, Routledge, pp. 176–181</ref>

==Key publications== His major publications included: * (1967) ''The Southeast Asian city: a social geography of the primate cities of Southeast Asia'', London, Bell * (1971) ''The Urbanization Process in the Third World'', T. G. McGee. G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., London * (1985) ''Theatres of Accumulation: Studies in Asian and Latin American Urbanization'', together with Warwick Armstrong, London: Methuen

==Awards== In 2000, McGee received the Award for Scholarly Distinction in Geography from the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG).<ref>[http://www.cag-acg.ca/en/terry_mcgee.html Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) Award for Scholarly Distinction]</ref> In 2009, he was the recipient of the Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120412134528/http://www.geog.ubc.ca/department/alumni/geogramme_09.pdf "Geogramme: A Newsletter for Alumni and Friends of UBC Geography"], ''UBC Department of Geography'', Summer 2009. Retrieved on 22 May 2015.</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Other sources== * [http://www.iar.ubc.ca/aboutus/iarfacultystaff/instituteassociates/terrymcgee.aspx Institute of Asian Research] * Kelly, P.F. (editor) (2007): Essays in Honour of T.G. McGee. Asia Pacific Viewpoint.

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGee, Terry}} Category:1936 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Canadian geographers Category:New Zealand geographers Category:Development specialists Category:Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Category:Recipients of the Vautrin Lud International Geography Prize Category:People from Cambridge, New Zealand Category:Urban geographers