Professor John Proops 1947-2024

The University is sad to report the passing of John Proops, Professor of Ecological Economics at Keele from 1992.

John studied Physics and Mathematics at Keele from 1966, before moving to Hamilton, Canada, to complete a Master's degree in 1970. He later returned to the University to complete a PhD in Economics, staying at Keele to become a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader and finally Professor of Ecological Economics. 

When he returned to Keele to study for his PhD, John also became involved in the local Labour Party, assisting former Stoke-on-Trent South MP Jack Ashley at one period. John was elected to Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council in the 1980s. 

In 1972 he met his future wife Anthea Trodd, who was later Senior Lecturer in English and Head of the English Department at the University. They were together for 50 years, including some time living in a flat on the University campus. Following their retirements they spent time travelling, before Anthea sadly died from cancer in December 2022. 

John made distinctive contributions to Ecological Economics, both intellectually and organisationally. In addition to all these achievements, he was a wonderful lecturer. His joy in teaching was passed on to his listeners and encouraged them to break new ground.

His research success is highlighted by his invite to a workshop by the Belgian-Russian Nobel Prize winner for physics Ilya Prigogine as early as 1983. John's involvement in this workshop made him well known in the field, with him later taking part in workshops organised and attended by Willem van Gool and the first Memorial Nobel Prize winner in Economics, Jan Tinbergen. This event was a major step in the development of the field of ecological economics, alongside a further workshop held in Barcelona in 1987. 

In 1990, John took part in the official founding of the International Society for Ecological Economics in Washington DC, later becoming its president from 2002 to 2003. 

John's research and publications cover many fields, including energy modelling, climate problems, the application of concepts of thermodynamics in economic analysis, time and in particular irreversibility, innovation, capital theory, evolution, ignorance, and the conceptual foundations of Ecological Economics. 

John's colleague and collaborator Malte Faber, with whom he wrote the book Ecological Economics: Concepts and Methods, reflected on John's life and work. He said: "How can it be explained that John, being so young, made such an early and lasting contribution to the development of ecological economics? A major reason was that John was a forerunner by applying Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics. He had therefore not limited himself to Classical Thermodynamics as the icons of ecological economics had done.

"Classical Thermodynamics is characterized by the first arrow of time. In short, it leads to a negative, pessimistic view of temporal developments. In contrast, the Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics developed by Prigogine, characterized by the second arrow of time, shows how order develops from chaos and thus results in a positive, optimistic perspective.

"There are few ecological economists who take both directions into account in their research and thus take a fresh look. John's view of the world was shaped from the beginning by both arrows of time. He was never pessimistic but also never naively optimistic. This explains why he was so interested in philosophical reflections on ignorance and novelty."

John died peacefully on 23rd April 2024, with his family with him. The family has chosen Katharine House Hospice in Stafford for charitable donations in John's memory.