CERI Peach, who has died age 79, was an Emeritus Fellow at Oxford University's St Catherine's College who lived both academic and social lives to the full.

After arriving in Oxford as a geography undergraduate in 1958, Prof Peach remained in the city for his entire career and two years ago was awarded a Doctorate of Letters by the university.

He was well-respected for his work on migration and segregation and advanced the field through sabbaticals at some of the world's top universities.

Ceri Peach was born in Bridgend, South Wales, on October 26, 1939.

His father, Wystan, was a well-known dentist, who met his German mother, Charlotte, when the latter was in Wales on a singing tour aged 17.

He had two older siblings, Penrhyn and Gisela, and gained an interest in poetry, even competing at the Welsh national Eisteddfod, a prestigious festival of the arts.

Wystan hoped his son would become a dentist, but the teenager set his sights elsewhere and applied to read geography at Cambridge University.

He was rejected but successfully applied to Oxford, beginning a link that would last six decades.

He started as an undergraduate at Merton College in 1958 before completing his PhD.

Prof Peach met wife Susan, an occupational therapist, at one of his parties and he soon held another so he could invite her back.

They wed in Madrid in 1964, but the professor's reputation as an entertainer remained.

Children Huw, Guy and Katie, born in 1966, 1968 and 1972 respectively, remember sneaking downstairs to grab snacks during parties at their Iffley home.

Prof Peach often hosted parties for students and colleagues, but continued to rise academically.

He became a tutorial fellow in geography at St Catherine’s in 1969 - a role he would hold for 38 years - as well as serving as acting master in 1993-94 and various college officer roles.

He was well-travelled and took sabbaticals in Canberra, Australia, and top American universities Yale, Princeton and UC Berkeley.

His main field of research was migration, and the segregation of minority ethnic and religious groups in Britain, America and Western Europe.

After retiring in 2007, he was elected to an Emeritus Fellowship at St Catherines and in 2016 was awarded a Doctorate of Letters, one of the university's highest academic honours.

He and Susan moved to Abingdon in 2012, but Prof Peach passed away on October 2, 2018, after a long illness.

He is survived by wife Susan and children Huw, Guy and Katie.