Philip Edward Reid was born on January 29, 1936, in Westcliff-on-sea, Essex, England. Reid obtained a BSc Honours in biological chemistry in 1957 from the University of Bristol in England. In 1959, he received an MSc in chemistry from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, followed by a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1924. Reid's main research focus was the correlative chemical and histochemical studies of the epithelial glycoproteins of the normal and diseased large and small intestine and the development of new histochemical procedures for the examination of epithelial glycoproteins. His teaching career expanded over thirty years. In 1964 he began teaching as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at UBC. In 1966, Reid became Assistant Professor and MRC Scholar for the Department of Pathology. During his tenure, he held many titles in the Department of Pathology, from Assistant Professor (1966-1983) to Professor (1983-1993) to Acting Head (1992-1993). However, he is best known as the coordinator for the distance format Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science (BMLSc) degree program and course coordinator for Pathology 300, 404, 405, and 438. Other titles that Reid has held over his career include founder member for the Mucin Club, member of the UBC Graduate Council and Executive Committee Graduate Council, member of the curriculum committee, to name a few. In 1993, Reid was appointed as an honorary member of the BCSMT.