James Loudon (May 24, 1841 – December 29, 1916) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professor of

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

and President of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

from 1892 to 1906. He was the first Canadian-born professor at the University of Toronto.

Biography

Loudon was educated at the Toronto Grammar School,

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

, and the University of Toronto, where he received a B.A. in 1862 and an M.A. in 1864. Initially a

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...

in classics, he soon moved to mathematics, eventually becoming the professor of mathematics and physics at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

in 1875, succeeding his teacher John Bradford Cherriman. In 1887 he became professor of physics only, and became president of the University in 1892. He visited the United Kingdom to attend the 450th jubilee of the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in June 1901, and received an honorary doctorate (

LL.D Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the earl ...

) from the university.

References

External links

* * *
James Loudon archival papers
held at th
University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
1841 births 1916 deaths Canadian physicists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Presidents of the University of Toronto {{Physicist-stub