Alexander Russell, FRS (15 July 1861 – 14 January 1943) was a Scottish electrical engineer and educator.
He was born in Ayr, Scotland and educated at
Glasgow University
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, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
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(gaining an MA in Mathematics and Physics) and
Caius College, Cambridge. He was later (in 1924) awarded a doctorate.
After teaching mathematics at
Cheltenham College
("Work Conquers All")
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and the
Oxford Military College, he took a post at
Faraday House, in
Southampton Row, London, which had been newly founded to train electrical engineers. In 1909 he became the Principal, a position he held until 1939. There he pioneered the
sandwich course, whereby students had a year or so in the classroom and then experienced work in industry before returning to the classroom. He also wrote a number of articles for the journal ''Electrician'' which he later published in book form.
He acted as President or vice-President of a number of societies, including the presidency of the
Physical Society in 1922–24 and of the
Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1923. In 1924 he was also elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...
, his citation acknowledging that he was "''Distinguished for his knowledge of alternating current phenomena, inductances and electrostatics.''"
In 1940 he was awarded the
Faraday Medal of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers
The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of T ...
.
He died in 1943 after a long illness. He had married Edith, the daughter of
H.B.Ince, MP, and had a son and a daughter.
References
1861 births
1943 deaths
People from Ayr
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Scottish electrical engineers
Fellows of the Royal Society
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