David Stirling Anderson (25 September 1895 – 18 January 1981) was a 20th-century Scottish engineer and educationalist.

Life

He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 25 September 1895, the son of Alexander Anderson and his wife, Sarah Stirling. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. He graduated from the

Royal College of Science and Technology The Royal College of Science and Technology was a higher education college that existed in Glasgow, Scotland between 1887 and 1964. Tracing its history back to the Andersonian Institute (founded in 1796), it is the direct predecessor instituti ...

(now Strathclyde University) in 1921. From 1924 he was Head of Derby Technical College and in 1930 became Principal of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

College of Advanced Technology. In 1946 he returned to Glasgow to head his alma mater, the Royal Technical College. In 1951 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were

James Cameron Smail Dr James Cameron Smail FRSE FRSGS PRSSA CBE LLD (1880-1970) was a Scottish university Principal. Heriot Watt University library is named the Cameron Smail Library in his honour. He wrote extensively on printing and the history of printing. Life ...

Hugh Bryan Nisbet Hugh Bryan Nisbet (31 March 1902 – 21 November 1969) was a Scottish chemist who served as the first Principal of Heriot-Watt University. He had a specialist knowledge of petroleum. Life He was born in Edinburgh on 31 March 1902 the son of Rob ...

, Maurice Say and

William Marshall Smart William Marshall Smart (9 March 1889, Doune, Perthshire – 17 September 1975, Lancaster) was a 20th-century Scottish astronomer. Life He was born in Doune in Stirlingshire the son of Peter Fernie Smart and his wife, Isabella Marshall Harrower ...

. He was knighted by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1957 for services to education. He died in

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

on 18 January 1981.

Family

He married twice: firstly in 1932 to Grace Boyd, and following her death in 1974 he married Lorna Ticehurst.

References

1895 births 1981 deaths Engineers from Glasgow Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Scottish civil engineers Academics of the University of Strathclyde Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force officers 20th-century Scottish engineers {{Scotland-engineer-stub