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Sir Hector James Wright Hetherington (21 July 1888 – 15 January 1965) was a Scottish philosopher, who was Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
from 1927 to 1936, and
Principal of the University of Glasgow The Principal of the University of Glasgow is the working head of the University of Glasgow, University, acting as its chief executive. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the university as well as its strategic planning and admin ...
until 1961.


Early life

Hetherington was born in
Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...
,
Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
, and educated at
Dollar Academy Dollar Academy is a 5–18 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school for boys and girls in Scotland. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, at the foot of the Ochil ...
where he was school dux 1904 and 1905. He studied at the
University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
and at
Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...
.


Career

He was appointed Lecturer in Moral Philosophy at Glasgow in 1910, and Lecturer in Philosophy at the
University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...
in 1914, before becoming Professor of Logic and Philosophy at University College Cardiff (now
Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...
) in 1915. He worked in the Secretariat of the 1919 International Labour Conference of the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
In 1920, he moved to University College Exeter as Professor of Philosophy and Principal of the College, and returned to Glasgow in 1924 as Professor of Moral Philosophy. In 1927, he became Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
, but returned to Glasgow again in 1936, as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University. He served in this position for twenty-five years, retiring in 1961. He served as a Trustee of the
Carnegie United Kingdom Trust The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust is an independent, endowed charitable trust based in Scotland that operates throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Originally established with an endowment from Andrew Carnegie in his birthplace of Dunfermline ...
and, ''ex officio'', of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland from 1936 until 1961. He was a Trustee of the
Nuffield Foundation The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. It aims to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation projects in education and social pol ...
from 1943 until his death, serving as Vice-Chairman from 1961. In 1942, he visited the US as a British visiting adviser to American universities on wartime academic policy. In 1943 he became Chairman of the Committee of British Vice-Chancellors and remained as Chairman or Deputy Chairman until 1952. As a member of the Award Committee of the Commonwealth Fund he travelled widely, particularly in the United States and Canada, to promote links between British Universities and those in other countries. He received honorary degrees from 13 universities in the UK and North America. From 1930 to 1932 he was a member of the Royal Commission on Unemployment Insurance and in 1938 was appointed as Chairman of the Royal Commission on Workmen's Compensation. From 1940 to 1948, he was a member of the National Arbitration Tribunal and from 1951 to 1959 he was a member of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal.


Personal life

Hetherington married Mary Ethel Alison Reid (1886–1966) in 1914, with whom he had two sons. The elder son, Scott, became a senior civil servant in the Scottish Office, while the younger son, Alastair, went on to become editor of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. He retired in 1961 to Edinburgh. He was a member of the Athenæum, the Royal Scottish Automobile Club and Glasgow Golf Club. He was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
in the 1936 New Years Honours List, and appointed Knight Commander of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(KBE) in the 1948 King's Birthday Honours List and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 1962 New Years Honours List. He served as a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) for the County of Glasgow, and was made a
Freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...
of the City of Glasgow in 1961. He is buried in a simple grave with his wife in the cemetery in
Tillicoultry Tillicoultry ( ; Scottish Gaelic: Tulach Cultraidh, perhaps from older Gaelic ''Tullich-cul-tir'', or "the mount/hill at the back of the country") is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the loc ...
, just south-east of the war memorial. His younger son, Alastair, is buried beside them.


Published works

* With J. H. Muirhead. ''Social Purpose.'' George Allen & Unwin, 1918. * ''The Life and Letters of Sir Henry Jones.'' Hodder and Stoughton. 1924. * ''Letters to Graduates 1946-61.'' University of Glasgow. 1965.


References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hetherington, Hector James Wright 1888 births 1965 deaths People from Cowdenbeath People educated at Dollar Academy Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Principals of the University College of the South West of England Academics of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of Cardiff University Vice-chancellors of the University of Liverpool Principals of the University of Glasgow Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Deputy lieutenants of Glasgow Knights Bachelor