Richard Cockburn Maclaurin ( ; June 5, 1870 – January 15, 1920) was a Scottish-born

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educator and mathematical

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. He was made president of

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

in 1909, and held the position until his death in 1920. During his tenure as president of MIT, the Institute moved across the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

from

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to its present campus in

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. In Maclaurin's honor, the buildings that surround Killian Court on the oldest part of the campus are sometimes called the Maclaurin Buildings. Earlier, he was a foundation professor of the then Victoria College of the

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from 1899 to 1907. A collection of lecture theatres at the Kelburn campus of that university were named after him. He was also a professor at

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from 1907 to 1908.

Personal

Maclaurin was born in Scotland, and was related to the noted Scottish mathematician

Colin Maclaurin Colin Maclaurin (; ; February 1698 – 14 June 1746) was a Scottish mathematician who made important contributions to geometry and algebra. He is also known for being a child prodigy and holding the record for being the youngest professor. ...

. He emigrated to New Zealand with his family at the age of four. In 1904 he married Alice Young of Auckland, and they had two sons. His brother James Scott Maclaurin (1864–1939) was a noted chemist, who invented a process for extracting gold with cyanide.

Education

* University Entrance Scholar, 1887,

Auckland Grammar School Auckland Grammar School (often simplified to Auckland Grammar, or Grammar), established in 1869, is a State school, state, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding secondary school for Single-sex education, boys in Auckland, New Zealand. ...

* B.Sc. (Hons), Mathematics, 1890, Auckland University College. * BA, 1895 (12th wrangler); LL.D., 1904, St John's College, University of Cambridge.

Publications

* ''On the Nature and Evidence of Title to Realty'', 1901 * ''Treatise on the Theory of Light'', 1908

Honors

Smith's Prize Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1769. Following the reorganization in 1998, they are now awarded under the names ...

in Mathematics, 1896 * Yorke Prize in Law, University of Cambridge, 1898 * Elected member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, 1910 * Elected member of the America Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1911

References

External links

*
'MACLAURIN, Richard Cockburn'
from ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'', edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.

from ''History of the Office of the MIT President'', Institute Archives, MIT Libraries, October 2004.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclaurin, Richard Cockburn 1870 births 1920 deaths Presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of Auckland alumni People educated at Auckland Grammar School Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

American mathematicians Members of the American Philosophical Society