Thomas Francis Roberts (1860–1919) was a Welsh academic and second Principal of the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

. Born at

Aberdyfi Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a larger ...

, he received his education at

Tywyn Tywyn (; ), formerly spelled Towyn, is a town, community, and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales. It was previously in the historic county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the location of the Cadfan Stone, a ...

and the UCWA before taking a scholarship to

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, where he took a first in Classical honour moderations in 1881 and again in '' literae humaniores'' two years later. After receiving his Bachelor's degree in 1883, he became the first Professor of Greek at the newly established University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire. In 1891 he succeeded Thomas Charles Edwards at his ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

'', University College Wales, Aberystwyth. He was a founder member, with T. E. Ellis, of the

Aberystwyth Old Students' Association Aberystwyth Old Students' Association (), founded in 1892, is Aberystwyth University's alumni association and is one of the oldest such associations in the United Kingdom. It currently has more than 10,000 Members and 100,000 Associate Members w ...

in 1892 and was later President in 1910–11. To date, he is both the youngest-appointed and longest-serving Principal. He was also a key figure in developing the fledgling

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

, which was established in 1893.

Offices held

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Thomas Francis 1860 births Welsh scholars and academics 1919 deaths Vice-chancellors of Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth Old Students' Association People from Aberdyfi