Prof Alan Wilfrid Cranbrook Menzies
FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...
(pronounced
''MING-iss''; 31 July 1877 – 8 September 1966) was a Scottish-born chemist who later taught at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
.
Life
Menzies was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
on 31 July 1877, son of Thomas Hunter Menzies, master draper, and Helen Charlotte (née Cranbrook). His name on the birth certificate does not include Cranbrook. He was educated at
Daniel Stewart's College and then studied science at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
. graduating with MA and BSc in 1898.
In 1900 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...
. His proposers were
Alexander Crum Brown
Alexander Crum Brown FRSE FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildings complex is named after him.
Early life and education
Crum Brown was born at 4 Bellev ...
, John Gibson,
Sir Arthur Mitchell, and
Sir John Batty Tuke.
In 1910 he emigrated to the United States to take up postgraduate studies at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
where he gained a PhD. Following the retirement of Professor Frank Fanning Jewett in 1912, Menzies was appointed head of chemistry at
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
. Two years later he was offered a professorship at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
where he taught until he retired in 1945.
He married Mary Isabella Dickson on 20 March 1908 at
All Saints Church, Edinburgh. They had one child, Elizabeth Grantcranbrook Menzies, born on 24 June 1915, in Princeton; she died there, unmarried, on 12 January 2003.
Menzies died in Foothill Acres Nursing Home in
Hillsborough, NJ
Hillsborough Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region within the much larger New Yor ...
on 8 September 1966.
Publications
''Several of the publications cited here are with co-authors.''
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menzies, Alan Wilfrid Cranbrook
1877 births
1966 deaths
Scientists from Edinburgh
People educated at Stewart's Melville College
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Scottish chemists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Princeton University faculty
University of Chicago alumni
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Oberlin College faculty
Academics from Edinburgh