The Andrews Professor of Astronomy is a

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

was established in 1783 in conjunction with the establishment of

Dunsink Observatory The Dunsink Observatory is an astronomical observatory established in 1785 in the townland of Dunsink in the outskirts of the city of Dublin, Ireland.Alexander Thom''Irish Almanac and Official Directory''7th ed., 1850 p. 258. Retrieved: 2011-02-2 ...

. Dunsink was founded in 1785 following a bequest by Provost

Francis Andrews Francis Andrews (1718 – 18 June 1774) was an Irish politician. Andrews was born in Derry and educated at Trinity College Dublin."Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the U ...

in 1774, which also funded the professorship. It was regulated by a new Statute of Trinity College Dublin, which required the professor to "make regular observations of the heavenly bodies ... and of the sun, moon and planets". The chair was suspended in 1921 and in 1947 the observatory passed to

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...

. In 1984 the professorship was revived as an honorary title in the Department of Pure and Applied Mathematics. From 1793, under

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, the Andrews Professor held the title Royal Astronomer of Ireland. This title fell vacant in 1921 and has not been revived.

List of the professors

* 1783-1790:

Henry Ussher Henry Ussher (1550 – 2 April 1613) was an Irish Protestant churchman, a founder of Trinity College, Dublin, and Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh. Life The second of five sons of Thomas Ussher by Margaret (d. January 1597), daughter of H ...

(1741–1790) * 1790-1827: John Brinkley (1763–1835) * 1827-1865: William R Hamilton (1805–1865) * 1865-1874:

Franz Brünnow Franz Friedrich Ernst Brünnow (18 November 1821 – 20 August 1891) was a German astronomer. He was the first foreigner to become director of an American observatory, serving as director of Detroit Observatory (at the University of Michiga ...

(1821–1891) * 1874-1892: Robert Ball (1840–1913) * 1892-1897: Arthur Rambaut (1859-923) * 1897-1906: Charles Joly (1864–1906) * 1906-1912:

Edmund Whittaker Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th-century who contributed widely to applied mathema ...

(1873–1956) * 1912–1921:

Henry Plummer Henry Plummer (1832–1864) was a prospector, lawman, and outlaw in the American West in the 1850s and 1860s, who was known to have killed several men. He was elected sheriff of Bannack, Montana, in 1863 and served until 1864, during which ...

(1875–1946) * 1921–1984: suspended * 1984–1996:

Patrick Wayman Patrick Wayman (8 October 1927 – 21 December 1998) was an English astronomer and director of Dunsink Observatory from 1964 to 1992. Early life and education Patrick Arthur Wayman was born in Bromley, Kent, England on 8 October 1927. His pa ...

* 1997: vacant * 1998–2019: Luke Drury * 2019–present:

Luciano Rezzolla Luciano Rezzolla (born 1967) is an Italian professor of relativistic astrophysics and numerical relativity at the Goethe University Frankfurt. His main field of study is the physics and astrophysics of compact objects such as black holes and ne ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews Professor of Astronomy Astronomy in Ireland Professorships at Trinity College Dublin