David Kennedy Fraser

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 ...

FEIS (10 February 1888 – 26 August 1962) was a Scottish psychologist, educator and amateur mathematician. He was an author of several books looking at the education of the handicapped and was closely associated with the Scottish Association for Mental Health. He campaigned vigorously for the rights of handicapped persons. He was the grandson of the celebrated Scottish singer David Kennedy and was named in his honour.

Life

Fraser was born on 10 February 1888 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 ...

the son of the celebrated singer Marjory Kennedy (1857-1930) and

Alexander Yule Fraser Alexander (Alec) Yule Fraser (1857–1890) was a Scottish mathematician, one of the founders of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. Life and work Fraser studied at the University of Aberdeen where he graduated in 1881. After that, he was app ...

(1850-1890), a maths teacher at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eight ...

. His father died when he was two years old. His mother raised Fraser at their home, 5 Mayfield Road in south

, together with his grandmother, two aunts and a sister, an all-female environment. Together with Andrew J G Barclay his father had founded the Edinburgh Mathematical Society and mathematics was inevitably a lifelong interest despite his father's early death. Fraser attended George Watson's College from 1893 to 1904. He then took a general degree 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 a BSc in 1908 and an MA in 1909. He undertook foreign studies first at

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in the United States, studying there under G M Whipple. At Cornell he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Education in 1914. In 1919 he became a lecturer at the newly rebuilt

Moray House School of Education The Moray House School of Education and Sport ('Moray House') is a school within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science at the University of Edinburgh. It is based in historic buildings on the Holyrood Campus, located between the C ...

in Edinburgh, also teaching at the University of Edinburgh. In 1923 he became a Psychologist for

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Education Authority, working at Jordanhill Training College. In 1929 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

James Drever James Drever FRSE (1910–1991) was a Scottish academic who served as the first Principal of the University of Dundee. He has been described as 'one of the most pivotal figures in the University's history'. Early life and career James Dreve ...

George Carse George Alexander Carse FRSE RSSA (20 June 1880 – 20 August 1950) was a leading Scottish physicist and educationalist. In 1925, he was the first Mitchell Lecturer. Life Carse was born in Edinburgh on 20 June,, the first child of George Car ...

James Hartley Ashworth James Hartley Ashworth FRS FRSE DSc SZS (2 May 1874 – 4 February 1936) was a British marine zoologist. Life See He was born on 2, May 1874, in Accrington in Lancashire, the only son of James Ashworth. He spent most of his early life in Bu ...

and Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker. He died after a short illness at his home in

Milngavie Milngavie ( ; gd, Muileann-Ghaidh) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milngav ...

on 26 August 1962. He left a wife and three daughters.

Publications

*''The Psychology of Education'' *''The Education of the Backward Child'' (1932)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, David Kennedy 1888 births 1962 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Cornell University faculty Scottish non-fiction writers Scottish psychologists 20th-century British psychologists