Harold Stanley Ruse, MA, DSc, FRSE (12 February 1905 – 20 October 1974) was an English mathematician, noteworthy for the development of the concept of locally harmonic spaces. He was Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of Leeds.

Early life and education

Ruse was born in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, Sussex in 1905, the son of Frederick Ruse, a greengrocer and his wife, Lydia. He was educated at

Hastings Grammar School Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

and then studied Mathematics at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...

, graduating with the degree of BA ( later converted to MA). In 1927 he went to 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 ...

as a Bruce of Grangehill research scholar. He was awarded the degree of

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

by Edinburgh five years later.

Academic career

Ruse remained at Edinburgh where he was appointed lecturer in mathematics in 1928. Additionally, he spent the academic year 1933–34 as a Rockefeller Research Fellow at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. He was to return to Princeton again in 1952–53.Patterson, E. M. "Harold Stanley Ruse." Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society 8, no. 2 (1976): 203–210. Ruse became

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Mathematics at University College, Southampton (now the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

) in 1937 and in 1946 was appointed Professor of Pure Mathematics at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. At Leeds he was Head of the Department of Mathematics from 1948 to 1968 and then Chairman of the School of Mathematics from 1968 to 1970 when he retired as emeritus professor. Ruse was a member of the

Edinburgh Mathematical Society The Edinburgh Mathematical Society is a mathematical society for academics in Scotland. History The Society was founded in 1883 by a group of Edinburgh school teachers and academics, on the initiative of Alexander Yule Fraser FRSE and Andrew Je ...

from 1927, the Society's secretary from 1930 to 1933 and its president for one year from 1935 to 1936. He became a member of the London Mathematical Society in 1929, a member of its Council from 1938 to 1945 and its vice-president for one year from 1942 to 1943.

Honours

In 1931 Ruse was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 socie ...

(FRSE). His proposers were Sir

Edmund Taylor 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 ...

, Sir

Charles Galton Darwin Sir Charles Galton Darwin (19 December 1887 – 31 December 1962) was an English physicist who served as director of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) during the Second World War. He was a son of the mathematician George Howard Darwin an ...

, Edward Thomas Copson and

Charles Glover Barkla Charles Glover Barkla FRS FRSE (7 June 1877 – 23 October 1944) was a British physicist, and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays (Roentgen rays). Life ...

. The RSE awarded him the

Keith Medal The Keith Medal was a prize awarded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy, for a scientific paper published in the society's scientific journals, preference being given to a paper containing a discovery, either in mathe ...

for an outstanding scientific paper published during 1935–1937 in the RSE's scientific journals. He was an Invited Speaker of the ICM in 1936 in Oslo.

Death

Ruse died suddenly in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

in 1974 at the age of 69. On the day before his death he had attended an algebra seminar at the university. He was unmarried and had no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruse, Harold Stanley 1905 births 1974 deaths 20th-century English mathematicians People educated at Hastings Grammar School Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Southampton Academics of the University of Leeds Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh