The Hollis Chair of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy is an

endowed A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...

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

ship established at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1727 by Thomas Hollis. The chair, now part of the Physics Department, is the second oldest at Harvard, and the oldest professorship in science in the United States. The spelling of the title of the chair has been retained since its establishment. The original Rules and Orders relating to the chair are still extant. The incumbents have been: *

Isaac Greenwood Isaac Greenwood (11 May 1702 – 22 October 1745) was an American mathematician. He was the first Hollisian Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard College. Biography He graduated at Harvard in 1721, and was instrumental ...

(1727–1737) *

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...

(1737–1779) * Samuel Williams (1779–1789) *

Samuel Webber Samuel Webber (1759 – July 17, 1810) was an American Congregational clergyman, mathematician, academic, and president of Harvard University from 1806 until his death in 1810. Biography Samuel Webber was born in Byfield, Massachusetts in 1759. ...

(1789–1806) *

John Farrar John Clifford Farrar ( ; born 8 November 1946) is an Australian music producer, songwriter, arranger, singer, and guitarist. As a musician, Farrar is a former member of several rock and roll groups including The Mustangs (1963–64), The Stra ...

(1807–1838) *

Joseph Lovering Joseph Lovering (25 December 1813 – 18 January 1892) was an American scientist and educator. Biography Lovering graduated from Harvard in 1833. In 1838, he was named Hollis Professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in Harvard. He held thi ...

(1838–1888) *

Benjamin Osgood Peirce Benjamin Osgood Peirce (February 11, 1854 – January 14, 1914) was an American mathematician and a holder of the Hollis Chair of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard from 1888 until his death in 1914. Early life Benjamin Osgood Peirc ...

(1888–1914) *

Wallace Clement Sabine Wallace Clement Sabine (June 13, 1868 – January 10, 1919) was an American physicist who founded the field of architectural acoustics. Sabine was the architectural acoustician of Boston's Symphony Hall, widely considered one of the two or thre ...

(1914–1919) * vacated (January 1919–September 1921) Sabine died in January 1919, and Lyman was not appointed until September 1921. *

Theodore Lyman Theodore Lyman may refer to: * Theodore B. Lyman (1815–1893), American bishop * Theodore Lyman II (1792–1849), American philanthropist, politician, and author * Theodore Lyman III (1833–1897), American natural scientist, military staff offic ...

(1921–1926) *

Percy Williams Bridgman Percy Williams Bridgman (April 21, 1882 – August 20, 1961) was an American physicist who received the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the physics of high pressures. He also wrote extensively on the scientific method and on other as ...

(1926–1950) *

John Hasbrouck Van Vleck John Hasbrouck Van Vleck (March 13, 1899 – October 27, 1980) was an American physicist and mathematician. He was co-awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977, for his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of electronic magnetism in ...

(1951–1969) *

Andrew Gleason Andrew Mattei Gleason (19212008) was an American mathematician who made fundamental contributions to widely varied areas of mathematics, including the solution of Hilbert's fifth problem, and was a leader in reform and innovation in teaching at ...

(1969–1992) *

Bertrand Halperin Bertrand I. Halperin (born December 6, 1941) is an American physicist, former holder of the Hollis Chair of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy at the physics department of Harvard University. Biography Halperin was born in Brooklyn, New York, ...

(1992–2018) *

Cumrun Vafa Cumrun Vafa ( fa, کامران وفا ; born 1 August 1960) is an Iranian-American theoretical physicist and the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard University. Early life and education Cumrun Vafa was born in Tehran ...

(2018–present)

References

{{Hollisian Professors of Mathematics Professorships at Harvard University Professorships in physics 1727 establishments in Massachusetts