John Brown Clark or Clarke CBE LLD FRSE (30 April 1861 – 19 July 1947) was a Scottish mathematician. He was headmaster of George Heriot’s School from 1908 to 1926. He served as Vice President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1931–34.

Life

He was born in

West Linton West Linton ( gd, Liontan Ruairidh) is a village and civil parish in southern Scotland, on the A702. It was formerly in the county of Peeblesshire, but since local government re-organisation in the mid-1990s it is now part of Scottish Borders. ...

on 30 April 1861 the son of George Clark from Newbigging, South Lanarkshire. He attended West Linton School and then from 1877 the Heriot School at Abbeyhill in Edinburgh. From 1881 he trained at the Established Church Training College in Edinburgh. From 1883 to 1885 he served as an assistant teacher at St Leonards school in Edinburgh, then studied for a 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 and MA in 1889. He then obtained a job teaching mathematics at George Heriot’s School. In 1908 he succeeded

David Fowler Lowe David Fowler Lowe FRSE LLD (11 January 1843 – 17 January 1924) was headmaster of George Heriot's School from 1880 to 1908. Life Lowe was born in Leslie, Fife on 11 January 1843. He was educated locally and then went to the University of Edin ...

as headmaster and served in that role until 1926. He was succeeded in his role by William Gentle FRSE. In 1891 he 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 ...

, his proposers including Sir John Murray,

George Chrystal George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily know for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Meda ...

Peter Guthrie Tait Peter Guthrie Tait FRSE (28 April 1831 – 4 July 1901) was a Scottish mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook ''Treatise on Natural Philosophy'', which he co-wrote wi ...

and

. He served as a Councillor from 1928–31 and as its Vice-President from 1931–34. He was awarded a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1935. He died on 19 July 1947.

Family

He married Mary Mackay in 1891.

Other roles

He joined 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 ...

in December 1885. He served as its Secretary 1891–96, Vice-President 1896–97 and President 1897–98.

References

1861 births 1947 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{mathematician-stub