Philip Wilfred Robertson was a New Zealand chemist, university professor, and writer. Philip Robertson, son of Donald Robertson was born on 22 September 1884 and educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

, where he was

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in 1900. He then graduated with an MA in chemistry from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

in 1905, followed by an MSc in 1906. He was awarded a Sir George Grey Scholarship, a Senior Scholarship and the Jacob Joseph Scholarship. He gained first-class honours in natural sciences at

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

as a

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, followed by a PhD at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

. Robertson married Florence Elizabeth Graham in 1912. He took up the chair of chemistry at Victoria University College in 1920 where he headed the department for 30 years. Robertson had an interest in literature and wrote several short stories. In his retirement Robertson was appointed professor emeritus. He was awarded the

Hector Memorial Medal The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different science ...

in 1919 and in 1950 was elected to a fellowship of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

. Robertson died in London on 7 May 1969.

References

Davis, Brian R. 'Robertson, Philip Wilfred 1884–1969

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography The ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' (DNZB) is an encyclopedia or biographical dictionary containing biographies of over 3,000 deceased New Zealanders. It was first published as a series of print volumes from 1990 to 2000, went online i ...

, updated 22 June 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Philip 1884 births 1969 deaths People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) New Zealand chemists New Zealand Rhodes Scholars Victoria University of Wellington alumni Academic staff of the Victoria University of Wellington Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Leipzig University alumni 20th-century New Zealand scientists