William Mitchinson Hicks, FRS (23 September 1850, in Launceston,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

– 17 August 1934, in Crowhurst, Sussex) was a British

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. He studied at St John's College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, graduating in 1873, and became a Fellow at the College. Hicks spent most of his career at

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, contributing to the development of the university there. He was Principal of Firth College from 1892 to 1897. In 1897, Firth College merged with two other colleges to form the University College of Sheffield, and Hicks was its first Principal until 1905, when the College received its own

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

and became the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. Hicks was the first Vice Chancellor of the University, serving from 1905. From 1883 to 1892, he was Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Sheffield, and was Professor of Physics there from 1892 to 1917. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1885. He was awarded the Royal Society's Royal Medal in 1912: ''"On the ground of his researches in mathematical physics."'' In 1921, Hicks won the

Adams Prize The Adams Prize is one of the most prestigious prizes awarded by the University of Cambridge. It is awarded each year by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and St John's College to a UK-based mathematician for distinguis ...

.''A Treatise on the Analysis of Spectra'' by W. M. Hicks
/ref> The Hicks Building at the University of Sheffield, which houses the departments of

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, the Chemistry and

Workshop (formally known as the Central Mechanical Workshops) and the School of Mathematics and Statistics, is named in his honour.

Hicks equation In fluid dynamics, Hicks equation, sometimes also referred as Bragg–Hawthorne equation or Squire–Long equation, is a partial differential equation that describes the distribution of stream function for axisymmetric inviscid fluid, named after ...

is named after him.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, William Mitchinson 1850 births 1934 deaths British physicists 19th-century British mathematicians 20th-century British mathematicians People from Launceston, Cornwall Fellows of the Royal Society Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Royal Medal winners Vice-Chancellors of the University of Sheffield

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