Alister George McLellan (4 June 1919 – 1 July 2012) was a New Zealand mathematician and physicist.

Academic career

Born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

and brought up in Westport, McLellan attended

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. The school also has ...

and then the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...

, from where he graduated with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

and an MSc in mathematics and science. He joined the

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

doing war work and after the war went to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

to do a PhD under Max Born. His thesis was entitled ''The radial distribution function and its application to the properties of fluids.'' McLellan returned to the University of Otago and the University of Canterbury where he rose in the ranks of university administration in parallel with his research, becoming head of department in 1955, foundation chair of the new University Grants Committee. He was made a

Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in 1961 and Nuffield Foundation Commonwealth Bursary. He served as president of the Canterbury Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand. He retired in 1985.

Selected works

*''The Classical Thermodynamics of Deformable Materials''

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

1980, reissued 2011.

References

External links

institutional homepage
1919 births 2012 deaths People from Christchurch People from Westport, New Zealand People educated at Nelson College New Zealand physicists People associated with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand) Alumni of the University of Edinburgh University of Otago alumni Academic staff of the University of Otago Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand Academic staff of the University of Canterbury 20th-century New Zealand mathematicians 21st-century New Zealand mathematicians {{NewZealand-academic-bio-stub