Alexander Anderson (12 May 1858 – 7 September 1936) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

physicist and President of Queen's College Galway, now the

University of Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, from 1899 until 1934. In

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

he is known for Anderson's bridge. He is credited with being the first physicist to consider black holes as real physical entities, in a 1920 paper.

Early life and education

Alexander Anderson was born on 12 May 1858, the son of Daniel Anderson, of Camus,

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

. He was educated at Queen's College Galway, where he won a first-year scholarship in the Science Division of the Faculty of Arts and the

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

Prize in Geometry in 1876. He was awarded gold medals on the results of his B.A. examination in 1880, and his M.A. examination in 1881. He then won first place in an open examination for a scholarship to

Sidney Sussex College Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a 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. Cambridge bec ...

from which he graduated BA (6th wrangler) in 1884. He was later awarded MA in 1888.

Career

In 1885, Anderson returned to Queen's College Galway, where he was appointed Professor of

Natural Philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...

, a post he held until 1934. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...

in 1886, and a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1891. He was appointed President of Queen's College Galway on the resignation of Professor

W. J. M. Starkie William Joseph Myles Starkie (10 December 1860 – 21 July 1920) was a noted Greek scholar and translator of Aristophanes. He was President of Queen's College, Galway (1897–1899) and the last Resident Commissioner of National Education for Irel ...

in 1899. Anderson was conferred with an honorary L.L.D. by the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1901. He served as a Senator of both the Royal University of Ireland, and its successor, the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

, and as a member of the Dublin Commissioners appointed under the Irish Universities Act of 1908. He was Vice-Chancellor of the National University of Ireland in 1915 and 1920. He retired as President of the College in 1934, and died in September 1936.

Personal life

Anderson married Miss Emily Binns, of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

References

*Obituary, ''The Irish Times'', 7 September 1936
History, National University of Ireland, Galway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Alexander 1858 births 1936 deaths Academics of the University of Galway Presidents of the University of Galway Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Irish physicists People from Coleraine, County Londonderry People from County Galway