Richard Cockburn Maclaurin
Encyclopedia
Richard Cockburn Maclaurin icon (June 5, 1870 – January 15, 1920) was a Scottish
-born U.S. educator and mathematical physicist
. He was made president of MIT in 1909, and held the position until his death in 1920.
During his tenure as president of MIT, the Institute moved across the Charles River
from Boston to its present campus in Cambridge
. In Maclaurin's honor, the buildings that surround Killian Court on the oldest part of the campus are sometimes called the Maclaurin Buildings.
Earlier, he was a foundation professor of the then Victoria College
of the University of New Zealand
from 1899 to 1907. A collection of lecture theartres at the Kelburn campus of that university were named after him. He was also a professor at Columbia University
from 1907 to 1908.
. He came out to New Zealand with his family at the age of four. In 1904 he married Alice Young of Auckland, and they had two sons. His brother James Scott Maclaurin (1864–1939) was a noted chemist, who invented the Cyanide process for extracting gold.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-born U.S. educator and mathematical physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
. He was made president of MIT in 1909, and held the position until his death in 1920.
During his tenure as president of MIT, the Institute moved across the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
from Boston to its present campus in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. In Maclaurin's honor, the buildings that surround Killian Court on the oldest part of the campus are sometimes called the Maclaurin Buildings.
Earlier, he was a foundation professor of the then Victoria College
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...
of the University of New Zealand
University of New Zealand
The University of New Zealand was the New Zealand university from 1870 to 1961. It was the sole New Zealand university, having a federal structure embracing several constituent colleges at various locations around New Zealand...
from 1899 to 1907. A collection of lecture theartres at the Kelburn campus of that university were named after him. He was also a professor at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
from 1907 to 1908.
Personal
Maclaurin was born in Scotland, and was related to the noted Scottish mathematician Colin MaclaurinColin Maclaurin
Colin Maclaurin was a Scottish mathematician who made important contributions to geometry and algebra. The Maclaurin series, a special case of the Taylor series, are named after him....
. He came out to New Zealand with his family at the age of four. In 1904 he married Alice Young of Auckland, and they had two sons. His brother James Scott Maclaurin (1864–1939) was a noted chemist, who invented the Cyanide process for extracting gold.
Education
- B.Sc. (Hons), Mathematics, 1890, Auckland University CollegeUniversity of AucklandThe University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
. - BA, 1895 (12th wrangler); LL.D., 1904, St John's College, University of CambridgeSt John's College, CambridgeSt John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
.
Publications
- On the Nature and Evidence of Title to Realty, 1901
- Treatise on the Theory of Light, 1908
Honors
- Smith's PrizeSmith's PrizeThe Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in theoretical Physics, mathematics and applied mathematics at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.- History :...
in Mathematics, 1896 - Yorke PrizeYorke PrizeThe Yorke Prize is awarded annually by the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge for an essay of between 30,000 and 100,000 words on a legal subject, including the history, analysis, administration and reform of law....
in Law, University of Cambridge, 1898
External links
- 'MACLAURIN, Richard Cockburn', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.
- 'Richard Cockburn Maclaurin, 1870-1920', from History of the Office of the MIT President, Institute Archives, MIT Libraries, October 2004.
- Maclaurin in Mathematics at Victoria University College