Jump to content

Robert Forsyth Scott

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Robert Forsyth Scott (28 July 1849 – 18 November 1933) was a mathematician, barrister and Master of St John's College, Cambridge

Life

[edit]

Scott was born in Leith, near Edinburgh, the eldest son of Reverend George Scott, a Minister in the church at Dairsie and Mary Forsyth, daughter of the Edinburgh advocate Robert Forsyth.[1]

Scott was educated at the High School, Edinburgh, then in Stuttgart before becoming a student at University College, London. In 1870, while a student at University College, London, he was awarded a Whitworth Exhibition. He went on to read mathematics at St John's College, where he was fourth wrangler in the Tripos in 1875 and was elected to a fellowship in 1877.[2][3]

After publishing The Theory of Determinants and Their Applications in 1880, Scott turned his attention to the law, become a barrister in 1883, and to institutional history, including histories of St. John's College, Cambridge, published between 1882 and 1907.[1][3] In 1908 he was appointed as the Master of St John's College, a position he held until his death in Cambridge in 1933, and from 1910 to 1912 he served as Vice-chancellor of the University. On his death he left the library of St John's one of the largest collection of Burmese manuscripts in Europe.[3]

He was the elder brother of Sir James George Scott.

Publications

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Biography of Robert Forsyth Scott
  2. ^ "Scott, Robert Forsyth (SCT871RF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ a b c Digitization of History: Centre for History and Economics
[edit]
Academic offices
Preceded by Master of St John's College, Cambridge
1908–1933
Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
1910–1912
Succeeded by