Anderson, Thomas (1819-1874: Regius Professor of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Scotland)

Thomas Anderson ( 1819-1874 ) graduated from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, as a MD in 1841 . He lectured at that University from 1846 before being appointed Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1852, a post he held until his death in 1874 .

Thomas Anderson, chemist, was born in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. He was educated at the High School of Leith and Edinburgh Academy before entering the University of Edinburgh in 1839 to study medicine, graduating MD in 1841 having written his thesis The Nature of the Chemical Changes which take place in Secretion, Nutrition, and the other Functions of Living Beings . After studying in Europe he returned to Edinburgh an accomplished chemist. In 1852, he succeeded Dr Thomas Thomson as Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, a post he held until his death. In 1859, he was elected President of the Glasgow Philosophical Society ; and in 1867 president of the Chemical Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The Royal Society of Edinburgh awarded him the Keith medal in 1855, and the Royal Society of London one of the royal medals in 1872. His last years were passed in much mental and bodily suffering, and he died on 2 November 1874. Hugh Blackburn was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the University of Glasgow in 1849, a post he held until his retirement 1879. He was awarded an LLD by the University in 1885 and died in 1898.

Source: Dictionary of National Biography (London, 1885).