Robert Young Potts was born in 1947 in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was brought up in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland and was educated at Glencairn, St John's Grammar and Hamilton Academy. His father George worked as a chief contracts and purchasing officer for the Scottish Electricity Board. Robert matriculated at the University of Glasgow in 1964 aged 17. Robert took Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in his first year; Pure Science in his second year; and Chemistry, Chemical Physics, and Mathematics in his third year. He was one of two students who took a combined honours degree in Chemistry and Natural Physics in his final year, a course which had only first been offered the previous year. He graduated in 1968 with a BSc (hons) degree, aged 20. University records state that he went on to become an Industrial Manager.
From the guide to the Papers of Robert Young Potts, 1947 -, science graduate, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1963-1968, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
