Stotherd Thomas Richard Smith Mitchell , the son of John Mitchell, a law clerk, and his second wife, Mary Jane Mitchell, nee Smith, was born at 'Rosebank', 45 Springfield Road, Bishopbriggs, on 1 November 1897 . He was educated at Bishopbriggs Higher Grade School, Lanarkshire, and Allan Glen's School, Glasgow. He began studies at the University of Glasgow in 1915 , but the First World War intervened and he served three years in Egypt. He returned to the university in 1920 on an ex-servicemen's grant, graduating BSc with Special Distinction in Chemistry in 1922 . As holder of the Mackay Smith Scholarship, he then became a research student under the supervision of Professor George Gerald Henderson .
Dr mitchell began teaching in the department of Physical Chemistry to fund his studies, and was awarded a Carnegie Research Scholarship for 3 years starting in 1923. He graduated with a PhD in Chemistry in 1926 and obtained the degree of DSc in 1931 for original work undertaken during a Carnegie Teaching Fellowship in 1927-1932. He had training in music as a young man and had at least one song published. In 1933 he was appointed Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, a post he held (with promotion to Senior Lecturer in 1949) until his retirement in 1963 . Early in his career, he was instrumental in the design of the University's new Chemical Institute. He served on the Board of the Faculty of Science in the 1930s-1940s, and was active in several scientific societies, including the Chemical Society, of which he was a Fellow for more than 40 years. His colleagues commended his teaching ability and his supervision of numerous honours undergraduate and research students. Dr Mitchell shared his home with his half-sister Mary McWhinnie Mitchell, b. 16 October 1877, the daughter of John Mitchell and his first wife, Janet Fraser Mitchell, nee McWhinnie. He died at Bishopbriggs on 4 August 1980 .
From the guide to the Papers of Stotherd Thomas Richard Smith Mitchell, 1897-1980, chemist and lecturer in Physical Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1933-1963, 1912-1970s, (Glasgow University Archives Service)
