Richard Cockburn Maclaurin

Richard Cockburn Maclaurin (pronounced Co-burn) (1870 - 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.

Personal

Maclaurin was born in Scotland, and was related to the noted Scottish mathematician Colin Maclaurin. 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 [http://www.natlib.govt.nz/collections/online-exhibitions/20th-century-scientists/james-maclaurin 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 College.
* LL.D., 1904, University of Cambridge.

Publications

* "On the Nature and Evidence of Title to Realty", 1901
* "Treatise on the Theory of Light", 1908

Honors

* Smith's Prize in Mathematics, 1896
* [http://www.law.cam.ac.uk/current_funding.php Yorke Prize] in Law, 1898

External links

* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/M/MaclaurinRichardCockburn/MaclaurinRichardCockburn/en 'MACLAURIN, Richard Cockburn'] , from "An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand", edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.
* [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/biographies/maclaurin.html 'Richard Cockburn Maclaurin, 1870-1920'] , from "History of the Office of the MIT President", Institute Archives, MIT Libraries, October 2004.
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-SeeMath-t1-body-d1.html#name-208672-1 Maclaurin in "Mathematics at Victoria University College"]