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Richard Cockburn Maclaurin
Maclaurin in 1910
6th President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In office 1909–1920
Preceded by	Arthur Amos Noyes (acting)
Succeeded by	Elihu Thomson (acting)
Personal details
Born	(1870-06-05)June 5, 1870 Selkirk, Scotland
Died	January 15, 1920(1920-01-15) (aged 49) Cambridge, Massachusetts
Alma mater	Auckland University College (B.Sc. (Hons), Mathematics, 1890) BA, 1895 (12th wrangler); LL.D., 1904, St John's College, University of Cambridge.
Awards	Smith's Prize (1898)
Signature

Richard Cockburn Maclaurin (/ˈkoʊbərn/ KOH-bərn; June 5, 1870 – January 15, 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 theatres 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 emigrated 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 James Scott Maclaurin (1864–1939) was a noted chemist, who invented a process for extracting gold with cyanide.

Education

• University Entrance Scholar, 1887, Auckland Grammar School
• B.Sc. (Hons), Mathematics, 1890, Auckland University College.
• BA, 1895 (12th wrangler); LL.D., 1904, St John's College, 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
• Yorke Prize in Law, University of Cambridge, 1898
• Elected member of the American Philosophical Society, 1910
• Elected member of the America Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1911

References

1. ^ "Maclaurin, Richard Cockburn (MLRN892RC)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
2. Goodwin, H. M. (1935). "Richard Cockburn Maclaurin (1870–1920)". Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 69 (13): 518–521. JSTOR 20023089.
3. "MACLAURIN, Richard Cockburn : (1870–1920) : University teacher and administrator", the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 22 April 2009.
4. Auckland Grammar School List 2018 (2018) p.122.
5. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
6. "Richard Cockburn Maclaurin". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. February 9, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

External links

• Works by or about Richard C. Maclaurin at the Internet Archive
• 'MACLAURIN, Richard Cockburn', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.
• 'Richard Cockburn Maclaurin, 1870–1920', from History of the Office of the MIT President, Institute Archives, MIT Libraries, October 2004.
• Maclaurin in Mathematics at Victoria University College

• 1870 births
• 1920 deaths
• Presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• University of Auckland alumni
• People educated at Auckland Grammar School
• Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington
• Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
• Cockburn family
• American mathematicians
• Members of the American Philosophical Society