The Fielden Chair in Pure Mathematics
In older British Universities it is not unusal to have one or more
"named" chairs (or professorships).
This quait practise dates from the early days of the university
when typically a department might have a single professor and
whose position was named after some benefactor of the university.
The background
Prior to 1903 the University of Manchester consisted of Owens
College.
In the Calendar for 1870 it records that Samuel Fielden Esq. donated
150 pounds a year to the college to support evening classes for
teacher pupils and artizans. In addition, Messrs Fielden donated
3,000 pounds to a general fund to develop the Natural Sciences at
Owens College (and an equivalent sum was donated by C. Beyer,
after whom the chair in Applied Mathematics is named).
The Fielden family were prosperous mill owners from Todmorden
in West Yorkshire. Samuel Fielden was the son of John Fielden,
M.P. for Oldham and a campaigner for better working conditions.
In Mrs. Samuel Fielden received an Honary Doctorate in Literature
from Manchester University for her support of the Education Department.
From 1877 the Calander refers to the post of "Fielden Lecturer".
In 1921 L.J.Mordell bacame the "Fielden Reader" and subsequently
the first "Fielden Professor" in 1923.
Previous Fielden Professors
The people who have held the Fielden Chair in the past are:
-
L.J. Mordell (1923-1945).
-
M.H.A. Newman (1945-1964).
-
J. F. Adams (1964 -1971).
-
I. G. MacDonald (1972-1976)
-
N. Blackburn (1978-19??)
Other illustrious names who have held positions
in the Department of Mathemaics
at the University of Manchester include:
A. Turing; K. Mahler; H.Davenport; P. Erdos;
J. Littlewood.