List of Professorships at the University of Edinburgh
Encyclopedia
Established professorships at the University of Edinburgh
The title of the professorship is followed by the date of foundation. Dates in italics indicate the year of foundation of lectureships on which chairs were based.
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
The title of the professorship is followed by the date of foundation. Dates in italics indicate the year of foundation of lectureships on which chairs were based.
- Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations (1707)
- Chair in Civil Law (1710)
- Chair in Universal History and Greek and Roman Antiquities (1719) (from 1909, 'Constitutional History', and from 1945, 'Constitutional Law and History')
- Chair in Scots LawScots lawScots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is considered a hybrid or mixed legal system as it traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. With English law and Northern Irish law it forms the legal system of the United Kingdom; it shares with the two other systems some...
(1722) - Chair in SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
- Chair in clinical surgery
- Regius Professor of RhetoricRhetoricRhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
and English literatureEnglish literatureEnglish literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
(1762 - as the Regius Professor of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres - it established the first English Literature department in the UK) - Chair in Forensic Medicine
- Chair in Military Surgery (1806, abolished 1856)
- Chair in BotanyBotanyBotany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
- Chair in AstronomyAstronomyAstronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
- Chair in EngineeringEngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
- Chair in GeologyGeologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
- Sir William Fraser Professor of Scottish History and Palaeography (1901)
- Watson Gordon Chair of Fine Art (named for John Watson GordonJohn Watson GordonSir John Watson Gordon was a Scottish portrait painter and a president of the Royal Scottish Academy.-Life and work:He was born John Watson in Edinburgh, the eldest son of Captain Watson, R.N., a cadet of the family of Watson of Overmains, in the county of Berwick. He was educated specially with a...
) - Ogilvie Professor of Human GeographyOgilvie Professor of Human GeographyThe Ogilvie Professor of Human Geography is the name for the occupant of the Ogilvie Chair of Geography at the University of Edinburgh. It is named in honour of Alan Ogilvie, the first professor in the Department of Geography and an important figure in the early years of the Department of Geography...
(1931) - Masson Professor of English Literature (named for David MassonDavid MassonDavid Masson , was a Scottish writer.He was born in Aberdeen, and educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and at Marischal College, University of Aberdeen. Intending to enter the Church, he proceeded to Edinburgh University, where he studied theology under Dr Thomas Chalmers, with whom he remained...
) - Salvesen Chair in European Institutions (1968)
- Lord President Reid Chair in Law (1972)
- Grierson Professor of English Literature (1950 - formerly the Knight Professor of English Literature, named for Herbert GriersonHerbert John Clifford GriersonSir Herbert John Clifford Grierson was a Scottish literary scholar editor and literary critic.-Life and work:...
)