Robert G. W. Anderson

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Robert G. W. Anderson
National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh; British Museum, London ; Science History Institute, Philadelphia

Robert Geoffrey William Anderson,

National Museums of Scotland, the British Museum, London,[3] and president and CEO of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (now the Science History Institute) in Philadelphia.[4]

Education

Anderson was born 2 May 1944 to Herbert Patrick Anderson and Kathleen Diana Burns.[5][6] Anderson was educated at Woodhouse Grammar School, a former state grammar school in Finchley in North London, followed by St John's College at the University of Oxford. He completed his B.A. in chemistry in 1966, and his B.Sc., and his Doctor of Philosophy (D. Phil.) in 1970. He studied the electrical conduction in free radical solutions and inelastic scattering of neutrons from adsorbed molecules.[7][8]

Life and career

Anderson joined the

Royal Scottish Museum as an Assistant Keeper in 1970. In 1975, he moved to the chemistry department of the Science Museum, London. He became an Assistant Keeper of Chemistry. One of his challenges in 1976 was to incorporate materials from the history of medicine collection of the Wellcome Museum of the History of Medicine, which were acquired as a permanent loan.[9] He organized a conference and edited "an excellent and detailed account"[10] to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Edinburgh, The Early Years of the Edinburgh Medical School.[11] This was followed bty a catalogue in 1978: The Playfair Collection and the Teaching of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh 1713–1858.[12] Anderson was also in charge of the renovation and expansion of the chemistry and industrial chemistry galleries in 1977.[13] He became keeper of chemistry, succeeded Frank Greenaway as director from 1980 to 1984.[13]

Anderson returned to the

National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh, a position he retained until 1992.[14]

Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, British Museum

In 1992 Anderson joined the

Queen on 6 December 2000.[16][17] Anderson was succeeded as director of the British Museum in 2002 by Neil MacGregor.[18]

Library resources about
Robert G. W. Anderson
By Robert G. W. Anderson

Anderson has been president of the Scientific Instrument Commission of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science (1982–1997), and of the British Society for the History of Science (1988–1990).[7] In 2004, Anderson became president of the Association of Independent Libraries.[2]

Anderson has held visiting academic posts at the

University of Cambridge (2002–2003).[19] He is an Emeritus Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge.[1]

As of 28 July 2016, Anderson became interim president and CEO of the

Chemical Heritage Foundation (now the Science History Institute),[20] a history of science organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He succeeded German historian of science Carsten Reinhardt. On 11 January 2017, Anderson was named the institution's ongoing president and CEO.[4] He was succeeded by David Allen Cole as of 20 May 2020.[21][22]

Anderson has published at least 14 monographs or catalogues and at least 50 papers.

museums,[24] and the work of Joseph Black[25] and Joseph Priestley.[26]

Awards and honors

Robert Anderson is a member of the

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1990),[27] the Society of Antiquaries of London (1986)[28] and of the Royal Society of Chemistry.[7] In 1990 he was elected Honorary Fellow[29] of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
.

Robert Anderson is a recipient of the

Dexter Award (1986)[30] and of the Paul Bunge Prize, which he was awarded in 2016 for a lifetime of "outstanding achievement in writing about and promoting the understanding of historic scientific instruments".[31][32]

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Dr Robert G W Anderson". Clare Hall, Cambridge. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7546-4779-9
    . Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  3. doi:10.1021/ed072p708
    .
  4. ^ a b Everts, Sarah (12 January 2017). "Chemical Heritage Foundation names Robert G. W. Anderson as president and CEO The former director of London's British Museum will take permanent helm of the chemical history organization". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  5. Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 26 Sept 2013
  6. ISBN 978-1857436846
    . Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Robert G. W. Anderson (1944–)" (PDF). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Chemical Sciences. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  8. ^ Anderson, Robert. "Circa 1951: Presenting Science to the British Public". Oregon State University. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  9. doi:10.5334/pia.150
    .
  10. PMC 1543201
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0900733109
    .
  12. ISBN 9780900733161
    .
  13. ^ a b Morris, Peter (2006). "The Image of Chemistry Presented by the Science Museum, London in the Twentieth Century: An International Perspective". Hyle: International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry. 12 (2): 215–239. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  14. ^ "History of National Museums Scotland". National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  15. ^ Bushby, Helen (27 June 2002). "British Museum 'needs £10m boost'". BBC. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  16. ^ "The British Museum Review" (PDF). The British Museum. 2001. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  17. ISBN 978-0714127415
    .
  18. ^ "Principal Librarians and Directors of the British Museum". British Museum. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  19. ^ CRASSH fellowship, University of Cambridge, 2002–2003.
  20. ^ Salisbury, Stephan (3 January 2018). "Chemical Heritage Foundation is morphing into the Science History Institute". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  21. ^ "David Cole President and CEO at Science History Institute". People on the Move. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  22. ^ "David Allen Cole Named President and CEO of the Science History Institute". Science History Institute. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  23. ISBN 978-0860783947
    .
  24. ISBN 978-0714150109
    .
  25. ISBN 9780754601319
    .
  26. ISBN 978-0901805287
    .
  27. ^ "RSE Fellows as at 05/05/2016" (PDF). Royal Society of Edinburgh. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  28. ^ "See who else is on board". Society of Antiquaries of London. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  29. ^ "Honorary Fellows". www.socantscot.org. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  30. ^ Ihde, Aaron J. (1989). "THE HISTORY OF THE DEXTER AWARD" (PDF). Bull. Hist. Chem. 4: 23–26. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  31. ^ "Robert G. W. Anderson to Receive the Paul Bunge Prize". Chemical Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  32. ^ Paul-Bunge-Preis geht an Robert Anderson – Über 43 Jahre Einsatz für die Instrumentengeschichte. Pressemitteilung vom 12. April 2016 beim Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (idw-online.de)

External links

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