About the department
King's College in Aberdeen received its charter in 1495. The first chair in Mathematics was created in 1505. The Mathematics Department has existed for many centuries and is still active and important.
There are two Universities today in Aberdeen, of which the University of Aberdeen is by far the older. In fact, there were also two Universities prior to 1860. The older, King's College, was founded in 1495 by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland. The second, Marischal College, was a result of the political upheavals which followed the Reformation. The reformers demanded changes in both the government and syllabus of King's College and when they failed to get them, their leader, George Keith, Earl Marischal of Scotland, founded the rival institution. This was in 1593 and the two colleges continued as full, degree-giving universities until 1860 when a royal ordinance united them under the title of the 'University of Aberdeen'.
Both colleges taught mathematics from their earliest days, but it was at the more progressive Marischal College that it had the greater emphasis. It was from Marischal College that the great James Gregory graduated in 1657 and to Marischal that the 19 year old Colin Maclaurin came as professor in 1717. Other university notables include James Clerk Maxwell, who was Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) from 1856 to 1860, the Nobel Prize winning Frederick Soddy, who was Professor of Chemistry in the early years of this century and in mathematics, Hardy's collaborator, Sir Edward Wright, who became Professor of Mathematics in 1936 and Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University in 1962.
The 'granite city' of Aberdeen has a population of about 250,000. It has a justified reputation for cleanliness and attractive architecture and lies between the rivers Don and Dee on a splendid coastline with a spectacular mountain hinterland. It has excellent air, rail and road connections with the rest of the UK which are to be expected of the European capital of the oil industry. The city is well provided for in theatre, music, the arts in general and in sporting and recreational facilities. Most of the university is situated in "Old Aberdeen", a quiet and picturesque part of the city which is a most agreeable place to work in and where excellent library and computing facilities are close at hand. The university has a student population of about 12,000.