Sir James Alfred Ewing (1929)
1
Photograph © The University of Edinburgh
Artist | Henry John Lintott (English b.1877, d.1965) |
---|---|
Title | Sir James Alfred Ewing |
Date | 1929 |
Period | 20th century; 1920s |
Description | Three-quarter length. Sir Alfred is seated facing towards the left but looking at the viewer. He wears the Vice-Chancellor's gown of silver and black with blue LL.D. hood. Signed lower left. Incription at the top. Ewing was born in Dundee in 1855, educated at Dundee High School and the University of Edinburgh, he led three submarine cable-laying expeditions to Brazil and the River Plate. In 1878 he was appointed Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Physics in the Imperial University of Tokyo. While in Japan he devised instruments for measuring and recodring earthquakes and wrote his 'Treatise on Earthquake Measurement'. He rerurned to Britain in 1883 to become Professor of Engineering at Dundee, a post he held till his election to the Professorship of Mechanism and Applied Mechanism at Cambridge in 1890. During his tenure of the Cambridge Chair the school grew rapidly, a new Tripos was instituted, and a laboratory was founded. It was during these years as Professor that he wrote his engineering classics (including 'The Strength of Materials'). In 1903 Ewing became Director of Naval Education, a post rendered essential on account of the increasing mechanisation of warships and naval warfare. He organised a system of scientific and engineering training for naval officers and carried on experimental and research work which was to prove of great value in the years that followed. At the outbreak of war he was asked to accept a post of even more vital importance to the nation- the supervisorship of the famous 'Room 40' at the Admiralty. [...] While still engaged in this work, which emained secret till the mid-twenties, Ewing was asked to accept the Principlaship of his alma mater. At first it was thought he could carry on the two offices, but his eagerness to serve his University led him to give up his Government post in 1917. [...] Ewing's Principalship fell within the period of post-war reconstruction. The war had arrested development within the University and interrupted or delayed the University education of hundreds of youths; it had created new demands- wider knowledge of modern European languages, further research inmdeical and applied science, and specialised training in commercial and industrial organisation. It was to the meeting of these demands that the Principal devoted his energies. During his tenure of office the teaching staff was increased and thirteen new Chairs were founded. [...] An extensive building programme was carried out and projected: The King's Buildings for the Departments of Chemistry, Geology, Zoology, Engineering and Animal Genetics, improvements to the New Buildings, and the institution and endowment of Cowan House, the first hall of residence for men students under University control. For all these developments the University owes much to Sir Alfred, whose strenuous activity and power of attracting and retaining generous friends of the University made them financially possible. In the sphere of secretarial organisation his influence was also felt: in 1918 the separation of the secretaryships of the Court and Senatus was abolished and the post of Secretary to the University was created. These achievements, cited as only some of the many instances of the deep interest, the organising skill, the administrative ability and foresight of a Principal who gave lifelong service to science, to the State, and to education, earned for him the gratitude and affection of one generation and the praise and esteem of the next. |
Material | canvas (textile material)/textile materials/materials (substances); oil paint (paint)/paint (coating) |
Dimensions | 127 x 101.6 cm |
Subject | James Alfred Ewing KCB FRS FRSE MInstitCE (b.1855, d.1935) |
Collection | Art Collection |
Classification | academics (people); University History; portrait; paintings 1801-1900; paintings 1901-2000; University History |
Signature | Signed lower left: 'HENRY LINTOTT 1929' Inscription at the top: 'SIR JAMES ALFRED EWING, K.C.B. 1916-1929' |
Accession Number | EU0093 |