Abstract
SIR ALFRED EWING'S intimation that he desires to retire from the principalship of the University of Edinburgh on Sept. 30 came as a great surprise to his colleagues. He refers in his letter to the University Court to the fact that in a few weeks he will be seventy-four years of age, but his friends have noted no sign of failing in his wide scientific outlook or in his grasp of the business of the University. Since 1916, when Sir Alfred was offered and accepted the principalship in succession to the late Sir William Turner, the University has expanded greatly—thirteen new chairs have been founded. Especially noteworthy is the acquisition of a site of 115 acres on the southern edge of the city, on which now stand the departments of chemistry and geology, and on which the new departments of zoology and animal breeding are in course of erection. Other extensions include the purchase of premises near the Old College for English and modern languages, the reconstruction of the Department of Surgery and the building of a laboratory for clinical medicine at the Royal Infirmary. Early in his tenure of office Sir Alfred successfully carried through the negotiations which resulted in the admission of women to full privileges as students in the Faculty of Medicine, and later he brought into closer co-operation with the University the Training College for Teachers and the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture, the heads of which are professors in the University. Sir Alfred has shown himself throughout to be a man of great energy and resource. He has never spared himself when he could serve the University, and he has done much to bring about a better understanding between the University and the city. It was entirely fitting, therefore, that at a meeting of the Lord Provost's Committee, held on the day on which Sir Alfred's resignation was announced, it was unanimously resolved to recommend that the freedom of the city be conferred upon him.
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[News and Views]. Nature 123, 216–221 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123216a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123216a0