Henry Dyer (1848-1918)

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 The University of Glasgow

With the aid of   a Whitworth Scholarship (the only one awarded to a Scotsman at the time), Henry Dyer attended the University of Glasgow from 1868 to 1873 where he graduated with MA, BSc and CE (Certificate in Engineering). He was a distinguished student gaining class prizes in subjects as diverse as Mathematics, Latin, Greek, Zoology, Ethics, Logic, English Language and Literature and Natural Philosophy (Physics) as well as in Engineering classes such as Civil Engineering and Mechanics. In his final year he was awarded the Arnott Prize of £15 for the Encouragement of the Study of Experimental Physics (in the Faculty of Arts) and the Watt Prize of £10 for the best essay on 'The Influence of the Newtonian Principles on the Progress of Science during the Eighteenth Century'. In his final year he was also awarded an 'experimental scholarship' to work in the laboratories by Sir W Thomson (later Lord Kelvin).

The BSc was first awarded by the University in 1873 and Dyer was one of the first graduates to be awarded the degree. In later years Henry Dyer received further awards from the University of Glasgow, the DSc in 1890 and an honorary LLD in 1910. In 1901, Dyer approached the University Court with the request that Japanese should be accepted as a suitable foreign language for entry to the University. The Court accepted this suggestion and appointed  Natsume Soseki, one of Japan's great literary figures living in London at the time, as external examiner in Japanese for a fee of four guineas.

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