Masson , James Irvine Orme, 1887 - 1962
Dates
- Existence: 1887 - 1962
Biography
Sir James Irvine Orme Masson was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield from 1938 to 1952. He was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1887 and was educated at Melbourne grammar school and Ormond College, University of Melbourne. In 1912 he was appointed to the staff of the chemistry department at University College, London. In 1924 he was appointed Professor of Chemistry and head of the Department of Pure Science at the University of Durham. He was elected FRS in 1939. He completed the University's building programme after Pickard-Cambridge left with the extensions to Zoology, Botany and Geography and the North wing of Medicine which opened in 1941. He was knighted in 1950. Following his retirement he moved to Edinburgh and died there in 1962. Sources: 'Steel City Scholars' Helen Mathers; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.