Arthur William Chapman joined the staff on the University of Sheffield as a demonstrator in the Department of Chemistry in 1920, having previously studied at Imperial College, London, and the Royal College of Science. From 1916 to 1918, he was employed as an Assistant Chemist at Farnborough. In 1928, he was appointed Assistant Lecturer in Chemistry, and in 1931 Lecturer in Organic Chemistry. In 1936, he was appointed as the first Warden of Crewe Hall, a post which he held until 1945, being appointed Registrar of the University of Sheffield in 1944, with the encouragement of Sir Irvine Masson, Sheffield´s then Vice-Chancellor. In 1955, he published The story of a modern University: a history of the University of Sheffield. He retired as Registrar in 1963.