Robert G. W. Anderson
| Robert Geoffrey William Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 May 1944 |
| Residence | Dury |
| Fields | Chemistry, History |
| Institutions | Royal Scottish Museum; Science Museum, London; National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh; British Museum, London ; Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia |
| Education | Woodhouse Grammar School, Finchley, London |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Oxford |
Robert Anderson is a British museum curator and historian of chemistry. He has wide-ranging interests in the history of chemistry, including the history of scientific instrumentation, the work of Joseph Black and Joseph Priestley, the history of museums, and the involvement of the working class in material culture. He has been Director of the Science Museum, London, the National Museums of Scotland, and the British Museum, London. He became interim president and CEO of the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia in 2016, and was named its ongoing president and CEO on January 11, 2017.
Anderson was born 2 May 1944 to Herbert Patrick Anderson and Kathleen Diana Burns. Anderson was educated at Woodhouse Grammar School, a former state grammar school in Finchley in North London, followed by St John's College at the University of Oxford. He completed his B.A. in chemistry in 1966, and his B.Sc., and his Doctor of Philosophy (D. Phil.) in 1970. He studied the electrical conduction in free radical solutions and inelastic scattering of neutrons from adsorbed molecules.
Anderson joined the Royal Scottish Museum as an Assistant Keeper in 1970. In 1975, he moved to the chemistry department of the Science Museum, London. He became an Assistant Keeper of Chemistry. One of his challenges in 1976 was to incorporate materials from the history of medicine collection of the Wellcome Museum of the History of Medicine, which were acquired as a permanent loan. He organized a conference and edited "an excellent and detailed account" to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Edinburgh, The Early Years of the Edinburgh Medical School. This was followed bty a catalogue in 1978: The Playfair Collection and the Teaching of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh 1713-1858. Anderson was also in charge of the renovation and expansion of the chemistry and industrial chemistry galleries in 1977. He became keeper of chemistry, succeeded Frank Greenaway as director from 1980 to 1984.
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