The Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1596 / 7, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to eight and in addition the college now has visiting professors.
The Professor of Geometry is always appointed by the City of London Corporation.
(Years given as, say, 1596 / 7 refer to Old Style and New Style dates.)
| 1 | Henry Briggs | March 1596 / 97 |
| 2 | Peter Turner | 25 July 1620 |
| 3 | John Greaves | 22 Feb 1630 / 31 |
| 4 | Ralph Button | 15 Nov 1643 |
| 5 | Daniel Whistler | 13 June 1648 |
| 6 | Laurence Rooke | 7 August 1657 |
| 7 | Isaac Barrow | 16 July 1662 |
| 8 | Arthur Dacres | 20 May 1664 |
| 9 | Robert Hooke | 20 March 1664 / 5 |
| 10 | Andrew Tooke | 5 July 1704 |
| 11 | Thomas Tomlinson | 3 July 1729 |
| 12 | George Newland | 27 Jan 1731 / 2 |
| 13 | William Roman | 28 Nov 1749 |
| 14 | Wilfred Clarke | 28 August 1759 |
| 15 | S Kittleby | 5 March 1765 |
| 16 | Samuel Birch | 5 July 1808 |
| 17 | Robert Pitt Edkins | 22 July 1848 |
| 18 | Benjamin Morgan Cowie | 18 Dec 1854 |
| 19 | Karl Pearson | 15 Dec 1890 |
| 20 | William Henry Wagstaff | 13 June 1894 |
| 1939–45 Lectures in abeyance | ||
| 21 | Louis Melville Milne-Thomson | 29 May 1946 |
| 22 | Thomas A A Broadbent | 1956 |
| 23 | Sir Bryan Thwaites | 1969 |
| 24 | Clive W. Kilmister | 1972 |
| 25 | Sir Christopher Zeeman | 1988 |
| 26 | Ian Stewart | 1994 |
| 27 | Sir Roger Penrose FRS | 1 Sept 1998 |
| 28 | Harold Thimbleby | 1 Sept 2001 |
| 29 | Robin Wilson | 1 Sept 2004 |
| 30 | John D. Barrow | 1 Sept 2008 |
| 31 | Raymond Flood | 2012 |
Famous quotes containing the words professor and/or geometry:
“You’ll admit there’s always the possibility of some employee becoming disgruntled over some fancied injustice. Dissatisfaction always leads to temptation. There’s always purchasers for valuable secrets.”
—Joseph O’Donnell. Clifford Sanforth. Donald Jordan, Murder by Television, trying to bribe Perry into revealing Professor Houghland’s secret (1935)
“I am present at the sowing of the seed of the world. With a geometry of sunbeams, the soul lays the foundations of nature.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)