Tom Cottrell

Prof Tom Leadbetter Cottrell DSc FRSE (1923 – 1973) (usually simply referred to as Tom Cottrell) was a short-lived but influential Scottish chemist. He is best remembered as a co-founder and first Principal of Stirling University and as founder of the Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling. He wrote several popular academic textbooks on the subject of chemistry.

He was born in Edinburgh on 8 June 1923, the son of Allin Cottrell, a lecturer in chemistry at Edinburgh University. He attended George Watson’s College and then studied Chemistry at Edinburgh University, graduating BSc in 1943.

From 1943 he worked at the Nobel Division of ICI, based at Ardeer working on the manufacture of explosives. He worked here until 1959. In 1952 he was awarded the Meldola Medal by the Institute of Chemistry.

From 1959 until 1965 he was Professor of Chemistry at Edinburgh University. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1960, his proposers including James Kendall and Mowbray Ritchie. From 1965 he became heavily involved in the creation of Stirling University, both physically and in terms of creating its administrative structure. This was sited on open countryside, just north of Stirling, and was one of the wave of purpose-built modern universities being created across Britain in the late 20th century. It centred on Airthrey Castle but this was too small to serve as much more than simply a focal point within the university. Dr Cottrell’s office in these years was in the Garden Cottage of the castle’s estate.

In 1967, on completion of the essential core buildings of the university, he became the first Principal of Stirling University and immediately began promoting the Arts at the university. This included the creation of the highly forward-looking Macrobert Arts Centre, on the east side of the university campus.

Over and above his academic interests, Dr Cottrell was a great appreciator of fine art and began a substantial and meaningful collection of Scottish Art for the university, beginning with the acquisition of 14 paintings by John Duncan Fergusson from his widow, Margaret Morris. The collection expanded to include works by John Bellany, Samuel Peploe, Jean Redpath, Joan Eardley, Elizabeth Blackadder, Eduardo Paolozzi, Francis Cadell and Leslie Hunter. The works are now housed in the Pathfoot Building on the university campus.

He died of a heart attack, at home in Stirling on 2 June 1973, shortly before his 50th birthday.

• The Strengths of Chemical Bonds (1958)
• Molecular Energy Transfer in Gases (1961)
• Chemistry (1963)
• Dynamic Aspects of Molecular Energy States (1965)

He married Marie Findlay in 1950.