Not necessarily the head of the Deptt.

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Note added at 2003-12-17 14:49:29 (GMT)
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In their field of expertise.

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Note added at 2003-12-17 14:53:40 (GMT)
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Usually some sponsorship is also assciated with these chairs for doing research in a particular field of study.

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Note added at 2003-12-17 14:59:30 (GMT)
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Between 1702 and 1750, Cambridge founded chairs in chemistry, astronomy and experimental philosophy (Plumian), anatomy, botany, Arabic, geology, astronomy and geometry (Lowndean); and Oxford instituted chairs of poetry, Anglo-Saxon and anatomy. It cannot be said that the regius professorships of modern history, founded in 1724 by George II at both universities, did much to advance the study of modern history during the eighteenth century; still, they are, at least, evidence of goodwill on both sides, though spoiled by vaguely conceived aims and faulty organisation.

http://www.bartleby.com/219/1528.html.



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Note added at 2003-12-17 15:04:39 (GMT)
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Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, there being no-one working in that area in Oxford at the time. His supervisor was Denis Sciama, although he had hoped to get Fred Hoyle who was working in Cambridge. After gaining his Ph.D. he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973 Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. The chair was founded in 1663 with money left in the will of the Reverend Henry Lucas, who had been the Member of Parliament for the University. It was first held by Isaac Barrow, and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton.

http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/physics/dsalis/NS/ns/F...



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Note added at 2003-12-17 15:08:16 (GMT)
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Yes, David...you are right. But I have made ammends in my subsequent notes.

Sorry I was thinking too slow, because a chair at a university can be either the head of the dept. or an endowed professorhship, often with the name of the donor, i.e. The John Doe Chair for Microbiology" this position is an honor bestowed on a noteworthy scholar, while the chair of a dept. may just have to do a lot of administration in addition to all else.

ex: Chair

an official seat, as of a chiefmagistrate or a judge, but esp. that of a professor; hence, the office itself; the chair of a philosophical school. a chair of philology

A chair might be a permanent position in a university, similar to a tenured professor in the US.

There are 2 types of university in teh UK, the "old" and "new" universities - the "new" ones are ofetn called "post-1992" universities, i.e. were previously Polytechnics, generally offering applied courses, in contrast to the "old" Universities; but after 1992 the Polytechnics were alowed to call themselves Universities, and were able to award their own degrees . Thus, before 1992 Sheffield had the University of Sheffield [where I studied] and Sheffield City Polytechnic [where I taught/teach], but since 1992 the Polytechnic has been called Sheffield Hallam University. Other "new" universities took names like "the University of the West of England", "niversity of Humberside" etc.

Now, at the old universities, the Head of Department usually occupies a Chair, e.g. The Chair of German, Chair of French etc. S/he is a Professor, but not necessarily the only Professor in teh Department. One is appointed to The Chair of German etc. The new universities tend not to have "cChairs" but "Heads of Department", "Directors of School" (= faculty ) etc, although these can also be Professors.

In addition, particularly the very old-established, elite pre-1002 universities (Oxford, Cambridge, Durham etc) often have endowed Chairs which may be more of an Honorary appointment than a Head of Department - this is probably where the confusion arises. At such universities, one department (Modern Languages) will have several Chairs.

HTH