William Henry Walsh (1913-1986)

William Henry Walsh was born in Leeds on 10 December 1913. He was educated at Bradford and Leeds Grammar Schools, and studied at Merton College, Oxford. In 1936 he won a Junior Research Fellowship at Merton, focussing on philosophy. Between 1940 and 1941 Walsh served with the Royal Corps of Signals and then was employed by the Foreign Office, 1941-1945.

He returned to Merton in 1946 and specialised in Kant, but then went to Dundee (then part of St. Andrews University) as a Lecturer in Philosophy, 1946-1947. He returned to Merton as a Fellow and Tutor of the College, and Lecturer in the University of Oxford, 1947-1960.

In 1960, Walsh was appointed Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Edinburgh. He retired from Edinburgh in 1979 and returned to Merton as Fellow Emeritus of the College. His publications include Reason and experience (1947), An introduction to philosophy of history (1951), and Metaphysics (1963). Professor Walsh died 7 April 1986.