Political Economy

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The teaching of Economics at Edinburgh University began in 1800-1801 when Dugald Stewart (1753-1828), Professor of Moral Philosophy, first delivered undergraduate lectures in the subject. His example was followed by subsequent holders of the Moral Philosophy Chair until, in 1871, a discrete Chair of Commercial and Political Economy and Mercantile Law was instituted by the Merchant Company of Edinburgh. Unlike other Edinburgh Chairs, it was a fixed-term appointment of seven years. The first holder, William Ballantyne Hodgson (1815-1880), accepted appointment on the understanding that he would receive life-tenure after five years if his teaching proved successful. Although his classes were popular, Political Economy was not part of any degree course, and, after the trial period, the Merchant Company argued that student numbers were insufficient to merit life-tenure. They nonetheless re-elected Hodgson to the post in 1878, an appointment which he accepted under protest. Hodgson died suddenly while attending a conference in Brussels in 1880. He was succeeded by Joseph Shield Nicholson (1850-1927) during whose tenure the Chair was finally made permanent and a Degree in Economic Science was introduced (1898).

Professors of Political Economy

The chair lay vacant between 1974 and 1985.

A second Chair of Political Economy was founded in 1964.

Second Chair of Political Economy

Sources

Sources

  • Sir Alexander Grant, The Story of the University of Edinburgh during its First Three Hundred Years, 2 vols (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1884)
  • School of Economics, 'History' [[1], accessed 25 May 2016]
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