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Sir James Colquhoun Irvine,
CBE,
FRS, (1877-1952) was a British
chemist and Principal and
Vice-Chancellor of
St Andrews University from
1920 until his death. As a
research chemist, Irvine worked on
the application of methylation
techniques to
carbohydrates, and isolated
the first methylated sugars,
trimethyl and tetramethyl glucose.
Irvine studied at the Royal
Technical College, Glasgow, before
taking a BSc in Chemistry at St
Andrews. From there, he went to
Leipzig, where he studied for
a PhD under Ostwald Wislicenus.
Returning to St Andrews, he was
awarded a Doctor of Science
degree, and taught Chemistry
there. He was made Professor of
Chemistry in 1909 and Dean of
Science in 1912. He was made a
Fellow of
The Royal Society in 1918, and
received honorary doctorates from
the universities of Aberdeen,
Cambridge, Columbia, Durham,
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool,
McGill, Oxford, Princeton,
Toronto, Wales and Yale.