William Edward Ayrton at the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo-the first professor of electrical engineering in the world

Abstract

A biographical sketch of the teaching career of W.E. Ayrton is presented. William Edward Ayrton (1847-1908) studied at University College in London, England, and then was admitted to the recruit course of the Indian Telegraph Department, where he studied with William Thomsom at Glasgow. Working in India, Ayrton attained some fame as a telegraph engineer by his research. In 1873, he was appointed Professor of Physics and Telegraphy at the Imperial College of Engineering, an institution newly founded by the Japanese Government Public Works Department. The course eventually evolved into the Department of Electrical Engineering of the University of Tokyo. In the well-equipped physical laboratory of his own design, Ayrton carried out original research in collaboration with John Perry. Ayrton's experience as the first electrical engineering professor in Japan became the stepping-stone to his later career in England. >