Robert Patterson (educator)

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Robert Patterson (1743-1824) was an American educator and director of the mint. He was born near Hillsborough, County Down, Ireland, emigrated to the United States in 1768, and lived for a time in Philadelphia. In 1774 he became principal of an academy in Wilmington, Del. In the dispute between the Colonies and the British ministry he allied himself with the Whig or Patriot party, and in the early part of the Revolutionary War served as assistant surgeon and brigadier major in the Continental army. From 1779 to 1814 he was professor of mathematics in the University of Pennsylvania, being also from from 1810 to 1813 vice provost. In 1805 President Jefferson appointed him director of the mint, which position he held until a short time before his death. Always actively interested in the American Philosophical Society, he was its president from 1819 until his death. He published The Newtonian System (1808) and edited various works on mathematics and physics.

• This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.