William Peterson (academic)
Sir William Peterson, KCMG (29 May 1856 – 4 January 1921) was a Scottish academic and the Principal of McGill University in Montreal from 1895 to 1919.
He was born in Edinburgh, the fifth son of John Peterson and Grace Mountford Anderson. His father ran Peterson Brothers & Co. He studied at the University of Edinburgh (graduating in 1875) and Corpus Christi College, Oxford (1879). In 1882, at age 26, he became the first principal of the newly established University College, Dundee, a post he held until 1895. He was a Latinist and classical scholar who enjoyed debating but disliked the politics of academia, especially the tensions between University College and the University of St Andrews.
From 1895 to 1919 he led McGill University. Although he spent many years in Canada, he regarded himself as an exile and would return to the UK every summer. He suffered a stroke in Montreal in 1919.
Peterson was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1901 during a royal visit, and was knighted (KCMG) in 1915. He returned to England in 1919 and died in Hampstead Heath, London, in 1921.
His two sons also became notable academics. William Gordon Peterson (1886–1930) was a classicist who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and received the Distinguished Service Order; Maurice Peterson was a classical scholar and diplomat who held several ambassadorial posts, including to Spain, Turkey, and the Soviet Union.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 01:50 (CET).