Robert Maskell Patterson

Robert Maskell Patterson (23 March 1787 to 5 September 1854) was an American professor of mathematics, chemistry and natural philosophy. Born in Philadelphia, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1804 and took an M.D. in 1808, then studied in Paris with scientists including Adrien-Marie Legendre and Siméon Denis Poisson, and in England with Humphry Davy. He returned in 1812 to teach natural philosophy, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he became vice provost in 1814, and from 1828 to 1835 he was professor of natural philosophy at the University of Virginia. He served as sixth director of the United States Mint from 1835 to 1851 and was elected to the American Philosophical Society at the age of 22, later becoming its president.