Robert Patterson (educator)

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Robert Patterson (1743–1824) was an American educator and director of the United States 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, Delaware. A Patriot in the American Revolution, after the battles of Lexington and Concord he began instructing his students in military matters and served as adjutant in a local company of the Delaware militia. When classes were suspended because of the War of Independence, he returned to Greenwich, New Jersey, where he had earlier lived, and hastily received enough training to serve as an assistant surgeon in a New Jersey militia company. Militia service was not a full-time activity, but he frequently served in the field for nearly three years, and was appointed a brigade major.

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. His son, Robert M. Patterson, followed in his footsteps, also becoming director of the mint and teaching at the University of Pennsylvania.