Arthur William Conway FRS[1] (1876 – 1950) was President of University College Dublin between 1940 and 1947.
Born in Wexford, he received his early education in St Peter’s College, Wexford and proceeded to enter old University College, Dublin in 1892. He received his BA Degree from the Royal University of Ireland in 1896 with honours in Latin, English, Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. In 1897 he received his MA degree with highest honours in mathematics and proceeded to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, becoming University Scholar there in 1901. Also in 1901, he was appointed to the professorship of Mathematical Physics in the old University College and held the Chair until the creation of the new college in 1909.
He married Agnes Christina Bingham on 19 August 1903; they had three daughters and one son.[2]
Conway developed a friendship with the future Taoiseach and President Éamon de Valera as a mathematician had developed an interest in Quaternions.[3]
Conway is remembered for his application of biquaternion algebra to the special theory of relativity. He published an article in 1911, and in 1912 asserted priority over Ludwik Silberstein who also applied biquaternions to relativity.
In 1918, he was the Irish Parliamentary Party candidate in South Londonderry and in the National University of Ireland, coming second in both.
He remained a distinguished scholar in the field of mathematics and theoretical physics, and made a special study of William Rowan Hamilton. He was also active in college life, being appointed Registrar, a position he occupied until his election as president in 1940.[4]