William Burnside was an English mathematician. He was the eldest son of William Burnside and Emma Knight, and was born at 7 Howley Place, Paddington, Middlesex on 2 July 1852. His father was of Scottish ancestry but his grandfather had settled in London. Burnside was educated at Christ’s Hospital and then matriculated St John’s College, Cambridge in 1871, where he won a mathematical scholarship. He migrated to Pembroke College in 1873 and was Second Wrangler in 1875.

He was elected a Fellow of Pembroke College in 1875 and lectured at Cambridge for 10 years until 1886. He lectured on hydrodynamics which was a subject continuously developing in importance and examined, sometimes, for the Tripos, however it was clear he was devoted to his mathematical studies which extended beyond the Tripos. He was then was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich in 1885 and that was where he remained for the the rest of his teaching career.

His early research was in applied mathematics and his work influenced his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1893. After this election he turned to the study of finite groups. Since this was not a widely studied subject in Britain during the 19th century, it took a few years for his research in this particular area to gain widespread recognition. Burnside was also an expert with the oar, and after leaving Cambridge he regularly fished in Scotland. Throughout his career, Burnside has published over 150 papers and he is remembered for his original contributions to mathematics.

Burnside was elected an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College in 1900 and was invited to return to Pembroke as Master in 1903, however he declined due to the social aspects of the role. He was President of the London Mathematical Society from 1906 to 1908 before retiring in 1919. Burnside died at Cotleigh, West Wickham, Kent, on 21 August 1927 and in 2005 lecture theatre at the University of Greenwich was named after him.