author
William Allan Neilson
1869–1946
A Scottish-born scholar who built a remarkable career in American education, he is remembered both for his literary scholarship and for leading Smith College through decades of growth. His work as an editor and lexicographer helped shape how many readers encountered classic English literature.
2 Audiobooks
Robert Burns: How To Know Him
by William Allan Neilson
The Facts About Shakespeare
by William Allan Neilson, Ashley Horace Thorndike
About the author
Born in Doune, Scotland, in 1869, William Allan Neilson studied at the University of Edinburgh and later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard. He taught English in Scotland, Canada, and the United States, holding posts at Bryn Mawr, Columbia, and Harvard before becoming one of the best-known academic leaders of his time.
From 1917 to 1939, he served as president of Smith College, where he guided the school through a long period of expansion and public prominence. Alongside his academic work, he wrote criticism on Shakespeare, Robert Burns, and Elizabethan drama, and he became widely known as an editor and lexicographer.
Neilson's legacy reaches beyond the classroom. He helped bring major literary works to broad audiences through reference and anthology projects, combining scholarly seriousness with a strong belief that literature should remain open and accessible to general readers.