Tom Cottrell was a physical chemist who was born and educated in Edinburgh. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh he joined Imperial Chemical Industries, working for their Nobel division, later directing their physical research section. In 1959, Cottrell was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. In 1965, he was appointed the first Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Stirling University. He made significant contributions to research into rates of energy transfer and quantum theory and he developed new techniques for investigating the collisions of electrons with simple molecules.