James Gow Black
James Gow Black (10 May 1835 – 25 December 1914) was a New Zealand chemist, mineralogist, lecturer and university professor . He was born in Tomgarrow, Perthshire, Scotland on 10 May 1835. In 1869 James Macandrew urged the University of Otago to establish a School of Mines to apply science and technology to the mining industry. The School of Mines opened in 1879 under Professor G.H.F. Ulrich. Black was appointed the first Professor of Natural Sciences because he was able to apply chemistry and mineralogy to agriculture and mining. He wanted to teach more widely outside the university and  take scientific information to miners rather than teach only those who could come to the university. He began his lectures in the mining communities in about 1884 and these were well-attended. In Reefton his lectures in March 1885 were attended by up to 200 people. This led to the formation of the Reefton School of Mines. Black was officially appointed as lecturer to the goldfields and he planned to consolidate the many small schools in the Otago, West Coast and Coromandel regions.