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william allan neilson

william allan neilson -lrb- 28 march 1869 -- 1946 -rrb- was a scottish-american educator , writer and lexicographer , graduated in the university of edinburgh in 1891 and became a ph.d. in harvard university in 1898 .
he was president of smith college between 1917 and 1939 .
neilson was born in doune , scotland and he emigrated to the united states in 1895 , being naturalised 3 august 1905 .
he taught at bryn mawr college from 1898 to 1900 , harvard from 1900 to 1904 , columbia from 1904 to 1906 , and harvard again from 1906 to 1917 .
neilson was author of a number of critical works on william shakespeare , robert burns and the elizabethan theatre , editor of the cambridge and tudor editions of shakespeare -lrb- 1906 , 1911 -rrb- and editor of `` webster 's new international dictionary , second edition '' -lrb- 1934 -rrb- .
less known is his translation of the famous late 14th century middle english alliterative chivalric romance `` sir gawain and the green knight '' .
