One of PAC’s earliest scholars (enrolment number 163), Thomas Beare studied at the fledgling University of Adelaide before winning an £800 scholarship from the South Australian Government, which enabled further study at University College, London.
At the age of 29 Beare became Professor of Engineering at Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh. Two years later he accepted the chair of Mechanical Engineering at University College, London. By 1901 he was back in Edinburgh as Professor of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, going on to become Dean of Science and Regius Professor.
Though first and foremost an engineer, Sir Thomas was responsible for publishing a catalogue of the winged beetles of the British Isles and also contributed to the National Dictionary of Biography, Encyclopaedia Britannica and Chambers Encyclopaedia.