Background
He was the son of William McClelland of Dunallis, Coleraine and received his education at Queen"s College, Galway.
He was the son of William McClelland of Dunallis, Coleraine and received his education at Queen"s College, Galway.
In 1895 he received a fellowship from the Royal University of Ireland and in 1897 took up a research degree at the University of Cambridge. In 1900 he was appointed Professor of Experimental Physics at University College, Dublin.
Royal Society]
Among his other posts McClelland served as a Commissioner of National Education, a member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland and, in 1907, secretary to the Royal Irish Academy. During World War I he served as a member of the Inventions Committee and the Committee for Organisation in Industrial Research.