Paul Meyer was a genius who was born in Switzerland in 1854.  He could read Greek and Latin at age five, graduated from the University of Berne at 13, received his medical degree from the University of Heidelberg at 18, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Berlin at 20.

His father was one of Europe’s noted clerics and received many honors from the Swiss government. Young Paul was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps and his early education was such as to fit him for the ministry.

From birth Dr. Meyer showed evidences of the mentality which afterwards distinguished him in several sciences.  Although he filled his father’s pulpit on several occasions in his youth, he lost religious fervor as he grew older. He finally renounced religion altogether.

It is known that he was an instructor in a German university while still in his teens. At that period he taught astronomy and delved deep into the sciences of mathematics and physics.

Dr. Meyer came first to Denver in 1875, where he practiced medicine for slightly less than a year before locating in Golden in 1876.  In Golden, he practiced medicine from 1876 until his death in 1930.  In 1883, Dr. Regis Chauvenet convinced Meyer to teach mathematics at CSM, which he did for the next 17 years.

During his CSM years (1883 to 1900), Meyer was one of the "six leading mathematicians in the world."  He had worked with Albert Einstein on mathematical problems and continued correspondence with Einstein and other top mathematicians while teaching. 

Dr. Meyer was first of all a physician, and he made it his life’s work to minister to the sick. Even during his service with School of Mines, he attended to his patients. His hobby and chief diversion was mathematics. He was a keen student of human nature, which is seldom expected of the scientist and profound scholar.

He enjoyed music and was himself an accomplished violinist.  Among his cherished possessions was a Stradivarius violin. He spoke French, German, and Italian fluently and read classics from Greek and Latin as a diversion. He was a master of medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry and physics, and was well informed on history, sociology, economics and political science.

Although Dr. Meyer was an accomplished scholar and a very learned man, he made no attempt (other than his years teaching at CSM) to impart any of his tremendous store of knowledge to others. Even while a teacher his instruction was something personal—a direct contact between himself and his students—and though he used his own texts in all his classes, they were never permitted to find their way into print.

Mines men who studied under him have stated that his methods were generations in advance of his time, and they alone can appreciate to the fullest extent the remarkable intellect of the Doctor who was so concerned in acquiring new knowledge that he had no time to impart any of his intellectual goods to the world. Dr. Meyer loved learning for learning’s sake, and thus he found little time to make practical use of his knowledge other than his work as a physician.

He was a voracious reader, and his library contained several rare volumes, dating back to the time of hand lettering. He had accumulated many books, pamphlets and magazines all of which show evidence of thorough perusal. Marginal notes, dog-ears, thumb marks and underscored passages characterized these volumes. He kept extensive notes on all that he read. The notes are in German shorthand, and almost a ton of them, done up in neat packets, were stored in his home at the time of his death.

Although Dr. Meyer was a learned man, he was thoroughly human. Eccentricities accredited to genius lent color to his personality, and made him a lovable character. Few of his associates ever fathomed the depths of his heart or his intellect, yet the Doctor was himself an astute judge of other people’s motives. He was tolerant of every human frailty except ignorance, and that he abhorred. He was a man of great understanding as well as profound knowledge, and wisdom was his life.

Many stories are told of him. One of his former students recounts this one: An examination had been announced. When Dr. Meyer arrived in the classroom he found that one of the students had filled the blackboard with drawings depicting the plight of the poor students and the demon professor. The Doctor was quick to recognize himself in the caricature, and he enjoyed the joke. He postponed the examination and forbade the blackboards to be cleaned until he could secure photographs of the cartoons. He often spoke of the matter later and said, "That young man is talented; he will go far—but not as a mathematician."

Another interesting story, which characterizes him more than any other perhaps, is difficult to comprehend: At one time he was offered $5,000 and all expenses to make a trip to England to solve a difficult problem in mechanics for a big English concern. He declined on the grounds that his patients in Golden needed his services. The company afterwards sent its problem to Golden where the Doctor solved it in a few hours and would accept no remuneration.

Dr. Meyer was a familiar figure in Golden. Striding down the street with his gold-headed cane, given to him by the Class of 1901, across his back, his long hair streaming and always without an overcoat, he was a most beloved character.

The Paul Meyer Hall was constructed with $775,000 from the State Building Mill Levy Fund and was completed in 1963.  The National Science Foundation contributed $4,630 as a matching grant (matched with Colorado State money) for part of needed physics laboratory equipment.  The building was dedicated to honor Dr. Paul Meyer on June 27, 1964.

One of Dr. Meyer's two violins is on display at Meyer Hall, as are several medical texts from his library.