In 1907, after graduating as an engineer at Manchester U, he studied mathematics at Cambridge U. In 1910 he became assistant to the Astronomer Royal, and this led to his research in geomagnetic theory. His subsequent academic career involved appointments at Manchester U (1919), IC (1924), and Oxford U (1946). He was elected FRS in 1919 and was awarded the Society's Copley Medal in 1964. He was President of the LMS in 1929 and awarded its de Morgan Medal in 1944. He was elected FRSE in 1953.
http://www.uaf.edu/cnsm/chapman-chair-lectures/sydney-chapman/ Fuller biography and photographs.