Mathematician, theologian and avid chess player, George Salmon entered Trinity College Dublin in 1833 as a 14-year old student, rising to become its Provost in 1888. After becoming a mathematics lecturer at 21 and writing several key works in algebraic geometry - which remained standard textbooks for decades - Salmon, who was also an ordained Church of Ireland priest, turned his attentions to theology, and was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity in 1866. Despite having six daughters, Salmon remained opposed to the admission of women students for many years; however, he finally relented in 1901.

George Salmon's life-size statue, carved from Galway marble, was created in 1911 by Dublin-born artist John Hughes, one of the most celebrated sculptors of his day. The statue has been displayed in several locations around the university, and now stands near the library, allowing Salmon to look out onto generations of students coming and going across College Green.