Graham, John F.

John Finlayson Graham was born in Calgary, Alberta on May 31, 1924 to parents William and Hazel Marie (Lund). He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia in 1947, a Master in 1948, and a Doctorate in 1959 from Columbia University. Graham joined the Department of Economics at Dalhousie University in 1949 as an assistant professor and became a professor in 1960. He was the head of the department from 1960 to 1969 and was primarily interested in public finance, specifically intergovernmental fiscal relations.

Graham was active in multiple university and professional associations and organizations. He was the president of the Faculty Association at Dalhousie, vice-president of the Canadian University Teacher’s Association, president of the Canadian Economics Association (1970-1971), chairman of the Nova Scotia Royal Commission on Education, Public Services and Provincial-Municipal Relations (1971-1974), a consultant on the Royal Commission on Finance and Municipal Taxation in New Brunswick (1962-1964), a consultant on educational finance for the Newfoundland Royal Commission on Education and Youth (1966-1967), and held numerous other positions during his career. He was the author of many journal articles, reviews, Fiscal Adjustment and Economic Development: A Case Study of Nova Scotia (1963). In 1979-1980, Graham was chairman of the Dalhousie Senate ad hoc committee on the university constitution, which recommended the current structure of the Senate.

John Graham died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism on November 14, 1990. He was married to Hermioni (Nita) Graham and had four children: Andrew Thomas, James Theodore, Johanna Hermioni, and Nicholas Lund. The John F. Graham memorial lecture in the Department of Economics at Dalhousie University was established in memory of Dr. Graham in 1992.