Frank Dawson Adams was born 17 September 1859 in Montreal, Quebec. After graduating from Montreal High School, he completed his BSc (1878) and MA (1884) at McGill University, and later earned a PhD at Heidelberg University. In 1892 he married Mary Stuart Finlay.
Adams was a well-known geologist, educator and author with a long association with McGill University. He began lecturing at McGill in 1889 and held a number of prominent positions there, including Logan Professor of Geology, Dean of Applied Science, Director of the Redpath Museum, Acting Principal, Vice-Principal and Dean of Graduate Studies. He was also employed as a chemist and petrographer for the Geological Survey of Canada from 1913-1914, was Deputy Director of Khaki University in Britain, and actively participated in a number of national and international geological organizations, including the Geological Society of Canada.
Adams retired from McGill in 1924 and traveled widely while continuing his geological research and study. A recognized leader in his field, he was awarded the Flavelle Medal in 1937 and held honourary degrees from the University of Toronto, Queen’s, Mount Allison, Bishop’s, and Tufts. His articles were printed in American and Canadian journals, and he was the author of the well-regarded The Birth and Development of the Geological Sciences in 1938. Adams died in Montreal on 26 December 1942.
John Geoffrey Adshead was born in 1904 in Manchester, England. He was educated at Stockport Grammar School before entering Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, graduating with first class honours with distinction in mathematics. He was also a half-blue in lacrosse, later touring the United States as a member of the Oxford-Cambridge lacrosse team. In 1927 he was appointed at the University of King's College, transferring to Dalhousie University in 1947 as acting head of the Department of Mathematics, a position made permanent in 1953.
In addition to his popularity with students, he was considered by his colleagues to be an excellent cook. In P.B. Waite's reminiscences of faculty life in the 1950s, he writes that "one remembers Adshead's baked halibut with oyster stuffing, served with a Poilly Fuissé" (http://hdl.handle.net/10222/63115). Adshead retired in 1964 and died in 1979.
James (Jim) Hermiston Aitchison was born on January 22, 1908 to James C. and Elizabeth Aitchison in Innerleithen, Scotland. He came to Canada at age four and was raised and educated in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Aitchison received a B.A. (1928) and B.Ed. (1929) from the University of Saskatchewan as well as a B.Sc. from the London School of Economics (1935). While in London, Aitchison married Oriole, with whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth. In 1953, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.
Aitchison’s career as an educator began in 1929. He taught high school from 1929 until 1933 and lectured at Brandon College (1935-1938), University of Toronto (1938-1939), and McMaster (1939-1941). Aitchison then became an associate professor at Victoria College (1946-1948). He also served with the Canadian Army from 1942 to 1946, reaching the rank of Major.
Aitchison came to Dalhousie in 1949 and served as head or chairman of the Department of Political Science until 1973. His research centred on Canadian politics and government and he wrote profusely on the topic. He also edited The Political Process in Canada: Essays in Honour of R. MacGregor Dawson in 1963. Aitchison was active in the Dalhousie community and served as the first president of the Dalhousie Faculty Association in 1951. Even after his retirement, Aitchison maintained a close connection with Dalhousie’s Department of Political Science, continuing to work in his office as late as 1993 at age eighty-five. He was also active in a number of professional organizations, including the Canadian Association of University Teachers and the Social Science Research Council of Canada, where he served as president and chairman, respectively.
In the 1960s, Aitchison was also involved with the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, serving as chairman of the committee for the party (1961-1962), party president (1962-1964), president and acting leader (1964-1966), and leader (1966-1968). He also ran unsuccessfully for election in the 1962 and 1965 federal elections, as well as in the 1967 provincial election.
In 1993, Aitchison’s contributions to his field were honoured by the Atlantic Provinces Political Science Association. He died in Halifax on July 12, 1994.
William Graham Allen (1909-1986) was a freelance writer and broadcaster, best known for his work with the CBC. He was born in Halifax on 6 January 1909 to William T. and Winnifred (Dodge) Allen. He was a graduate of Dalhousie University's class of 1929, and also studied at Royal Roads Military College and HMCS Cornwallis. In 1928 Allen began reporting for The Halifax Chronicle and worked in various editorial positions until 1941, when he signed on for active duty in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. He served as a Sub-lieutenant and was involved in the theatrical show "Meet The Navy." In 1946 Allen returned to The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, continuing to serve from 1947-1951 as an executive officer for HMCS Scotian, Halifax Naval Reserve Division.
In 1951 Allen was appointed Director of University Liaisons at Dalhousie University, where he also served as editor for The Dalhousie Review from 1953-1957, the year of his retirement from the university. That year he joined the Canadian Broadcast Corporation as the news staff supervisor for the Maritimes. He retired from the CBC in 1975, but continued to broadcast as a freelancer and to host the popular radio program Neighborly News from 1977–1980. Allen was a self described "movie freak" and a large supporter of the arts. He held positions as juror for the Governor General Awards (ca. 1950s); treasurer for ACTRA, Maritimes (1976); Director of Neptune Theatre Foundation (1976); Dal Alumni Executive (1976); Governor of Dalhousie University (1976-1977); President of the Radio Television News Director's Association; and spent several years with Halifax Welfare Council and the United Services Institute of Nova Scotia. He died in 1986.
Almon, William, Bruce, Lt. Col.
Anderson, George Douglas Elphinstone, 1902-
Alan R. Andrews is professor emeritus at Dalhousie University. Born in England in 1935, he was educated at King Henry VII and King Edward VI schools before earning his BA, MA and a Diploma of Education from Leeds University. He later obtained his PhD at the University of Illinois.
Andrews was appointed to Dalhousie's English department in 1966, but moved to the newly created Department of Theatre in 1969, where he served as the inaugural chair until 1971. He was promoted to full professor in 1981. His scholarly interests included George Bernard Shaw, Granville Barker and St. John Hankin, about whom he wrote and lectured frequently, including at the Shaw Festival in Ontario. He directed many university theatre productions, served as an editor of The Dalhousie Review (1985-1995), and was secretary to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in the early 1980s. He had close ties with Neptune Theatre, was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and was President of the Canadian Association of University Teachers from 1992-1994. Alan Andrews retired from Dalhousie in June 2001.
Kell Antoft was a professor in Dalhousie's School of Public Administration and had a distinguished research career in local government, municipal planning, taxation and non-resident land ownership. Born on 24 July 1923 in Roskilde, Denmark, at age seven Antoft immigrated to Canada with his parents, Otto and Asta (Rump) Antoft, eventually settling in Lakeville, Nova Scotia. He received his early education at the King's County Academy and later at Sir George Williams College, Montreal, and Dalhousie University.
Antoft was a keen hosteller and founded the Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Hostelling Association in 1938, remaining active in the hostelling movement for many decades as a member of the Trustee Committee. From 1943-1946 he served as a Royal Canadian Air Force navigator and settled in Montreal after the war, where he founded two successful businesses: Viking Air Service and Nordic Biochemicals Ltd. Under his presidency of Nordic Biochemicals (1951-1956), the company conducted foundational growth hormone research.
In 1966 Antoft sold his business interests and moved to Toronto to work as the Assistant Executive Director of the National Cancer Institute of Canada. In 1969 he returned to Nova Scotia to take up an appointment as Assistant Director of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). He served as Director from 1977-1984, when he took up a full-time professorial appointment at Dalhousie's School of Public Administration. On his retirement in 1989, he was appointed as an adjunct professor at Henson College, which in 2003 amalgamated with several other historically separate institutions to become Dalhousie's College of Continuing Education.
Antoft was a member of the Canadian Cancer Society in Nova Scotia for over twenty years, with a two-year term as president (1980-1982); he was involved in both provincial and national public issues committees and the Nova Scotia and Canada Councils on Smoking and Health. His papers help to document the Cancer Society's move towards an active role in voicing opposition to tobacco advertising campaigns and sponsorship and in supporting anti-smoking campaigns.
An avid lifelong skier, Antoft worked in various capacities with many ski clubs and programs in Canada, including co-founding with Al Raine the Nancy Greene Ski League. He served on boards and committees with various clubs and associations, including the Canadian Ski Association, the Atlantic Ski Zone, the Wentworth Valley Ski Club, the Nova Scotia Ski Areas Association, the Nova Scotia Seniors' Ski Club, Dalhousie Alpine Ski Team and the Dalhousie Penguin Club. He was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Heritage Hall of Fame in 2000.
Antoft's work with young people led him to serve on both the national and Atlantic Region boards of Katimavik. He was also actively involved in politics, working on behalf of the New Democratic Party from the mid-1980s and running for Halifax City Council in 1985. He co-founded Veterans Against Nuclear Arms (VANA) and its affiliated organization, the Defence Research and Education Centre. Kell Antoft was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2001 and a Member of the Council of the Order of Nova Scotia in 2002. He died in 2005, survived by his second wife, Mary Lou Courtney.
Archibald, Samuel George William, 1777-1846
The Hon. Samuel George Wilson Archibald was born on February 5, 1777 in Truro, Nova Scotia, the third son of Samuel Archibald and Rachel Todd. He was educated at Haverhill and Andover until 1796 and served as a protonotary of the Supreme Court and clerk of the peace for the district of Colchester before taking up the study of law in the Halifax office of Samuel Bradstreet Robie.
In 1805, Archibald was admitted as an attorney and barrister and in 1817 he was appointed, alongside William Halliburton, to Nova Scotia's first King's Counsel. He also served as surrogate general for the colony's vice admiralty court in 1818. In 1819, Archibald (unsuccessfully) prosecuted Richard John Uniacke, Jr., who took part in the last fatal duel in Nova Scotia. Archibald set up an oat mill in Truro in 1822. In addition, he served as Chief Justice for Prince Edward Island from 1824 to 1828, although he never resided on the island.
Archibald was elected to the House of Assembly for Halifax County from 1806 to 1836 and for Colchester County from 1836 to 1841. He was elected to the office of Speaker in 1825 and also served as Attorney General from 1832 until he left the Assembly in 1841 to become Master of the Rolls.
Archibald married Emma Dickson in 1802, with whom he had fifteen children. After her death in 1830, he married widow Joanna Brinley and had three daughters. Archibald died of a stroke on January 28, 1846.
Sanford Wellington "Barney" Archibald was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1909. He attended Halifax Academy and graduated with a BComm from Dalhousie University in 1930. From 1929-1937 he worked in the circulation department of the Halifax Herald, and from 1937-1939 he was the circulation manager of the St. John Citizen. In 1939, he moved to New York City to establish the Protestant Digest (later The Protestant) with Kenneth Leslie, serving as the journal's promotion manager.
In 1954, Archibald founded Printolith Corporation in New York, with which he remained associated until his retirement to Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia, in 1976. He was actively involved in a number of community organizations, including the Canadian Bible Society of Halifax and Children and Family Services of Annapolis County. He was treasurer of the Annapolis Royal Historical Association and arranged for the transfer of the Annapolis Royal Lighthouse from the Canadian Coast Guard. He died 18 February 2001 in Halifax.
Arnell, Helen Dorothy (Armitage), 1891-
Arnison, Joseph Simpson, 1820-1892