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Engineering professor H.R. Theakston worked at Dalhousie University for 45 years, beginning in 1918 and stopped by his death on 26 August 1963. He was born in Monkton, Vermont, in 1895 to Henry Theakston and Ella Sponagle. They moved to Nova Scotia during his childhood and he was educated at Sydney Academy and at Dalhousie, where he completed an engineering course in 1915. After serving in World War One, he returned to Halifax to complete a two-year engineering diploma at the Nova Scotia Technical College, graduating with the Governor General's Award. In 1921 he was appointed assistant professor of engineering and Engineer in Charge of Building and Grounds at Dalhousie. Promoted to full professor in 1929, he became head of the engineering department in 1949, and in 1951 was named the first Clarence Decatur Howe Professor of Engineering. He was granted an honorary doctorate from the Nova Scotia Technical College in 1954.
Dr. Theakston played an integral role in the physical development of Dalhousie's Studley Campus. He was an active member of the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia, the American Society for Engineering Education and the Canadian Standards Association. He also served on the Senates of the Nova Scotia Technical College and Dalhousie University. His contributions to Dalhousie are marked by the Dr. H.R. Theakston Memorial Award, presented each year to the student who achieves the highest standing in Engineering Graphics and, more substantially, by the Sexton Campus building named after him.