John William Tranter Spinks was born in Methwold, England 1 January 1908. He attended the King's College at the University of London, recieving both a BSc (1928) and PhD (1930) in Chemistry. Spinks joined the University of Saskatchewan in 1930 as Assistant Professor. He spent the 1933-34 academic year at the University of Darmstart, Germany, where he first met Dr. Gerhard Herzberg. Spinks was promoted to Professor (1938); named Head of the Department of Chemistry (1948); Dean of Graduate Studies (1949); and became the fourth President of the University (1959). Spinks led the university through its most active period of development. He retired from the presidency in 1974 but continued to pursue his academic interests. Spinks published more than 260 scientific fonds and larger works including a study for the Massey Commission, a translation of "Atomic Spectra and Molecular Spectra," "An Introduction to Radiation Chemistry," and an autobiography, "Two Blades of Grass." His many honours include a MBE (1943), LL.D (Carleton University, 1958), D.Sc. (Assumption University, 1961), Companion of the Order of Canada (1970), and a LL.D. from the University of Saskatchewan. He died in Saskatoon in 1997.

Marguerita Spencer (nee MacQuarrie) was born 28 December 1892 in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. She received her early musical education in Glace Bay and Halifax's Academy of Music, Lady's College. From 1918-1921 Marguerita trained as a nurse at Toronto General Hospital. Shortly after graduation in 1921, she married R.A. Spencer, who had recently been appointed Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. In Saskatoon, Marguerita continued her musical education, locally with Lyell Gustin, and in Montreal at McGill's Department of Music, where she earned a L. Mus. degree. Spencer was extremely active in the Saskatoon music community: playing organ or singing in the choir for a number of churches; performing with the Saskatoon Symphony and on CBC radio; and teaching. She was both a gifted player and a composer of music, with several published songs and suites for voice, string quartets, piano, and cello to her credit.

Elvins Yuill Spencer was born in Edmonton in 1914. He was granted both a BSc (1936) and MSc (1938) from the University of Alberta, and a PhD (1941) from the University of Toronto. Spencer joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan in 1946 as Assistant Professor of Cereal Chemistry. From 1949 to 1951, he held the half-time position of Co-ordinator of Research at the Saskatchewan Research Council. Spencer resigned from the University in 1951. Spencer died on March 3, 2012 in London, Ontario.

A Royal Commission was established on 24 August, 1951 to conduct and inquiry and to report on the South Saskatchewan River Project (Central Saskatchewan Development). The inquiry was to determine whether or not the economic and soical returns to the Canadian people would commensurate with the cost of the investment in the project. Dr. T.H. Hogg, G.A. Gaherty and Dr. John A. Widtsow were appointed commissioners

Pitirim A. Sorokin was born in 1889 in Komi (province in Northern Russia) into a peasant family. During his early childhood he traveled with his father and two brothers earning their living by remodeling and painting rural churches. His strong interest in education, combined with a natural talent and work ethic, soon transformed him into a leading Russian social scientist and famous politician who was at the center of the Russian Revolution in 1917. In 1923, after his banishment by the Bolsheviks, Pitirim Sorokin started a new life in the United States. In less than 10 years the Russian émigré became a world-renowned sociologist and the founder of the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. Over 30 major books were published over a period of 50 years of active intellectual life. His ideas attracted the attention of Albert Einstein and Albert Schweitzer, Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy, political activists and yoga followers, military and peace proponents. At the time of his death in 1968 Pitirim Sorokin was one of the leading thinkers of the 20th century. (Biographical sketch provided by Pavel Krotov.)

Gordon Snelgrove was a painter and teacher of Art and Art History at the University of Saskatchewan. He was born in 1867, and was appointed as a teacher of Art History at the University of Saskatchewan Regina Campus in 1936. A few years later he moved to the Saskatoon campus as the head of the Art Department, and he continued teaching there until his retirement in 1962. He passed away four years later in 1966. He is acknowledged as being perhaps the first Art Historian in Canada to receive a PhD in his discipline, and the Snelgrove Gallery on the U of S campus, which plays a role in providing learning and professional opportunities for students, still bears his name.

Tom R. Smith is a graduate of the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan; he received his B.E. in 1945. His varied career has included being part of the team that built the Alaska Highway, service during World War Two, farming, and teaching in the College of Engineering. His research has had a strong focus on archaeology and local history, especially through years of involvement in the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society. He was married to Laura Carpenter, who died in 2008.

Steven Ross Smith (also published as Steven Smith) was born and educated in Toronto, receiving a Diploma (degree equivalent) in 1968 in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University). First published in 1972, he is a writer of innovative fiction and poetry, a sound poet and performance artist, an editor and media writer. In addition to his literary works published in books, anthologies and periodicals, Smith has several improvisatory sound music ensemble recordings to his credit. He has been published and given performances and readings in England, Holland, the United States, and Canada. Smith was a founding member of the sound/performance ensembles "Owen Sound" and "DUCT". In 1987-1988, he was Writer-In-Residence in Weyburn, Saskatchewan and, in 1996-1997, he was Writer-In-Residence with the Saskatoon Public Library. Smith was also the founding editor of Underwhich Editions and has been the Executive Director of the Sage Hill Writing Experience from 1990 to 2008. His book "fluttertongue 3: disarray" won the 2005 Book of the Year award at the Saskatchewan Book Awards. He was Director of Literary Arts at The Banff Centre from 2008 to 2014.

Born in 1889 at Ridgeway, Iowa, to Norwegian pioneers (Ole and Henrietta Sherven), the fifth daughter of seven with a younger brother and four sisters, Olena came to a homestead 30 miles north of Watson, Saskatchewan in 1911. Olena’s interest in sketching animals at a young age led to her being enrolled in a Lutheran college in Red Wing, Minnesota in 1907, where she learned oil painting. She had previously taken a mail course doing a pen and ink perspective exercise. Her father encouraged further schooling, so she went to the Winnipeg School of Art during 1914-15 where pencil studies of the human form were taught using plaster models. She married Rutherford W. Smith sometime around 1920. In 1938, she went to the Winnipeg School of Art for a brief time; LeMoine FitzGerald, a member of the Group of Seven, was Head. Boarding with her sister on the U of S campus, she was able to get lessons from Gus Kenderdine who had been appointed the university’s first art instructor. Two copies of Kenderdine oil paintings survive from these lessons. Her first showing was held in Saskatoon. She exhibited oils “Winter” and “Autumn,” scenes from the farm. She attended the Emma Lake summer school for three seasons. Instructors included Kenneth Lochhead, Arthur McCay, Reta Cowley, H.W. Wickenden, and Winona Mulcaster. In later winters at Edinburgh, Texas, Olena enjoyed doing street scenes in Mexico and some portraits in pencil. Retiring to Melfort, she continued to sketch, making notes on colours for future paintings. She died in Melfort in 1972 at the age of 83.

Donald B. Smith has co-edited such books as The New Provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1905-1980 (with the late Howard Palmer), and Centennial City: Calgary 1894-1994. His popular articles have appeared in a variety of local and national publications including Alberta History, The Beaver, the Globe and Mail, and the Calgary Herald. With Douglas Francis and Richard Jones, he published the popular two volume history text, Origins, and Destinies, and the single-volume history of Canada, titled Journeys. He has also published Calgary's Grand Story, a history of twentieth century Calgary from the vantage point of two heritage buildings in the city, the Lougheed Building and Grand Theatre, both constructed in 1911/1912.
Born in Toronto in 1946, Dr. Smith was raised in Oakville, Ontario. He obtained his BA and PhD at the University of Toronto, and his M.A. at the Université Laval. He taught Canadian History at the University of Calgary from 1974 to 2009, focusing on
Canadian history in general, and on Aboriginal History, Quebec, and the Canadian North in particular. His research has primarily been in the field of Aboriginal History, combined with a strong interest in Alberta history.

Orville Ray Skinner was born in Oshawa, Ontario on 25 October 1927. He received a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto in 1950, and continued with postgraduate work at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, earning an MSc. in mathematics and Ph.D. in physics, in June and September of 1952 respectively. He taught briefly at the University of New York and worked at the National Research Council in Ottawa prior to joining the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan in 1954 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. He was appointed Assistant Professor in 1956 and by 1968, had risen to the rank of Full Professor. Dr. Skinner's special fields of research were gravitation and relativity. He published many articles and wrote two standard texts, "Mechanics" and "Relativity." Perhaps his greatest contribution to the University and Physics was his outstanding ability as a teacher. He was recognized by the U of S in 1987 with the Master Teacher Award. Dr. Skinner died on 2 December 1988.

The first ski jump on the east bank of the South Saskatchewan River was built in 1929-1930 by the Saskatoon Ski Club with permission of the university. It was located at "Devil's Dip" and inaugurated on 18 Jan.1930. However, during the same season a jumper broke his leg and the ski jump had to be closed since the university withdrew its permission. Already in the following winter a new, larger ski jumping hill with an approximately 18-meter high tower was erected a few hundred meters north at "Varsity Site". The first record there was 97 feet (29.5 m) by Dave Wood. In 1933 a clubhouse was added and in 1936 the hill, which was also called "Ski Jump Coulee", was reconstructed and enlarged with a 25 meter high tower. The hill was then used for a few decades and competitions there even attracted up to 2,500 spectators. Furthermore, alpine slopes, a ski lift and a toboggan run were added at the site. Though interest in ski jumping had already been decreasing, the ski jump was reconstructed in 1963, reorienting the outrun from the river onto the bank and thus making the hill smaller. However, in 1974 ski jumping operations stopped and in 1978 it was torn down. In 1971 the Jeux Canada Winter Games were held at Saskatoon and for that purpose a new winter sports facility was opened at Mount Blackstrap, which made the other facilities at Varsity Site unnecessary as well. Off the trail are the remnants of the jump’s footings and tow lift.

Conway James Skelly was born in Ontario in 1922. He graduated from the School of Agriculture in 1947. Skelly died in 1949.