Edmund Henry Oliver was born on 8 February 1881 at Chatham Township, Ontario. He attended both the University of Toronto and Columbia University, from which he received a PhD in 1905. From 1905-9 he taught at McMaster University, and then joined the University of Saskatchewan as Professor of History and Economics. He resigned in 1912 to become Principal of St. Andrew's College. During WWI he was Chaplain of the 196th Battalion and in 1917 launched the University of Vimy Ridge. In 1930 he was elected Moderator of the United Church of Canada. Dr. Oliver died suddenly on 11 July 1935.

Born in Norland, Ontario in 1904, John Stuart Mill Allely studied Economics at Queen's University, earning a BA in 1929 and an MA in 1930. He did further postgraduate study at Harvard University, receiving an AM degree in 1932. He married Phyllis Parkin in September 1934. Prior to his appointment at the University of Saskatchewan in 1939, he taught at a number of institutions including McMaster University, the Universities of British Columbia, Manitoba, and Alberta, and the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He was on the staff of the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations (Rowell-Sirois Commission) in 1937 and 1938. Allely took a leave of absence to serve in the Canadian Army in World War Two. He served in Ottawa in the Adjutant General’s Branch and the General Staff. He held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Canadian Army and was seconded to the British Army to serve as the Senior Finance Officer of the Control Commission for Germany (British Element) from 1944 to 1946. Allely returned to the University of Saskatchewan in 1947. Following the Second World War, he served as Officer Commanding of the Saskatchewan Contingent, Canadian Officers Training Corps from 1947 to 1957. Professor Allely retired from the University in 1972 and died in Saskatoon on March 23, 1986.

John George Rayner was born in London, England, on 1 October 1890, and came to Canada with his parents in 1892 to settle in the farming community of Elm Valley, Manitoba. He received a B.S.A. from the Manitoba Agricultural College in 1913, and in 1914 came to Saskatchewan as an Agricultural Representative for the Department of Agriculture. He joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan in 1918 as Assistant Director of Extension, serving as Director from 1920-1952. He was also the first director of the Boys' and Girls' Clubs, and helped establish the philosophy and principles of the 4-H Movement. In 1965 the 4-H Foundation's Camp Rayner was named in his honour, and in 1973 he was posthumously named to Saskatchewan's Hall of Fame. Professor Rayner died in Saskatoon on 30 June 1952.

Sylvia Fedoruk was born in Canora, SK, to Annie Romaniuk and Theodore Fedoruk on May 5th, 1927. She attended school in Wroxton until the family moved to Ontario during World War II. There she graduated from high school at Walkerville Collegiate, after which her and her family moved back to Saskatchewan. She attended the University of Saskatchewan, graduating with a B.A. (1949), then M.A. (1951) in Physics. She worked with Dr. Harold Johns developing the one of the world’s first Cobalt-60 units (the “cobalt bomb”) which was used in cancer treatment. She was a professor of Oncology at the U of S, and eventually the Director of Physics services at the Saskatoon Cancer Clinic, from which she retired in 1986.
Her life is composed of many firsts. She was the first woman to become a member of the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada (1973). First female chancellor at the U of S (1986-1989) , first Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor (1988-1994), and played in the first Diamond ‘D’ Championships (1961), which was the national curling tournament for women, which eventually became the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
For her entire life she was involved in sports, most notable curling, golf, baseball, basketball, track, and fishing. She has two Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame medals.
She was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit (1986), made an Officer of the Order of Canada (1987), and was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (2009).
She travelled extensively for work and pleasure, and loved her dogs. Her dog Charli is featured in many of her official Lieutenant Governor portraits.
She passed away in 2012 at the age of 85.

Born 1918 in Wooler, Ontario and later in life divided his time between Roblin Lake (Ameliasburgh), Ontario and Sidney, British Columbia. Purdy was a poet, T.V and radio playwright, editor, travel writer and book reviewer. Is considered to be one of Canada’s greatest poets – called by the League of Canadian Poets “The Voice of the Land.” He is often referred to as a “people’s poet” and was immensely popular by fellow writers and the public alike. This popularity was in part due to his working class background and accessible subject matter. Purdy won a number of awards, including two Governor General’s Awards (for The Cariboo Horses in 1965 and The Collected Poems of Al Purdy, 1956-1986 in 1986). Al Purdy died in Sidney, B.C., on April 21, 2000.

Joanne Abrahamson was born in Saskatoon on 24 January 1963. She worked for most of her career at SaskTel; after nearly twenty years there she left to pursue a career in Library Studies. Her father was a police photographer, and the family had a darkroom in their home; but she is largely self-taught, and has taken no formal photographic training.

Born in Toronto on March 28, 1906, Murray Adaskin began his violin training at the age of ten. Additional training was received in New York and Paris including periods of composition study with John Weinzweig, Charles Jones and Darius Milhaud. A violinist with Toronto Symphony for ten years, Adaskin also served as director of music for the CPR hotels. As Head of the Music Department at the University of Saskatchewan from 1952 until 1966, and then Composer-In-Residence from 1966 until 1973, Murray, along with his first wife soprano Frances James Adaskin, initiated and supported much of the rich musical life which remains as a cultural focus in Saskatoon today. Among his many honours were Saskatoon's citizen of the year for 1970, a 1980 appointment to the Order of Canada and a D.Mus from the University of Saskatchewan in 1984. Murray Adaskin retired to Victoria in 1973. He was later married to Dorothea Larken (Adaskin). He composed his final work in 2000 and died in 2002 at the age of 96.

Born in Tilsit, Germany in 1926, Hans Siegfried Dommasch came to Canada in 1954 and became a Canadian citizen in 1961. He served as Medical Illustrator, Lecturer and Assistant Professor of Surgery and Head of Photographic Services in the College of Medicine from 1955 until 1975. Dommasch established the first photography program at the University's Department of Art and Art History in 1975. He was appointed Head of that department in 1984 and was promoted to full Professor in 1987. After serving for nine consecutive years, Dommasch stepped down as department head in 1993, retired the following year, and was named Professor Emeritus. Dommasch has won numerous photographic and film awards and has exhibited, published, and lectured extensively both nationally and internationally. He has studied the Canadian Arctic and the prairie landscape in great detail. His book, "Prairie Giants", depicting grain elevators of the prairie landscape, was published in 1986. The lecture entitled "Canada North of Sixty" has been presented in Germany, Scotland, England, the Czech Republic, the United States, and Canada. The photographic exhibition of the same name has been displayed in Canada and the Czech Republic. The touring exhibition "Posters Against War and Violence", organized by Dommasch and containing the posters by Wolfgang Janisch and Gustavo Espinosa, has been seen in Canada and Europe. Dommasch died in Saskatoon on November 20, 2017.

The son of Mr. And Mrs. Lewis Muir Barber, Lloyd Ingram Barber was born in Regina, Saskatchewan on March 8, 1932. He grew up in Regina Beach and attended high school at Luther College in Regina. In 1950 he moved to Saskatoon to study at the University of Saskatchewan, earning a B.A. in Economics in 1953 and a Bachelor of Commerce in Administration the following year. He received a Masters Degree in Business Administration (marketing) from the University of California in 1955 and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1964. Dr. Barber joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan as an instructor in 1955, and rose to become Dean of Commerce in 1966. From 1968 to 1974 he served as vice-president of the University, moving to Regina to become President of the newly autonomous University of Regina in 1976, serving in that capacity until his retirement in 1990. Outside the academic sphere, Lloyd Barber is noted for his appointment by the Privy Council of Canada as Canada's Indian Claims Commissioner. He held this appointment from 1969 until 1977. He also helped to establish the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College where he remains as their Chief Negotiator. He has held numerous appointments to boards and directorships of such organizations as the Bank of Nova Scotia, Husky Oil of Canada, and Canadian Pacific. Lloyd Barber is a companion of the Order of Canada and has received the Aboriginal Order of Canada. His other awards include the Centennial medal, the Vanier medal, honorary professor at Shandong University in China, and honorary degrees from the University of Alberta (1983) and Concordia University (1984). Dr. Barber and his wife, Muriel Pauline Barber, reside in Regina Beach, Saskatchewan. They have a family of six children: Muir, Brian, Kathleen, David, Susan and Patricia.

Jean Gordon Bayer joined the staff of the university in 1909 as President Walter Murray's secretary. Bayer previously had been his secretary at Dalhousie University. She arrived in Saskatoon in time to witness the registration of the first students. She was the President’s secretary, university librarian, and unofficial adviser to students. Bayer helped choose the university colours and motto, and was one of the founders of the Pente Kai Deka Society. In 1915, due to staff shortages caused by the Great War, Bayer was appointed Instructor in English. She proved so effective she was encouraged to continue, and took a year of study at Bedford College, London, prior to being formally appointed to the faculty. Like Murray, “she possessed a wide vision of the function of a university and, like him, she…dedicated herself to Saskatchewan.” “A most kindly guide” to her students, “many caught their first glimpse of what a literary ‘salon’ of the great days might have been in the genial atmosphere of tea and literature in her book-lined suite. She was a most loyal and cooperative colleague….She made it seem an easy thing to be happy and brave.” When Bayer returned from London in 1921 she was named Assistant Professor of English, a rank rarely held by women in that period. Bayer retained the post until her death in 1945. A scholarship in her name is available to a student who has completed at least two years of university studies