Niels Ole Nielsen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on 3 March 1930. He attended the University of Toronto, receiving his DVM in 1956, and the University of Minnesota, where he received his Ph.D. in Veterinary Pathology in 1963. He joined the University of Saskatchewan in 1964 as Associate Professor, was promoted through the ranks to Full Professor (1968), Head of the department of Vet. Pathology (1968), and Dean of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (1974), a position he held until 1982. Dr. Nielsen was instrumental in the establishment of the Prairie Swine Centre and, among his considerable academic achievements, was one of the team of researchers who first established that mercury pollution was a problem in Canada and a potential hazard to humans.

Peter Nikiforuk was born in St. Paul, Alberta in February 1930. Peter Nikiforuk earned his BSc in engineering physics from Queen's University (1952) and his PhD in electrical engineering from Manchester University (1955). Manchester awarded him a DSc for research on control systems in 1970. Prior to joining the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan in 1960, Nikiforuk worked as a design engineer for AV Roe Ltd (1951-1952); for the Defence Research Board (1956-1957) and as a systems engineer for Canadair Limited (1957-1959). He began his career at the University as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering; by 1965 he was a full professor. Nikiforuk served as chair of the division of control engineering from 1964-1969; head of mechanical engineering from 1966-1973; and head of mining engineering from 1975-1976. He was Dean of the College of Engineering from 1973-1996. He has served on numerous University and other committees and councils and has earned a number of honours and awards, including the Julian C. Smith Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada (1994), and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1995). Nikiforuk died on July 19, 2018 in Saskatoon.