E.M. (Ted) Culliton, University Chancellor, making presentation of an honourary Doctor of Laws degree to Albert W. Trueman during Convocation at Regina Campus.

Bio/Historical Note: Albert William Trueman was born in 1892 in Pennsylvania, where his New Brunswick-born father John Main Trueman taught college in Storrs, Connecticut, between 1907-1913. The family lived in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia after 1913, where his father taught at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. Trueman attended high school in Truro, Nova Scotia and graduated from Mount Allison University in 1927. He finished his MA in English Literature at Exeter College, Oxford University in 1932. Truman taught high school teacher, and then became school superintendent in Saint John, New Brunswick. He later worked a university administrator, serving as President of the University of Manitoba between 1945-1948, and President of the University of New Brunswick from 1948-1953. He was principal and dean of University College at the University of Western Ontario from 1965-1967. He was chancellor of the University of Western Ontario from 1967-1971. He returned to academic life and had an extended term as visiting professor of English at Carleton University in Ottawa from 1967-1981. Truman acted as Government Film Commissioner and Chairman of the National Film Board of Canada from 1953-1957, and then as the first Director of the newly created Canada Council for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, serving from 1957 to 1965. In these positions, he made contributions to Canadian cultural policies, primarily by promoting the roles and influence of both agencies. He also served on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Truman was given many honourary degrees. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 1964, and was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1974. Trueman wrote and edited several books, including A Second View of Things: A Memoir in 1982. Trueman died in 1988 in Toronto.

Roland Michener, Governor General of Canada, placing the medal around W.P. Thompson's neck; unidentified people in background.

Bio/Historical Note: W.P. Thompson was the third president of the University of Saskatchewan (1949–1959).

W.P. Thompson, out-going University President (1949-1959), looking at his wife, Marjorie Gordon Thompson; both wearing leis around their necks at their retirement celebrations.

W.P. Thompson, head, Biology and third University President, cutting a ribbon during the official opening of the [W.P. Thompson] Biology Building. Stairway of a biology lecture hall in background.

Bio/Historical Note: The W.P. Thompson Biology Building is named after Walter Palmer Thompson, the University of Saskatchewan's third president and founder of the Biology Department (1913). Designed by Izumi, Arnott and Sugiyama, it was constructed between 1957 and 1959 and officially opened in 1960. Set back from the Bowl, the flat-roofed cube style building was located between the Collegiate Gothic architecture of the Chemistry and Physics Buildings. It originally consisted of a teaching wing and a research wing but a header and greenhouse complex was added in 1962. Unlike many other Canadian universities the Department of Biology remained a single unit, balancing diverse sub-disciplines rather than separating into several distinct departments. Prior to the building's opening in 1960, work in biological sciences was scattered among four campus locations. Perhaps the most striking of the building’s features is the mural of mosaic tiles that adorns the south and west exterior walls. The mural depicts the four main stages of cellular mitosis. The artist, Roy Kiyooka, chose chromosome patterns as a testament to Dr. Thompson's important discoveries regarding the genetics of wheat rust. In 1986, the Geology Building was completed on the south side of Biology, resulting in the transformation of the south façade from an exterior into an interior wall, part of a new atrium.

W.P. Thompson, University President, cutting the ribbon to open the College of Law with F.C. Cronkite, Dean of Law, looking on, unidentified spectators in background.

Unidentified speaker at microphone on a stage with dignitaries seated at left. Cornerstone on a trolley at right.

Bio/Historical Note: Though the first recorded withdrawal from the University Library occurred in October 1909, nearly five decades passed before the Library had its own building. The early collection was housed either on the second floor of the College Building (later known as the Administration Building) or was scattered among a number of small departmental libraries. Plans for a new library building in the late 1920s were ended by the start of the Great Depression; but a dramatically reduced acquisitions budget was offset by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation in 1933. In 1943 the University hired its first professional Librarian. A combination of provincial grants and University fundraising financed the construction of the Murray Memorial Library. The library was named after the University’s first President, Walter C. Murray. Designed by noted Regina architect Kioshi Izumi working under H.K. Black, Architect, it marked a change in campus architecture away from the more angular and elaborate Collegiate Gothic style to that of the less expensive cube. Building materials included granite at the entrance and Tyndall stone as a wall cladding and window trim. In addition to the library, the building housed the College of Law, an office of the Provincial Archives and a 105-seat lecture theatre equipped with the latest in audiovisual teaching aids. The most dramatic transformation took place between 1970 and 1976 when a six floor south wing was added along with an extensive renovation of the 1956 structure. Designed by BLM, Regina, the south wing was unlike any other building on campus. Clad in Tyndall stone panels made to look like concrete (through a "bush hammered" finish), the grey almost windowless building is industrial and utilitarian in appearance. The University's master plan required buildings in the core of campus to be clad in stone. However, the "bush hammered" finish was used since the Library addition was built during a period that saw the flowering of "Brutalist" Architecture, so called because of the wide use of exposed concrete. The new (south) wing, originally called the Main Library, was officially opened on 17 May 1974, and also became the home of the Department of Art and Art History, the College of Graduate Studies and the University Archives.

Head and shoulders image of J.H. Thompson,

Bio/Historical Note: Born in Nottingham, England, Joseph H. Thompson received his early education in Saskatoon. Enlisting for service in the Great War, he joined the RAF overseas. Badly injured in a crash he lost the sight of one eye and the other was seriously impaired. He later became an accountant with his own practice in Saskatoon until 1938 when he became an accounting instructor at the university. Thompson became dean of the School of Accounting in May 1940. He continued as dean of the newly named College of Commerce from 1944-1951.Thompson’s command came to an end 21 March 1947 having served with the COTC since 1921 (with the exception of Active Service in Regina from 1939 to 1940). In addition to being Dean of Commerce he was chairman of the Board of Governors of Emmanuel College. He had retained his military affiliations as aide-de-camp to lieutenant governors J. M. Ulrich and William J. Patterson and was also the Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the COTC. Thompson died very suddenly on 9 March 1952 at 55 years of age.

Head and shoulders image of Levi Thomson, member, first Board of Governors of the University of Saskatchewan.

Bio/Historical Note: Levi Thomson, KC (1855-1938) was born in Erin Township, Canada West, He began the study of law in Toronto but then moved west in 1882, settling on a farm in Wolseley, Saskatchewan. Thomson completed his legal studies in Regina in 1894 and practised law in Wolseley. He served as crown prosecutor from 1897 to 1904, resigning to run unsuccessfully for a seat in the House of Commons. Thomson was an unsuccessful candidate for a seat in the Saskatchewan assembly in 1905. In 1913, he was named King's Counsel. He served on the council for Wolseley from 1889 to 1903 and was mayor in 1904. Thomson also served on the first Board of Governors for the University of Saskatchewan. He died in Wolseley at the age of 83.

Image of J.S. Thomson dressed in an academic gown, standing on a street; uildings and cars in background.

Bio/Historical Note: James Sutherland Thomson was born in Stirling, Scotland. He was educated in philosophy at the University of Glasgow, studied theology at Trinity College, Glasgow, and was ordained in 1920. Thomson came to Canada in 1930 as a professor of systematic theology and philosophy of religion at Pine Hill Divinity Hall, a United Church theological college in Halifax. He was appointed as the second President of the University of Saskatchewan in 1937. Thomson served until 1949, taking a leave of absence in 1942-1943 to become general manager of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (described by Acting President W.P. Thompson as Thomson's "call-up for war service"). In 1949 Thomson became McGill University's first Dean of the Faculty of Divinity and Professor of Religious Studies. He was moderator of the United Church of Canada from 1956 to 1958. Thomson retired as Dean in 1957, and died in Montreal in 1972 at the age of 80.

J.W.T. Spinks, newly-installed University President, holding a paper in his right hand and shaking hands with F. Hedley Auld, University Chancellor, during Convocation held in Physical Education gymnasium.

Bio/Historical Note: John William Tranter Spinks was born in 1908 at Methwold, England. He received his PhD in Science from the University of London in 1930 and that same year joined the University of Saskatchewan as assistant professor of Chemistry. While on leave in Germany in 1933 he worked with Gerhard Herzberg, future Nobel prize winner in Chemistry, and was instrumental in bringing him to Canada. In 1938 Dr. Spinks became a full professor of Chemistry. During WWII Dr. Spinks developed search-and-rescue operations for the RCAF and took part in the early work on atomic energy. His scientific research led to major international achievements in radiation chemistry and his work included over 200 scientific papers. Dr. Spinks was appointed head of the department of Chemistry in 1948; Dean of the College of Graduate Studies in 1949 and was installed as President of the University, which he led through a very active period of development from 1959-1975. Dr. Spinks received many honours: Companion of the Order of Canada (1970); the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame (1982), Saskatoon's Citizen of the Year (1985), and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit (1996). He married Mary Strelioff (1910-1999) on 5 June 1939 in Rugby Chapel on the U of S grounds. Dr. Spinks died in 1997 in Saskatoon at age 89. The north-facing four-storey Spinks Addition is home to the departments of Computer Science and Chemistry. It was completed in 2003. Spinks Drive in College Park honours Dr. Spinks. The University of Saskatchewan open source computer labs were named the Spinks Labs.

F. Hedley Auld, University Chancellor, stands at podium during Installation ceremony of J.W.T. Spinks as University President held in Physical Education gymnasium. Written on back: "Left to right: Fr. Joseph O'Donnell, St. Thomas More; David Bonham, president, Students' Representative Council; E.C. Leslie; Rupert Ramsay; Dr. Johns, president, University of Alberta; W.P. Thompson, President Emeritus; T.C. Douglas, Premier of Saskatchewan; F.H. Auld; J.W.T. Spinks; V.E. Graham, Dean of Agriculture; J.F. Leddy, dean of Arts; Thomas H. McLeod, dean of Commerce; J.B. Kirkpatrick, dean of Education; Arthur Porter, dean of Engineering; Balfour W. Currie, dean of Graduate Studies; and Dr. Hope H. Hunt, dean of Home Economics.

Bio/historical note: John William Tranter Spinks, CC MBE SOM, (1908-1997) was born at Methwold, England. He received his Ph.D. in Science from the University of London in 1930 and that same year joined the University of Saskatchewan as assistant professor of Chemistry. In 1938 he became a full professor; head of the department of Chemistry in 1948; Dean of the College of Graduate Studies in 1949 and was installed as President of the University, which he led through a very active period of development from 1959-1975. His scientific research led to major international achievements in radiation chemistry and his work (including over 200 scientific papers) brought renown to the University and to the City of Saskatoon.