J.W.B. (John) Stewart, head, Department of Soil Science, speaks at the official opening of the new quarters of the Saskatchewan Soil Testing Laboratory.

Men working with equipment.

Head and shoulders image of Duff Spafford, professor, Political Studies.

Bio/Historical Note: Dufferin Stewart Spafford was born 18 March 1936 at Weyburn, Saskatchewan, where his grandfather Dufferin Charles Spafford homesteaded in 1902. Living with his family on the farm and then in a succession of small towns left Duff with an enduring attachment to rural Saskatchewan. He grew up playing sports and played on hockey and baseball teams throughout his youth. After Duff’s high school years in Shellbrook, where he had a job at the weekly Chronicle and learned to set type, he worked as a city reporter and sometime sports editor at the Prince Albert Herald. There Duff became acquainted with the high school columnist, Shirley King, his future wife. As a student at the University of Saskatchewan, he was editor of The Sheaf in 1956-1957 and worked part-time at the Western Producer. After graduation, he went on to study at the London School of Economics, returning to Saskatchewan to teach, first in the joint Department of Economics and Political science, and then in Political Studies. Over Duff’s forty years as a professor, he made notable contributions to political studies and research on elections. Beyond academic life, he was full of ideas and enthusiasms, among them collecting, gardening, sports, and books. Duff assembled a significant collection of Saskatchewan archival materials and artifacts, including clay works made by the university's Department of Ceramics. He was a founding member and first treasurer of the Saskatchewan Perennial Society. After retirement Duff started the College Building Book Collection of writings by University of Saskatchewan student authors. He was passionate about the university and its history, particularly the achievements of its alumni, and in the course of his research discovered long forgotten notable graduates. In [2014] Duff was awarded an Alumni Achievement Award and was the first recipient of the USRA (University of Saskatchewan Retirees Association) Duff Spafford Award for Exceptional Service to the University Community, named in his honour. Duff died of a brain tumour on 14 May 2014 in Saskatoon.

Head shot of Josef Spalatin, Veterinary Medicine.

Head and shoulders image of J.E. Spencer, Agriculture.

Dr. J.W.T. Spinks, fourth University President, stands with Mrs. Lynn Kirkpatrick, recipient of the 1980 John and Mary Spinks Scholarship worth $5,000.

Head and shoulders image of Barry L. Strayer, Deputy Judge of the Federal Court of Canada.

Bio/Historical Note: Barry Lee Strayer was born in 1932 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Strayer graduated in Law at the University of Saskatchewan in 1959. He worked at the Department of Justice in Saskatchewan until 1963 at which point he began teaching at the University of Saskatchewan. He eventually became the Director of the Constitutional Law Division of the Privy Council Office. In 1974 he was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Justice where he spent several years working on first drafts of the Charter. Strayer served as a Justice of the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal and later as a Deputy Judge of the Federal Court of Canada. He is known as one of the instrumental drafters of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In 2008 Strayer was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Head and shoulders image of J.W. Hamm, Director, Saskatchewan Soil Testing Laboratory.

Head and shoulders image of J.W.T. Spinks, fourth University President. 1959-1974.

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.

J.W.T. Spinks, University President, with Mary Spinks at the President's Residence. John is holding a copy of the book "Ten Poems Analysed"; Mary is seated next to him.

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.

Bio/Historical Note: Mary Strelioff was born 27 February 1910 in Russia. She married John Spinks, then professor and head, Department of Chemistry, in June 1939 at Rugby Chapel on the University grounds. Mary Spinks served the University of Saskatchewan with distinction with a thorough understanding of university affairs, and a lifetime interest and involvement in the non-academic aspects of university development. Mary Spinks entertained many hundreds of students, faculty and visiting scholars in her home. Mary Spinks died on 24 April 1999 in Saskatoon at age 89.

Head and shoulders image of J.W.T. Spinks, University President,

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.

Head and shoulders image of Oliver Symes, professor, Agricultural Engineering.

Bio/Historical Note: Oliver Symes was born in 1913 at Pense, Saskatchewan, and raised on his family’s farm. He attended public and high schools at Pense and went on to Teachers’ College in Regina in 1931-1932. He taught in several Saskatchewan schools before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941. Following the war he enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan, earning a BA iin 1948 and a BEng (agricultural engineering) in 1949. He was hired by the Ford Motor Company in Regina as tractor and implement sales representative for Saskatchewan. He left Ford in 1950 to become acting head of the department of agricultural engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. He became full department head in 1953 and served in that capacity until 1955 when Ford Motor Company hired him back, giving him world-wide responsibility for tractors and implements. Two years later he returned to the agricultural engineering department as a professor. In 1981 he was once again department head. In 1985 he established a research and development section which added an important dimension to his department. Symes died in 1986.

Head and shoulders image of Oliver Symes, professor, Agricultural Engineering.

Bio/Historical Note: Oliver Symes was born in 1913 at Pense, Saskatchewan, and raised on his family’s farm. He attended public and high schools at Pense and went on to Teachers’ College in Regina in 1931-1932. He taught in several Saskatchewan schools before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941. Following the war he enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan, earning a BA iin 1948 and a BEng (agricultural engineering) in 1949. He was hired by the Ford Motor Company in Regina as tractor and implement sales representative for Saskatchewan. He left Ford in 1950 to become acting head of the department of agricultural engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. He became full department head in 1953 and served in that capacity until 1955 when Ford Motor Company hired him back, giving him world-wide responsibility for tractors and implements. Two years later he returned to the agricultural engineering department as a professor. In 1981 he was once again department head. In 1985 he established a research and development section which added an important dimension to his department. Symes died in 1986.

Head and shoulders image of George J. Thiessen, Education, 1964-1975.

Head and shoulders image of Dr. Jake Rempel, Department of Biology, 1933-1970.

Bio/Historical Note: Having lost both parents and an older brother during the conflict and typhus that swept Mennonite colonies during the Russian Revolution in 1919, Dr. Jacob G. Rempel (b. 1903) and his brother David (b. 1899) emigrated to Canada, arriving in Rosthern, Saskatchewan, in July 1923. They spoke German, some Russian, but no English; and had the equivalent of $1.25 Canadian in funds. By 1928, however, Dr. Rempel had secured a three-year scholarship to the University of Saskatchewan, from which he graduated with the Governor General's Gold Medal and high honours in Biology in 1931. He joined the Biology department that year as an instructor and earned his MSc by 1933. He took a leave of absence in 1936 to attend Cornell University, earning his PhD in 1937. He remained with the U of S for the rest of his career, becoming a full professor by 1953 and being named Rawson Professor in 1962. Dr. Rempel retired in 1970. He made lasting contributions to science in several research areas, beginning his career with the study of the midge Chironomus hyperboreus in Prince Albert National Park. This led to work on chironomid (fish fly) taxonomy. Dr. Rempel then turned to biting flies: first to the ecology and control of blackflies, which adversely affected cattle populations; and then to mosquitoes, which were vectors of the virus causing the western equine sleeping sickness (encephalitis) which occurred as a pandemic in the late 1930s. Dr. Rempel closed off his distinguished research career with classic studies in insect embryology. He studied the development of the bertha army worm, two species of beetle, and the black widow spider. His last major contribution, The Evolution of the Insect Head: The Endless Dispute, was published a year before he died (1975). It clarified an issue that had elicited twelve different theories. Dr. Rempel contributed more than fifty publications. He won many honours. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1956, and received the Centennial Medal in 1967 “in recognition of valuable service to the nation.” In 1971 he received the Gold Medal of the Entomological Society of Canada. Dr. Rempel was president of the Entomological Society of Saskatchewan and of the International Conference on Diseases of Nature Communicable to Man. He also served for ten years as associate editor of the Canadian Journal of Zoology, and for a similar period on the Advisory Panel on Entomology of the Defence Research Board of Canada. After his retirement, he moved to Victoria, but remained active in research until just before his death on 30 May 1976.