Dr. Joseph Kania immigrated to British Columbia from Vienna in 1913 prior to WWI. His family settled in the Rossland/Trail region and he began working at Cominco in 1916. He was encouraged to take up Engineering by a group of the UBC students that worked in the smelter. Dr. Kania received his B.A.Sc in geological engineering in 1926 and his M.A.Sc in 1928. He completed his Ph.D at MIT in 1930.
He began an academic career at the University of Illinois (Urbana) but was required to return to Vancouver in 1932 because of U.S. Immigration Laws. He was employed by Pemberton Securities where he created and headed a research office. Dr. Kania soon became a top salesman and stayed with that company for 44 years. He taught Engineering Economics to graduating engineering students at UBC from 1945-1958. Dr. Kania also served as a member of the UBC Senate for 17 years and was Chair of the Alumni Higher Education Committee.
He was an active community supporter for the YMCA, Vancouver Board of Trade, and the BC Chamber of Commerce. He was also a dedicated supporter of UBC and regularly attended university events over the past 50 years.
One of the greatest assets of a modern university is a loyal and active alumni who bring honour to the institution and represent its interests in the wider community. James Stuart Keate embodied all of the values which a university can bestow upon its graduates. His service to The University of British Columbia continued throughout his long and productive life.
Born and educated in Vancouver, Stuart Keate graduated with a B.A. degree in 1935. His active student life became the spark which ignited his illustrious career as a journalist, publisher and civic leader.
After beginning his working life as a journalist in Toronto, Stuart Keate served in the navy during World War II and eventually returned to British Columbia as publisher of the Victoria Times, a post he held for fourteen years. Later, he became publisher of the Vancouver Sun.
As a leader in the newspaper field Stuart Keate was respected and honoured by his colleagues in numerous ways. He was named to the Canadian News Hall of Fame and honoured by the International Press Institute and the National Press Club. He was also named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1978.
As a humanitarian Mr. Keate's activities covered a wide range of services. Few organizations dedicated to betterment of humanity in his native Vancouver failed to bear his name.
His service to the University was long and meritorious. His involvement in the Senate continued from 1954 until 1969, a period which also included six years as a member of the Board of Governors and as an appointee to the Canada Council. The University recognized his exceptional service with the award of an honorary degree in 1985.
Stuart Keate was an outstanding public figure, a successful businessman and a lifelong friend of his alma mater.
To his surviving family the Senate of this University extends its deepest sympathy.
Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside, academic, diplomat, and one of British Colunibia's most eminent public servants, died on September 28, 1992.
Dr. Keenleyside was born in Toronto in 1898 but moved west with his family to British Columbia where he was to spend much of his long and productive life. After completing high school in Vancouver he served with the 2nd Canadian Tank Battalion, and then enrolled at this university, graduating with a B.A. degree in 1910. He later completed masters and doctoral degrees at Clark University in 1923.
In 1925 he returned to his Alma Mater, in its first year on the Point Grey campus, as an instuctor in the Department of History. From then on he was to devote more than sixty years to the service of his province and his country in an extroardinary number of capacities.
After entering the Department of External Affairs, he became Canada's ambassador to Mexico, a delegate to the United Nations, and Director General of UN's Technical Assistance Administration.
From 1947 to 1949 he held the position of Deputy Minister of Mines and Resources in Ottawa, and also served as Commissioner for the Northwest Territories.
In his native province, he headed the B.C. Power Commission in 1959 and later as Chairman of B.C. Hydro during a remarkable era of development of its energy resources.
Dr. Keenleyside's commitment to higher education was equally outstanding. He was elected to the Senate of this university from 1963 to 1969 and was after appointed Chancellor and Board Chairman of Notre Dame University at Nelson.
He was the recipient of many prestigious awards, which included the Order of Canada, the Vanier Medal, the Haldane Medal, the Pearson Peace medal and, to his great delight, the Great Trekker Award from his own university in 1967. He was also awarded an Honorary Degree from UBC in 1945.
Hugh Keenleyside held many strong views about Canada's role in the world, about the appropriate development of the province's energy resources and about higher education in general. Inevitably, he earned a degree of criticism and his words often became a subject of strenuous debate. Nevertheless, his ideas were widely sought and much respected.
In 1960, in an address to the Faculty of Commerce, he expressed his deep feelings about Canada's responsibilities to its less advantaged neighbours with these words:
"We should not, we cannot, remain passive in comfort when two-thirds of the people in the world - men and women and little children with needs and emotions and hopes like our own - suffer unnecessarily from ignorance and hunger, from illness and injustice. While they are in bonds none of us can be truly free".
Hugh Keenleyside was a humanitarian, a philosopher, a servant of his country in peace and war, and an outstanding graduate of this university.
To his surviving family the Senate of this university extends its deepest sympathy.
William Keenlyside passed away on August 1, 1986. With his death the University has lost one of its most loyal and most energetic alumni. Dr. Keenlyside served as a convocation member of Senate for three terms between 1975 and 1984. His involvement was unusually extensive and, among his numerous responsibilities, he gave wise counsel to the Budget Committee during one of its most difficult periods.
Dr. Keenlyside was born in Vancouver in 1914. He graduated from U.B.C. with first class honours in history and Latin in 1934, and later earned his Ph.D. from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1938.
Among his many business activities, Bill Keenlyside spent 33 years with Western Canada Steel Limited, retiring as President in 1975.
It was in his service to the community that Dr. Keenlyside's commitment was best reflected. He was a Director of United Way, President of Point Grey Golf Club, President of the Rotary Club of Vancouver, and of Sunny Hill Hospital, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and Director of the Opportunity Workshop for the Handicapped.
Bill Keenlyside was a man of many interests and many talents. His life was one of service - to his business associates, to his friends and to the less fortunate members of society, and to the University which he loved. He represented all the best qualities of an educated person and a responsible citizen.
To his wife Georganne and to his three children, the Senate of The University of British Columbia extends its deepest sympathy.
Dr. James M. Kennedy served on the University of British Columbia Senate from 1969 to 1975 as a Representative of Joint Faculties.
After more than a decade working with Atomic Energy of Canada, Dr. Kennedy joined UBC in January 1966 as the Director of the Computing Centre, a position he held until June 1980. In addition, he became a professor in the Department of Computer Science in 1968. From 1980 to 1984, Dr. Kennedy served in the President's Office as Vice-President of University Services. As well as a valuable member of the UBC community, Dr. Kennedy was a founding member of the Canadian Information Processing Society, He served as an officer of the Canadian Mathematical Association, the Canadian Association of Physicists and the Canadian Applied Mathematics Association; and as a board member of Vancouver Community College and the Management Advisory Council of BC Colleges and Provincial Institutes.
President Emeritus Douglas T. Kenny was a member of Senate from 1966 to 1983. He served as a member at-large for his first four years and then as Dean of Arts and, finally, as President and Chair of Senate from 1975 to 1983.
Douglas Kenny was a native British Columbian, born in Victoria and Educated at Victoria College and UBC. He received his B.A. and M.A. from UBC and his Ph.D. at the University of Washington. His academic interests were in teaching and research in the areas of personality and learning, developmental psychology and patterns of child development.
He assumed the headship of the Department of Psychology in 1964 and was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Arts in 1970. As head of Psychology he laid the foundations which enabled that department to achieve its present distinction as one of the premiere psychology departments in Canada. As Dean of Arts from 1970 to 1975, he lead the Faculty with skill and distinction through a period which saw many challenges to the academic environment of universities in North America.
In 1975 Douglas Kenny was installed as the seventh President of The University of British Columbia. His commitment to excellence and his devotion to the betterment of this University, its students, its faculty and its staff were first and foremost in his administration goals. Under his leadership, a wide range of new academic programs and physical facilities were approved for development by the Senate. These accomplishments under his Presidency added significantly to the reputation of UBC as a University that was recognized and respected throughout the world.
President Kenny was a strong advocate for the cause of higher education in Canada. He played an important role in the advancement of scholarship and learning as a member of the Governing Board of the Canada Council (1975-78) and of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (1978-83). The Senate recognized his contributions to higher education and his Ahna Mater by conferring the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, in 1983. In 1984 the Senate also designated the newly constructed facility that houses the Department of Psychology on West Mall, the Douglas T. Kenny Building. His record of accomplishment and his memory will be sustained by a grateful university and the many academic colleagues that served with and under him in the 1960s to 1980s.
Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Dr. Robert Kerr obtained his MD from the University of Toronto in 1933. His training in Internal Medicine was taken in Toronto and London, England where he did fundamental research in diabetes with Sir Charles Best and Sir Harold Hinsworth. He served in the Canadian Army from 1941-45 in England, Belgium and Germany and was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1944 for his successful treatment of an outbreak of diphtheria involving 430 cases.
In 1950, he was appointed the founding Head of the Department of Medicine at The University of British Columbia. He was also appointed as one of the initial senators of the Faculty of Medicine in 1950-51 and re-elected to serve a full term from 1951-54. He was a role-model as a teacher and a clinician to UBC medical students from 1950-74. He was also active in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and served on the Board of that organization as a Councillor and as President in 1966-68. As a Professor Emeritus, he continued to serve the medical profession in Vancouver. He was a long time resident of the University Hill community and was active in community affairs throughout his life in Vancouver. The University is grateful for his dedication and contributions to the academic development of the Medical Faculty and UBC.
In the death of Cecil Killam on October 2, 1963, the University of British Columbia lost one of the original members of Convocation and a former member of Senate who served continuously from 1921 to 1936.
Born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, in 1877, he graduated from Mount Allison University. He obtained his Master of Laws degree from Dalhousie University and the degree of Doctor of Civil Law from George Washington University.
Coming to Vancouver in 1901, he was called to the Bar in the same year, and practised law in this city until his retirement in 1962. His active career, coextensive with the rapid growth and change of this century, was entirely spent in the service of his adopted province. The organizations to which he belonged show the diversity of his interests, and the quality of his contribution to those organizations was recognized in the honorary life memberships accorded him by the Board of Trade, the Shaughnessy Heights Golf Club, and the Bar Association. Devoted to the work of his church, he was Sunday-School Superintendent, Clerk of the Church Roll for thirty years, and an Elder of Canadian Memorial United Church from the time of its inception. He retained his connection with his Alma Mater through active participation in the Mount Allison Alumni group. In his fifteen years on the Senate of the University of British Columbia, he showed a keen interest in all its plans and projects, especially, as Chairman of the Founders Committee in the early stages of preparing a History of the University.
The records of some men blaze with the bright colours of spectacular achievement; the records of others glow more softly in the warmth of remembered kindnesses. In the tributes of friends and colleagues to Cecil Killam there is unanimous witness to the depth and genuineness of his human sympathies. He gave freely of his professional help and skill to those unable to pay; he had no enemies because he cherished no sense of injury; he combined a natural benevolence with the teachings of his Christian faith. So runs the testimony, calling to mind an appropriate text: "Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up." The influence of such a man tells in quiet ways; it permeates the life of the community. The Senate of this University joins in the general tribute to Cecil Killam, and is honoured in being able to pay specinl tribute to his memory as one of its own membership.
Harry Maxwell King, Professor Emeritus of Animal Science, died on 5 January 1983, shortly after his 93rd birthday. He was an educational pioneer in agriculture and served for 36 years as Professor of Animal Husbandry at The University of British Columbia.
Harry King was born on 28 October 1889 in Hickson, Oxford County, Ontario. He graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Toronto in 1913. He served as Agricultural Representative of the Ontario Department of Agriculture in 1913-14 and as a member of the Faculty of the Ontario Agricultural College from 1914-18. In 1918 he accepted an appointment in the recently established Department of Animal Husbandry of the Faculty of Agriculture at The University of British Columbia. He pursued Graduate Studies at Cornell University in 1923 and later at Oregon State University, from which he received the degree of Master of Science.
He became Head of the Department in 1925. From 1924-30 Professor King served as a representative of the Faculty of Agriculture on the University Senate.
Professor King was a charter member of the Agricultural Institute of Canada, and of the British Columbia Institute of Agrologists. He was a member of the American Dairy Science Association and served one year as its President. He was a Director of the Vancouver Exhibition Association (later the Pacific National Exhibition) from 1919-1973, serving as its President from 1948-50 and for one year as its General Manager.
In 1929 he went to Scotland to select the foundation herd of Ayrshire cattle donated to the University by Captain J. C. Dunwaters. This herd became the basis of selection in the extensive animal breeding program of the Department, which had a long term impact on the development of the dairy industry in British Columbia.
For many years, commencing in 1957, Professor King served as a Member of the British Columbia Milk Board. He was recognized internationally for his work as an Official Classifier of the American and of the Canadian Jersey Cattle Clubs, and as an outstanding Judge of Dairy Cattle he contributed greatly to the improvement of all breeds of cattle.
Professor King was an outstanding teacher, highly respected by colleagues and students alike. One of his first tasks at The University of British Columbia was the organization of instruction for returned soldiers from World War I, who attended vocational classes in Agriculture at the University Farm at Point Grey. He also contributed to the organization of the first off-campus short course, offered at Courtenay on Vancouver Island.
Professor King played a dominant role in development of the curriculum on a sound scientific basis, insisting that it must reach out to practical problems of importance in Agriculture. His unique service lay in his ability to select the important things to be done and in his fundamental approach to methods of teaching. Professor King made a major contribution to the development of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.
To his wife, Aletta, and his family, Senate extends its deepest sympathy.
Born in North Vancouver, Dr Warren Kitts completed a BSA in 1947 and an MSA in 1949, both at UBC. He went on to obtain his PhD in Biophysical Chemistry from Iowa State University in 1953, and returned to UBC later that year to start his academic career in Animal Science.
Dr Kitts was named Professor in 1965. In 1967, he was named Chairman of the Department of Animal Science, and in 1968, Chairman of the Department of Poultry Science as well. Dr Kitts became Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences in 1976, leading 58 faculty members in seven departments. During his tenure as Dean, the Faculty grew, with notable additions in undergraduate programs, a renewed emphasis on continuing education and extension, and the development of a new research farm at South Campus at UBC. Dr Kitts believed that the Faculty must diversify from teaching and research only at the University, to teaching and consultation throughout the agricultural industry and province. As a result, the Faculty took steps in this direction by offering courses in various disciplines to the non-agricultural public, and by organizing seminars for industry personnel.
Among his many significant contributions to the University, Dr Kitts served on the Senate for 18 years, as representative of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences. Dr. Kitts received numerous academic awards and distinctions for his contributions to Canadian agriculture, before retiring in 1984. After an association of some 40 years with UBC, he was named Dean and Professor emeritus.
His son, Dr David Kitts, continues the Kitts name in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems.
Leonard Sylvanus Klinck, one of the truly great Builders of The University of British Columbia, died March 27th, 1969, at the age of ninety-two in his home in West Vancouver.
Born at Victoria Square, Ontario, in 1877, Klinck developed in his early years a love of the land to which he remained faithful throughout his life. His first degree in agriculture was granted by the Ontario Agricultural College in 1903. He continued his studies at the University of Minnesota and at Iowa State College, where he received an M.S.A. in 1905 and a D.Sc. in 1920.
In his early years he was actively engaged in farming. For three years, before his advanced studies, he served as a school teacher. In 1904 he joined the staff of Iowa State College as a Lecturer in Agronomy but soon moved to Macdonald College in Quebec, where he became Professor of Cereal Husbandry in 1905.
His first visit to Vancouver was in 1914, when he collaborated with President Wesbrook in planning the future University and, especially, choosing the site for the Faculty of Agriculture. So fruitful was this collaboration that Klinck was forthwith invited to become Professor of Agronomy and the first Dean of Agriculture, in fact, the first appointment to the staff of the University. In consequence, he moved to Vancouver later in the same year and thus began an association with this University that he never abandoned.
When President Wesbrook fell ill, it was natural for Klinck, as his major adviser, to be appointed Acting President by the Board of Governors; upon the death of his friend and colleague, he became second President of the University in 1919.
From that year until his retirement in 1944 President Klinck led The University of British Columbia. They were difficult years. He supervised the physical building of the University, he engaged in a continuous struggle for financial support, he weathered the heavy storms of the insolvent thirties, he maintained the University as a vital force during the Second World War; from all these tribulations he emerged with a merited reputation as a superb President, respected by all. Upon his retirement, a grateful University bestowed upon him the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa; the Latin appendage has special significance.
A clear-headed administrator and a devoted servant of education in its broadest sense, he gathered a Faculty of extraordinary teachers to whom the older graduates of this University continue to refer with awe. He insisted that the University must serve the people of the Province as widely as possible and to this end he founded the Department of University Extension.
He stood for sound education, for teaching of distinction, for quality in research and, as much as possible, for the academic and social integration of the various Faculties. The University that he bequeathed to his successor had been firmly placed on the road to greatness. He was a pioneer with vision and his name will never be forgotten on this campus or, indeed, in this Province.
President Emeritus Klinck left a son and a widow. To them the University conveys its respects and its sympathy.
There are occasions when a member of the university community makes such an outstanding contribution to his profession, and exerts such a powerful influence upon his chosen field, that his name becomes synonymous with the profession itself. Such is the case with Malcolm Knapp and forestry in this province.
F. Malcolm Knapp devoted his entire adult life to the education of those preparing to enter the field of forestry. His interest in their welfare continued until his death on February 22, 1989, at the age of 91.
Born in 1897 in East Homer, New York, Malcolm Knapp earned his degrees at Syracuse in 1919 and at the University of Washington in 1920. At the age of 25 he received his first appointment as Lecturer in the then Department of Forestry at The University of British Columbia. He was to remain on the faculty for 41 years, during which he served as Department Head (1933-45) and Director of the University Forest in Haney (1946-63).
During the depression period, Professor Knapp became the only instructor and taught every course in the Department, where, to quote one authority, "he kept the flickering flame of forestry alight" during its most difficult years. He also served on the Senate from 1951 to 1963.
Malcolm Knapp held the rank of Registered Professional Forester, Number One, in British Columbia and received the Distinguished Forester Award in 1972. Among his many professional responsibilities were those of President of the Association of Professional Engineers of B.C., and Registrar of the British Columbia Foresters Association.
In a special ceremony in 1988, his contributions were recognized in perpetuity by the dedication of the Maple Ridge Forest, a site acquired through his efforts, as the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest.
Professor Knapp's range of activities extended well beyond the University. He was prominent in his church and his community. He played the violin, he baked his own bread, and he cultivated his great joy, his garden, until his ninety first year.
Malcolm Knapp was a dedicated professional and a respected educator. He will be missed - but never forgotten.
To his surviving family, the Senate of The University of British Columbia extends its deepest sympathy.
Members of the Senate of the University of British Columbia, grieving at the passing of Thea Koerner, desire to record their appreciation of her fine qualities of mind and heart and character.
Coming with her husband to Canada in 1939, away from the tragic happenings in her homeland, she entered with him into the life of her new environment with keenness and enthusiasm.
Her staunch friendship for the University was shown in many ways, and she had a special interest in, and concern for, the welfare of the students and members of the staff.
Underneath all her relations with her fellow citizens as gay and kindly hostess, as generous patroness of the Arts, as friend of higher education, as inspired philanthropist lay the passionate love she had for her adopted country. This love of hers brought to her pen from the depths of her being the verses she touchingly labelled "Song of an Immigrant" - a poem which ends in these four lines:
Oh Canada! my Canada,
Wherever I shall be,
From here into Eternity
My heart belongs to thee.
Her person has gone from this land she loved; her spirit lives on for the enrichment of our University and the betterment of our people.