Robert Charles Wallace
| Robert C. Wallace | |
|---|---|
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| President of the University of Alberta | |
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In office 1928–1936 |
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| Preceded by | Henry Marshall Tory |
| Succeeded by | William A. R. Kerr |
| Principal of Queen's University | |
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In office 1936–1951 |
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| Preceded by | William Hamilton Fyfe |
| Succeeded by | William Archibald Mackintosh |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 15, 1881 Orkney, Scotland |
| Died | January 29, 1955 (aged 73) Kingston, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater |
University of Edinburgh University of Göttingen |
| Occupation | geologist, educator, academic administrator |
Robert Charles Wallace, CMG, BA, BSc, MSc, PhD, FRSC (June 15, 1881 – January 29, 1955) was a Scots-Canadian geologist, educator, and administrator who served as president of the University of Alberta (1928–1936), the principal of Queen’s University (1936–1951), and the head of the Arctic Institute of North America (1951–1955).
Robert Charles Wallace was born on June 15, 1881 in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. He completed his secondary education at the Kirkwall Grammar School in Orkney funded by a county scholarship. He went on to earn a B.A. from the University of Edinburgh in 1901 and a B.Sc. in geology and mathematics from the same institution in 1907, during which time he received Exhibition Scholarship. Wallace left for Germany to pursue graduate studies in geology, obtaining an M.Sc. from the University of Göttingen. He returned to Scotland to finish his graduate work, earning his Ph.D. from Edinburgh in 1912. Later that year, Wallace married Elizabeth Harcus Smith (another Orcadian). She later became the founder and first president of the Faculty Women's Club at the University of Alberta (1933) and at Queen's University (1939). The pair had four children: Ronald, Sheila, Brenda, and Elspeth. The latter would become the last Dean of Women at Queen’s.
Increasingly renowned for his vast knowledge of rocks and minerals, Wallace moved to Canada in 1912 to take a position as the very first head of the Department of Geology and Mineralogy at the University of Manitoba, a position he held for nearly sixteen years (from 1912 to 1928). A charismatic and erudite professor, Wallace was held in high esteem by his students and colleagues. His legacy at the University can be still be seen today. In 1986, construction of the Wallace Building was completed on the University of Manitoba’s Fort Garry Campus. The building, part of what is now the Department of Geological Sciences, contains the traditional classrooms and offices, as well as a seismographic data centre and a small geological museum.
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