Dentist, 1904-1985. Dr. Ahrens was a graduate in dentistry from the University of Alberta (DDS, 1927) and Northwestern University (1940). He served in the Canadian Dental Corps and was an active member of the Canadian Dental Association and the Alberta Dental Association. He was active in visits to rural Alberta schools, teaching dental hygiene to children and their parents.
Petroleum engineer, 1915-1985. Mr. Adkins, a graduate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta in 1937, was the superintendent responsible for the design and construction of the Bitumount oil sands extraction plant. In association with Born Engineering Company he built refineries throughout Western Canada, including a facility in Turner Valley, Alberta. In 1946 he was appointed superintendent of the Alberta Government Oil Sands Project, to build and operate a demonstration plant at Bitumount.
Chemist, Administrator, 1924- . Dr. Willard Allen joined the staff of the Department of Chemistry in 1948. He served as president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, 1969-1970. In 1971 he was appointed Associate Vice-President (Academic), to assist in the office's responsibility for faculties, schools, research institutes and ancillary services, as well as the research and Student Awards offices. Dr. Allen retired in 1984.
Alberta Advisory Committee for Educational Studies
AACES began as the Alberta Advisory Committee on Educational Research in 1954 but became the Alberta Advisory Committee for Educational Studies in 1966. Its original membership consisted of the University's Faculty of Education, the Alberta Department of Education, the Alberta Teacher's Association, the Alberta School Trustees Association (ASTA) and the Alberta Federation of Home and School Associations (HSA). ASTA and HSA dropped out of the Advisory Committee during the 1980s, while the Universities of Calgary (1966) and Lethbridge (1987) have since joined. The aim of AACES is to finance research in educational studies. To assist in the dissemination of research results it publishes the Alberta Journal of Educational Research and the Journal of Educational Thought.
Alberta Agricultural Alumni Association
The Alberta Agricultural Alumni Association consisted of graduates of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Alberta. It organized social events and published a newsletter, The 4A News.
The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) is a voluntary organization for Alberta physicians that offers personal benefits to its members as well as communicating their professional interests and health care concerns to the government and the public. In 1986 it was authorized by the provincial government as the official bargaining agent for Alberta doctors.
In October, 1919 a committee was convened by the Provincial Secretary to advise on matters relating to industrial research. A preliminary survey of resources was conducted, with encouraging results, and in 1921 the Scientific and Industrial Research Council of Alberta was formally established by Order-in-Council. Research was to be conducted in cooperation with the University for laboratory and other facilities. The President of the University was a member of the Council; the Provincial Secretary and the Premiers of the Province have acted as Chair. In 1930, under new legislation, the Council was reorganized to be an advisory body to the Cabinet. A Cabinet Minister was Chair of the Council; the President of the University was Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee and Director of Research. At this time the Council's name was shortened to the "Research Council of Alberta"; it is now known as the Alberta Research Council. With the onset of the Great Depression the work of the Council halted. The University took over its funding, work, and staff in 1933; the Council itself did not meet from 1934 to 1942. In 1943, the Research Council Act was amended to include ten members, of which two were from the cabinet (one to act as chair); the President of the University; the Director of Research, and members at large. Until 1950 the President of the University was Director of Research. Dr. N.H. Grace was appointed the Councilþs first full-time Director in October, 1951. The Council was the first provincially funded, scientific research agency in Canada. It undertakes, promotes, and funds research which might not otherwise be undertaken. Chairs: 1919-1923 J. L. Cote; 1923-1925 Herbert Greenfield; 1925- 1926 Alex Ross; 1926-[1930] J.E. Brownlee; 1930-[1950] Cabinet Ministers assigned to Chair; [1946-1947] Nathan Eldon Tanner; 1950-1951 Robert Newton; 1951-1961 Nathaniel H. Grace; 1961 William Albert Lang (Acting); 1962-1977 Ernest J. Wiggins; 1977- 1978 Brian Hitchin (Acting); 1978-1983 Giles Cloutier; 1984- 1987 Robert W. Stewart; 1987- Clem W. Bowman;
University of Alberta. Alumni Association
The Alumni Association, formed in 1915, confers automatic lifetime membership, without fee, on every graduate of the University. It reviews programs, provides advice and support to the University and is represented on the Board of Governors and the Senate. A president is elected each year to head the Council; the President of the University is an honorary member, and the presidents of the Students' Union and the Graduate Students' Association are ex officio members of the Council. Branches of the Association have been formed throughout the world and their representatives also sit on the Council. Graduates from the professional schools (Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Business, Nursing, Education, Forestry) can join special associations which promote the welfare of their Faculty under the aegis of the general Alumni Association. Elected secretaries kept the Association's records from 1915 to 1926. Geoffrey B. Taylor, Assistant Registrar, provided his unpaid services as Secretary from 1926 to 1946. A full-time paid position was established in that year. The purpose of the Alumni Affairs Office, headed by a Director, is to provide professional administrative management and support to the Association, and to oversee alumni involvement with the University. While it may be possible to distinguish between the activities of the Association and the Office, and between some of the papers of each, because the two are so intertwined and because the Office provides all of the administrative support necessary for the functioning of the Association, the Archives has combined the records in this description. Secretaries: 1946-1947 John Clemence Gordon Brown; 1947-1951 John William Evans Markle; 1951-1977 Alex Gilmour Markle
Prospector, Businessman, 1879-1938. Albert John Ridley left his parents' farm in Ridgetown, Ontario after high school to join the Klondike Gold Rush. Having journeyed west, he headed north from Vancouver in September 1899, to Skagway. Following a year of travel and periods of sedentariness, he and his two companions reached Lousetown near Dawson City in July, 1900. He remained in the Klondike until the fall of 1903. After his return to Ontario, he took up various business ventures in Canada and the United States. He finally settled in Birmingham, Alabama in 1908.
Psychiatrist, 1919- . A.C. Walsh was unofficial class photographer for the class of '43 in Medicine. The photographs in this collection were sent to the Archives from his office in Pittsburgh, where he has been a practicing psychiatrist.
