On this day in 1931, R.C. Wallace, the University of Alberta's second president, was meeting with graduating students at the Hotel Macdonald.
When Wallace arrived in Edmonton in 1928, he had already led a storied life. After receiving his doctorate in geology in his native Scotland, Wallace moved to Canada in 1912 to lead the University of Manitoba's new department of geology. In that role, he spent 15 years mapping out the mineral resources of northern Canada.
Wallace was invited to Edmonton to become the president of the U of A. He took over from the institution's first president, Henry Marshall Tory, who had led since 1908. But Wallace didn't have long to adjust before he faced a crisis. In 1929, North American stock markets crashed, setting the stage for the Great Depression. The economic decline was a serious threat to the still-young university, which had just completed its first round of expansion at large expense. Wallace implemented drastic measures, including heavy salary cuts. While painful, the measures enabled the U of A to avoid shutting down any of its departments.
The university saw major changes during Wallace's tenure. Its nursing program, for example, became degree-granting and no longer required students to travel to other provinces to become fully credentialed. It was also able to weather the 1930s. But not all of Wallace's legacy is looked upon favourably. He was a vocal supporter of Alberta's eugenics movement, once stating his desire "to make eugenics not only a scientific philosophy but in very truth a religion." Wallace did more than just lend his support. The U of A Senate had a hand in picking members for the Alberta Eugenics Board, which was organized to implement Alberta's imposed sterilization legislation.
After eight years at the helm of the U of A, Wallace left Edmonton to lead Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, through a difficult time. Though his time in Edmonton was short, Wallace proved a popular and influential administrator. The U of A's student newspaper notes that a large crowd of students, professors and others gathered at the train station to see the Wallace family off in 1936.
Wallace's leadership allowed the U of A to survive the financial turmoil of the 1930s. While the institution is much different today, it is again on the edge of another tumultuous time. The U of A, along with other post-secondary institutions in Canada, faces the possibility of a recession, and the impact of reduced grants, government funding. It has recently implemented a hiring freeze.
This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist Rev Recluse of Vintage Edmonton.