MHS Centennial Organization: Brandon College / Brandon University

Link to:
Presidents | Chancellors | Dean of Women | Honorary Degrees

Faculties:
Arts | Education | Music | Science

In the summer of 1899, Brandon College was established in Brandon by the Baptist Union of Western Canada, on the foundation of S. J. McKee’s Brandon Academy established in Brandon in 1891 after several years of successful operation in Rapid City from in the early 1880s. McKee had arrived in Rapid City in the wake of the creation and collapse of Prairie College, the first attempt by Baptists (in this case Dr. John Crawford, formerly of the Canadian Bible Institute at Woodstock, Ontario) to establish a post-secondary Baptist institution in Western Canada. Because Baptists were committed to separation of education institutions from the state, the founders of Brandon College rejected any affiliation with the state-sponsored University of Manitoba. Failing to gain a charter from the Manitoba government, Brandon College affiliated with McMaster University in 1912.

Until 1938 graduates of Brandon College received degrees with the imprimatur of McMaster University. In 1938 the Baptist Union of Western Canada withdrew its financial support from the College. In that year, the College affiliated with the University of Manitoba as a non-denomination college granting University of Manitoba degrees. In 1967, Brandon College became Brandon University through an Order-in-Council approved by the Duff Roblin government under the existing Universities Establishments Act. In 1998, Brandon University finally received its own charter through the Brandon University Act.

The MHS Centennial Organization Award was presented to Brandon University President Louis P. Visentin by MHS President Gordon Goldsborough on 27 May 2004.

Presidents

Period	President
1899-1912	Archibald P. McDiarmid (1852-1946)
1912-1923	Howard Primrose Whidden (1871-1952)
1923-1924	Franklin W. Sweet (1869-1924)
1925	Harris L. McNeill (?-?) (Acting)
1925-1926	David Bovington
1927-1928	Harris L. McNeill (?-?) (Acting)
1928-1959	John Robert Charles Evans (1891-1959)
1960-1969	John Everett Robbins (1903-1995)
1970-1977	Andrew Lloyd Dulmage (1917-1989)
1977-1983	Harold Jackson “Jack” Perkins (1930-2019)
1984-1985	Earl John “Curly” Tyler (1913-1997)
1985-1990	John Mallea
1990-2000	C. Dennis Anderson
2000-2009	Louis P. Visentin
2009-2014	Deborah Poff
2014-2017	Gervan Fearon
2017-2019	Steven Robinson - Acting
2019-?	David Docherty

Chancellors

Period	President
1967-1970	Maitland Bernard Steinkopf (1912-1970)
1970-1990	Stanley Howard Knowles (1908-1997)
1990-1996	Ronald Dean Bell (1932-2020)
1996-2002	Kevin Patrick Kavanagh (1932-2020)
2002-2008	Edward Richard Schreyer
2008-2012	Stephen Henry Champ (1937-2012)
2013-2021	Michael B. Decter
2021-?	Mary Jane McCallum

Dean of Women

Period	Dean
1926-1927	Jennie Mason “Jane” Turnbull (1895-1966)
1927-1934	Annie Evans Wright (1881-1959)
1936-1953	Sarah Persis Johnson Darrach (1886-1974)
1953-1967	Flora Cruickshank Cowan (1902-1986)

Arts

Period	Dean
1921-1928	Harris L. McNeill (?-?)
1928-1935	William Burton Hurd (1894-1950)
1935-1937	C. F. Richards
1937-?	E. M. Whidden
?-?	Frederick James “Fred” Westcott (1904-1961)
?-1965	?
1965-1972	Ralph Frederick Breach King (c1922-2002)
1972-1980	Michael Blanar
1981-1993	Peter John Calveley Hordern
1993-1999	Robert E. Florida
2000-2007	C. Scott Grills
2007	Reinhold Kramer - Acting
2008-2009	Steven Robinson - Acting
2009-2014	G. Bruce Strang
2015-2019	Demetrious Tryphonopoulos
2019-?	Lisa Robson - Acting

Education

Period	Dean
1952-1954	John Earnest McKim Young (1913-?)
1954-1967	Wilfred Whyte McCutcheon (1919-2008)
1967-1969	John A. B. McLeish (1913-1995)
1970-1971	Gerald Thorneycroft Rimmington
1971-1977	Ralph R. Pippert (1922-2014)
1977-1987	Dale T. Hayes
1987-1988	Ralph R. Pippert (1922-2014)
1989-1994	Robin J. Enns
1994-1996	Frederick Renihan
1996-1998	Gerald Richards
1998-2000	Ronald Common
2000-2001	Robin J. Enns - Acting
2001-2005	Tom B. MacNeill
2005-2010	Jerry Thomas Storie
2010-2013	Sal Badali
2013-?	Heather Duncan

Music

Period	Director
1967-1981	Lorne Watson (1919-2010)

Science

Period	Dean
1965-1966	Henry Stewart Perdue (1904-1979)
1967-1970	David Ross Moir (1918-2003)
1970-1972	Westley George “Wes” Wong (1922-2004) - Acting
1972-1974	David Ross Moir (1918-2003)
1974-1975	John Langton Tyman
1976	A. P. Miiller - Acting
1977-1982	Robin Arthur Giles
1982-1993	Peter Letkeman (1938-2020)
1994-1996	Roger F. C. Smith (?-2019)
1996-1998	?
1998	Roger F. C. Smith (?-2019) - Acting
1999-2005	Janet S. Wright
2005-2011	Austin F. Gulliver
2012-2013	Phillip Goernert - Acting
2013-2016	Andrew Egan
2016-2017	Austin F. Gulliver - Acting
2017-?	Bernadette F. Ardelli

Honorary Degree Recipients (1967-2021)

Recipient	Year
Murray Adaskin	1972
Arthur Amoitte	1994
Randy Bachman	2001
Robert Earl Beamish (1916-2001)	1988
Ronald Dean Bell (1932-2020)	2006
Wilfred Gordon “Bill” Bigelow (1913-2005)	1967
Heather Bishop	2011
Ray Bollman	2011
Tom Breneman	2008
Beatrice Alice Brigden (1894-1977)	1973
Samuel Bronfman (1889-1971)	1969
James Stinson Brown (1923-2009)	2004
Douglas Lloyd Campbell (1895-1995)	1967
Sharon Carstairs	2003
Stephen Henry Champ (1937-2012)	2005
D. P. Chang	2002
Matthew Choptuik	2002
Andrew Hill Clark (1911-1975)	1975
Tom Cochrane	2005
Maurice Joseph Cooney (1913-1982)	1973
Flora Cowan (1902-1986)	1967
Laurence Harold Cragg	1976
Stuart Criddle (1877-1971)	1968
Burton Cummings	2001
Sarah Persis Johnson Darrach (1886-1974)	1971
Remi DeRoo	1987
Lisa de Wilde	2015
Eric Lyle Dick	2014
Walter Gilbert Dinsdale (1916-1982)	1977
Gary Albert Doer	2011
Maurice Stanton Donovan	1973
Kenneth Dorter	2008
Shirley Douglas	2005
Thomas Clement “Tommy” Douglas (1904-1986)	1970
Henry Edmison “Harry” Duckworth (1915-2008)	1982
W. Yvon Dumont	2000
Ferdinand Eckhardt (1902-1995)	1990
Sophie-Carmen “Sonia” Fridman Eckhardt-Gramatté (1899-1974)	1970
James Ehnes	2005
Frank Henry Epp	1975
Leonard Salusbury “Len” Evans (1929-2016)	2001
Marlene Fitzsimmons	2009
Theoren Fleury	2015
Larry Phillip “Phil” Fontaine	2010
Eric Friesen	2016
Chief Dan George	1973
Betty Gibson (1911-2001)	1977
George Gooden	1993
Charles Gordon	1994
John King Gordon (1900-1989)	1974
Elizabeth Grant	2009
James Henry Gray (1906-1998)	1974
Audrey Engle Hawthorn	1984
Harry B. Hawthorn	1975
August James Henzel	1980
Paul Gerhardt Hiebert (1892-1987)	1974
Tomson Highway	1996
Milton Carman Holden (1903-1975)	1967
Robert Dudley Howland	1974
Linda Hutcheon	2018
Diedre Irons	2007
Tom Jackson	2021
Grettir Leo Johannson (1905-1985)	1975
Martin Wesley Johns	1972
Basil Johnston	2009
James Kale	2001
Brian Keating	2009
Stanley Howard Knowles (1908-1997)	1967
Anton Kuerti	2012
John Lane (1903-1975)	1971
Jean Margaret “Peggy” Wemyss Laurence (1926-1987)	1975
Philip S. Lee	2015
Stephen H. Lewis	2010
Peter M. Liba (1940-2007)	2004
John Walter Grant MacEwan (1902-2000)	1969
Rev. Harris L. MacNeill	1967
Laurence Gladwyn MacPherson	1975
Lydia Makhubu	1995
Henry Heard Marshall (1916-1994)	1974
Paul Martin	2016
Wilfred Whyte McCutcheon (1919-2008)	1989
Don McDougall	2001
Wilfrid Forrest McGregor (1902-1968)	1967
Frederick George McGuinness (1921-2011)	1997
Gerald A. McKinney	1985
Thomas Hector MacDonald McLeod (1918-2008)	1987
William Ormond Mitchell	1974
William Morrison	2007
Erin Moure	2008
Lorne Munroe	2008
Andy Murray	2017
Annette Osted	2012
Shirley Jo Paine	2008
Fred Penner	2007
Donald Henry “Don” Penny (1939-2019)	1999
Garry Peterson	2001
Leo Pettipas	1999
Mitchell “Mitch” Podolak (1947-2019)	2015
Robert C. Prus	2002
Philipe Andre Renaud	1971
Helen Clara Gerring Riesberry (1916-2010)	1972
Christopher Riley (1896-1969)	1969
John Everett Robbins (1909-1995)	1974
Donald Alexander “Don” Robertson (1935-2019)	1992
Lloyd Robertson	2013
Brent Roussin	2021
Buffy Sainte-Marie	2011
Benjamin Schachter	1995
Peggy Agnes Sharpe (1914-2005)	1998
Victor Joseph Houston Sharpe (1918-2009)	2003
Ian Cormack Palmer Smith	2001
David Bradshaw Stewart (1916-2006)	1992
Maurice Frederick Strong (1929-2015)	1968
Lawrence Adne Stuckey (1921-2001)	1997
Christopher Summerville	2014
Eli Taylor	1998
Miriam Toews	2006
Paul Henrik Thorbjorn Thorlakson (1895-1989)	1970
James Harvey Tolton (1898-1987)	1976
Jon Vickers	1976
Bill Wallace	2001
Norma E. Walmsley (c1921-2011)	1988
John Henry Warkentin	1987
Lorne Watson (1919-2010)	1993
Lewis Davidson “Lew” Whitehead (1926-1996)	1990
John R. Wiens	2000
Warren Winkler	2007
Kenneth Winters	1989
Westley George “Wes” Wong (1922-2004)	2000
William Lewis Wright	1969
Norma Wylie	2001

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Brandon College and Clark Hall Buildings (270 Eighteenth Street, Brandon)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: S. J. McKee Archives / Brandon University Archives (270 Eighteenth Street, Brandon)

“Only Brandon Men Can and Will Save It”: Boosterism, Brandon College, and the Crisis of the Great Depression by Tom Mitchell and W. R. Morrison
Manitoba History, Number 24, Autumn 1992

McKee of Brandon College by Tommy McLeod
Manitoba History, Number 40, Autumn/Winter 2000-2001

“To Bestir Themselves:” Canadian Baptists and the Origins of Brandon College by Tommy McLeod
Manitoba History, Number 56, October 2007

Brandon University

Sources:

“Brandon U to honor four,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 April 1969.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Tom Mitchell.

Page revised: 31 May 2023