James Stanley Colton “Jasper” McKee

University professor, author.

Born at Belfast, Northern Ireland on 6 June 1930, he obtained a BSc degree in Physics (1952) and a PhD in Theoretical Physics (1956) from Queen's University, Belfast. He came to the University of Manitoba in 1974 where he was a Professor of Physics. He subsequently served as Director of the University's Cyclotron Laboratory and Accelerator Centre until 1996.

He published several fiction and nonfiction books. His nonfiction includes Random Recollections of a Peripatetic Physicist (1998), Physics in the Real World (1999), The View from Below Cashel Hill (2000), 60 Years A-Growing: A History of the Canadian Association of Physicists – 1945-2005 (2005). His fiction includes The Heroic Failures of Anderton Snipe (2004) and Tails and Tales: True Stories and Shaggy-Dog Fiction (2004).

He served as President of the Canadian Club of Winnipeg. He was a Liberal candidate in the 1988 and 1990 provincial general elections. His community service has been recognized by an Outreach Award from the University of Manitoba (1986) and Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002). A collection of his papers is held at the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections.

His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

1912 Remembered: In Pursuit of an Idea
Manitoba History, Number 69, Summer 2012

Sources:

Biography of Jasper McKee, University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 19 August 2021