David Strangway

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David William Strangway, OC, Ph.D., D.Sc., FRSC, P.Eng. is a Canadian geophysicist and university administrator. Strangway is the founder and Chancellor of Quest University Canada, a private non-profit liberal arts and sciences university in Squamish, British Columbia which opened in September 2007.

Strangway studied at the University of Toronto, earning a B.A. in physics and geology in 1956, an M.A. in physics and a Ph.D in physics in 1960. After work in the field of geology and three years on the faculty at M.I.T, in 1970, he joined NASA as the Chief of the Geophysics Branch and was responsible for the geophysical aspects of the Apollo missions. In 1972, he was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for his scientific contribution to NASA.^[1]

He was a vice-president at the University of Toronto and the chairman of its geology department from 1973 to 1983. Upon the retirement of James Ham in 1983, Strangway was appointed the acting president of the University of Toronto. He was unexpectedly elevated to become the university's eleventh president after the designated successor, Donald Forster, suddenly died of a heart attack in August of that year.^[2]

From 1985 to 1997, he was the tenth President of the University of British Columbia. From 1998 to 2004, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure.

[edit] Honours

• In 1984, Strangway received the Logan Medal for his geological works. This award is the highest honour the Geological Association of Canada bestows. [1]
• In 1987, he received the J. Tuzo Wilson Medal from the Canadian Geophysical Union [2]
• In 1996, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for being an "internationally respected as an outstanding scientist and senior academic administrator". [3]

[edit] References

• Canada Foundation for Innovation biography. Retrieved on February 17, 2006.
• David W.Strangway,OC,PhD: Project Founder and Director of Sea to Sky Foundation, Quest University Canada. Retrieved on February 17, 2006.

1. ^ NASA Agency Honor Awards
2. ^ U of T Magazine: The Cast of Presidents

Academic offices
Preceded by Office created	President of Quest University 2002 - 2007	Succeeded by Thomas Wood
Preceded by Robert H. T. Smith	President of the University of British Columbia 1985 – 1997	Succeeded by Martha Piper

v • d • e Presidents of the University of Toronto John Strachan (1827) · John McCaul (1848) · Daniel Wilson (1889) · James Loudon (1892) · Robert Falconer (1907) · Henry John Cody (1932) · Sidney Earle Smith (1945) · Claude Bissell (1958) · John Robert Evans (1972) · James Milton Ham (1978) · David Strangway (1983) · George Connell (1984) · Robert Prichard (1990) · Robert J. Birgeneau (2000) · Frank Iacobucci (2004) · David Naylor (2005)