Article

Frank Forward

Published Online January 23, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Frank Arthur Forward, engineer, educator, inventor (b at Ottawa 9 Mar 1902; d at Vancouver 6 Aug 1972). Known internationally for his metallurgical-process discoveries, Forward was also a prominent educator and science administrator.

Forward, Frank Arthur

Frank Arthur Forward, engineer, educator, inventor (b at Ottawa 9 Mar 1902; d at Vancouver 6 Aug 1972). Known internationally for his metallurgical-process discoveries, Forward was also a prominent educator and science administrator. Forward taught and conducted research at the University of British Columbia from 1935 to 1964, serving in WWII as technical director of the War Metals Research Board. In the 1950s he invented and developed a highly successful process for leaching NICKEL and other metals from sulphide ores, an achievement that brought him international recognition and many honours. Director of the Canadian Uranium Research Foundation in the 1960s, Forward was also president of both the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. In 1964 he became the first director of the Science Secretariat of Canada (a Privy Council office), where he helped to formulate a SCIENCE POLICY for Canada.