Article

Walter Charles Murray

Published Online December 17, 2007

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Walter Charles Murray, educator (b at Studholm, NB 12 May 1866; d at Saskatoon 24 Mar 1945). A philosophy professor at the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie, Murray became president of UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN in 1908, a position he held for 29 years.

Murray, Walter Charles

Walter Charles Murray, educator (b at Studholm, NB 12 May 1866; d at Saskatoon 24 Mar 1945). A philosophy professor at the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie, Murray became president of UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN in 1908, a position he held for 29 years. He advocated nondenominationalism and centralization in higher education, along with political neutrality and practical service to the community. At a time of controversy over agricultural education, Murray successfully steered U of Sask towards integrating agriculture with other fields of study. He encouraged the affiliation of religious and junior arts colleges with the provincial university, developed agriculture and extension departments, and established university control over instruction and examinations in the professional fields of law, pharmacy, engineering, accounting, education and medicine. Murray served on a number of government commissions on education.