Article

William Elgin Van Steenburgh

Published Online February 5, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

William Elgin Van Steenburgh, entomologist, scientific administrator (b at Havelock, Ont 24 Dec 1899; d at Ottawa 14 Apr 1974). He grew up in the US, working in the W Virginia mining industry as a young man.

Van Steenburgh, William Elgin

William Elgin Van Steenburgh, entomologist, scientific administrator (b at Havelock, Ont 24 Dec 1899; d at Ottawa 14 Apr 1974). He grew up in the US, working in the W Virginia mining industry as a young man. With an MA (1927) and a PhD (1931) from U of T, Van Steenburgh worked on biological control of fruit pests for the Canada Dept of Agriculture 1927-39. An active member of the militia, he became director of artillery for Canada in 1943 and later developed the armaments establishment at Valcartier. Between 1947 and 1956, he played an important part in the expansion of Agriculture Canada's research laboratories. As director general of scientific services and deputy minister of mines and technical surveys 1956-66, he promoted the Polar Continental Shelf Project, furthered the Canadian Upper Mantle Project, reorganized the Canadian Committee on Oceanography and helped to establish the BEDFORD INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY.