Floyd Sherman Chalmers, (September 14, 1898 – April 26, 1993) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

editor, publisher and philanthropist.Floyd Chalmers
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

. Born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, to Canadian parents he was raised in

Orillia Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of C ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He worked for the

Bank of Nova Scotia The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

before serving with the First Canadian Tank Battalion during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He first established his subsequent career in publishing as editor of the battalion's newsletter, and joined the ''

Financial Post The ''Financial Post'' was an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the publication was folded into the new ''National Post'',"Black says Post to merge with new paper". '' The Globe and Mail'', July 23, ...

'' as a reporter in 1919. Appointed chief editor of the ''Financial Post'' in 1925,"Publishing Inc. on the move". '' The Globe and Mail, April 9, 1983. he later became president of

Maclean-Hunter Maclean-Hunter (M-H) was a Canadian communications company, which had diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution. History The company began in 1887, when brothers John Bayne Maclean and H ...

from 1952 to 1964 and chairman of the board until 1969. From 1968 to 1973, he was appointed chancellor of

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

. As a philanthropist, he served on the board of the

Toronto Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

; endowed the

Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Awards The Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award was a Canadian literary award given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having performances in the Toronto area. The prize had a monetary value of $25,000, and wa ...

, one of Canada's most prominent literary awards for

playwrights A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

; and created the ''Encyclopedia of Music in Canada''. He wrote ''Codes for Canada'' (1934), ''A Gentleman of the Press'' (1969), a biography of John Bayne Maclean, and ''Both Sides of the Street: One Man’s Life in Business and the Arts in Canada'' (1983), an autobiography. In 1967 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

and was promoted to Companion in 1984.

References

1898 births 1993 deaths Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian philanthropists Canadian biographers Canadian male non-fiction writers Male biographers Canadian autobiographers Chancellors of York University Companions of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Members of the United Church of Canada American emigrants to Canada Writers from Toronto Canadian newspaper editors Canadian male journalists 20th-century philanthropists {{Canada-business-bio-stub