Gordon Richard Slemon, (August 15, 1924 – September 26, 2011) 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 ...

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the ...

and professor. Born in

Bowmanville, Ontario Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a t ...

, he received a B.A.Sc. in electrical engineering in 1946 and a M.A.Sc. in electrical engineering in 1948 from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

. He received a Ph.D. from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

in 1952. From 1953 to 1955, he was an assistant professor at the

Nova Scotia Technical College The Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS) was a Canadian university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. TUNS was officially founded as the Nova Scotia Technical College on 25 April 1907. On 1 April 1997 it was merged into Dalhousie University ...

. In 1955, he joined the University of Toronto as an associate professor and was appointed a professor in 1964. He was made a professor emeritus in 1990. From 1966 to 1976, he was the head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and from 1979 to 1986 was dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. He is the co-author of ''Scientific Basis of Electrical Engineering'' (1961), ''Electric Machinery'' (1979), and ''Power Semiconductor Drives'' (1984). He is the author of ''Magnetoelectric Devices'' (1966) and ''Electric Machines and Drives'' (1992). In 1994, 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 ...

for his work as "a world authority on the analysis, design and development of electric machines and controlled drive systems, he has dedicated his professional life to teaching and research in engineering". In 1990, he was awarded the

IEEE Nikola Tesla Award The IEEE Nikola Tesla Award is a Technical Field Award given annually to an individual or team that has made an outstanding contribution to the generation or utilization of electric power. It is awarded by the Board of Directors of the IEEE. The ...

, given each year to a team or to an individual that has made an outstanding contribution to the generation or utilization of electric power. He was elected to Fellow of the

Canadian Academy of Engineering The Canadian Academy of Engineering (french: L'Académie canadienne du génie) is a national academy of distinguished professional engineers in all fields of engineering, who are elected on the basis of "their distinguished service and contribution ...

. In 2011, he received the

Engineering Institute of Canada The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) (French: l'Institut canadien des ingénieurs; ICI) is a federation of fourteen engineering societies based in Canada, covering a broad range of engineering branches, and with a history going back to 1887. F ...

's highest award, the Sir John Kennedy Medal.

References

External links

*
Gordon Slemon archival papers
held at th
University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
1924 births 1996 deaths Alumni of the University of London Canadian academics in engineering Canadian university and college faculty deans Officers of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Engineering Institute of Canada Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto People from Clarington Canadian expatriates in the United Kingdom {{Canada-academic-bio-stub