Howard Earle Petch, (12 May 1925 – 26 November 2018In Memoriam: Howard Petch
/ref>) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

academic administrator. Petch was the President of the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

and the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

, honours in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

in 1949. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

in 1952. He joined the department of physics at

in 1954. From 1958 to 1961 he was the chairman of the department of metallurgical engineering and was the Director of Research from 1961 to 1963. From 1963 to 1967, he was the Principal of Hamilton College. In 1967, he became the Vice-President (academic) and a Professor of physics at the University of Waterloo. From 1969 to 1970, he was the President pro tem of the University of Waterloo. In 1975, he became President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Victoria. He also was a Professor of physics. He retired in 1990. In 1990, he was awarded the

Order of British Columbia The Order of British Columbia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the order is administe ...

. He was a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

. The Petch building at the

, which houses the department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, was named in his honour.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petch, Howard 1925 births 2018 deaths Canadian university and college vice-presidents Canadian physicists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Members of the Order of British Columbia Presidents of the University of Waterloo McMaster University alumni University of British Columbia alumni Presidents of the Canadian Association of Physicists

See also

References