Faculty of Science
Department of Chemistry
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | CANADA B3H 4R2 | +1 (902) 494-2211

Endowed Chairs

Russell Boyd
The Department of Chemistry is pleased to have two endowed Chairs that support named professorships.

The Alexander McLeod Professor of Chemistry, possibly the oldest named professorship in chemistry in Canada, was created in 1884 in accordance with a bequest from Alexander McLeod who died in Halifax on January 15, 1883. The Alexander McLeod Professors of Chemistry and their years of tenure are listed below:

  • George Lawson 1884-1895
  • Ebenezer Mackay 1896-1920
  • Carleton Bell Nickerson 1926-1940
  • Carl Cowan Coffin 1942-1944
  • Douglas E. Ryan 1963-1987
  • Donald R. Arnold 1991-2000

The document, A History of Alexander McLeod and the McLeod Professors in Chemistry, by Michael C. Haynes is available from the Department of Chemistry. Haynes's history of Alexander McLeod and his legacy was written and distributed on the occasion of Professor Arnold's appointment to the McLeod Chair in 1991.

Neil Burford
The Harry Shirreff Professor of Chemical Research was created in 1944 with funds from the Viscount Bennett Fund.

The Harry Shirreff Professors are listed below:

  • Carl C. Coffin 1944-1954 
  • Walter J. Chute 1954-1978 
  • Osvald Knop 1981-2000 
  • Neil Burford 2001-