I was born on Christmas Day, 1900 in Montréal. I was an only child, and life was not
easy in my teen years. When my father, a captain in the Canadian army, was killed
during World War I, I was left to take care of my invalid mother. I read a lot of
books, but not many of them were scientific. It wasn't until I went to McGill University
that I became interested in chemistry, and especially the process of how chemicals
react with each other.
A highlight of my life – besides my marriage in 1928 – was being hired in 1939 by the
National Research Council to head its Division of Chemistry. By this time I was a
successful professor with an international reputation in chemistry research.
I had barely settled in at NRC when the Second World War broke out. My job was to
mobilize scientists to do war research, and I lost no time getting things organized. By
the end of the war, my division had made many discoveries, including a new way of
making metallic magnesium, a strong, light metal used in fighter aircraft (and today, on
lightweight bicycles). I was also involved in nuclear research, which led to many useful
inventions such as the cobalt bomb to treat cancer.
In 1952 I became President of NRC. For the next 10 years I worked hard to position
Canadian research in its rightful place: among the best in the world. Many would say I
succeeded
