Preceded by Sidney Earle Smith Succeeded by John Robert Evans Role Author | Name Claude Bissell Religion United | |
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Born February 10, 1916
Meaford, Ontario ( 1916-02-10 ) Alma mater University of Toronto
Cornell University Died June 21, 2000, Toronto, Canada Books Halfway Up Parnassus: A Personal Account of the University of Toronto, 1932-1971 Education University of Toronto, Cornell University | ||
Claude Thomas Bissell, CC FRSC (February 10, 1916 – June 21, 2000) was a Canadian author and educator.
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Biography
He was the eighth president of the University of Toronto from 1958 to 1971. He played a major part in the expansion of the University of Toronto, tripling the size of the university during his tenure.
He was born in Meaford, Ontario, the youngest of nine children. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1936 and received his Master of Arts degree in English literature in 1937. He earned his PhD in English Literature from Cornell University where he won the Luana L. Messenger Prize for Graduate Research in 1940. He served in the Canadian Army during World War II.
In 1952 he was made assistant professor at the University of Toronto. From 1956 to 1958 he was president of Carleton College (now Carleton University) returning to the University of Toronto in 1958 to become president.
He was the chair of the Canada Council from 1960 to 1962.
The Claude T. Bissell Building at the University of Toronto, which houses the Faculty of Information, is named after him.
He married Christine and they had one daughter, Deirdre MacDonald.
Because of his education, he was an officer in World War II, attaining the rank of Captain in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada and worked in the intelligence section.