John Semple Galbraith (November 10, 1916 – June 10, 2003) was a British Empire

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

concentrating on Canada (The Hudson's Bay Company) and South and East Africa. He served as chancellor of the

University of California San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is th ...

, from 1964 to 1968. He was a native of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

; his family emigrated to the United States in 1926. He received a BA from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

in 1938, and Ph.D. in 1943 at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

, working under his dissertation adviser, C. W. de Kiewiet. He served as an Army historical officer for the

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in ...

until 1946, and assumed a professorship at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

in 1948. He was the second chancellor of the relatively new University of California San Diego. As a condition of accepting the chancellorship in 1964, he secured a promise from UC president

Clark Kerr Clark Kerr (May 17, 1911 – December 1, 2003) was an American professor of economics and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and twelfth president of the University of California. B ...

that a library would be built and that UCSD would receive full standing as an autonomous university of the system. The Geisel Library is considered his legacy at UCSD. Galbraith's published work includes: ''Mackinnon and East Africa 1878–1895: A Study in the 'New Imperialism'', Cambridge Commonwealth Series (Nov 22, 1972); ''The little emperor: Governor Simpson of the Hudson's Bay company'' (1976); ''The Hudson's Bay Company as an imperial factor, 1821–1869'' (1957); ''Crown and Charter: The Early Years of the British South Africa Company'', Perspectives on Southern Africa (Aug 1975); ''Reluctant Empire: British Policy on the South African Frontier, 1834–1854'' (Jun 1963). He left the campus for a visiting fellowship at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

in 1968, and subsequently resumed teaching at UCLA.

References

External links

John Semple Galbraith Papers
MSS 41
Special Collections & Archives
UC San Diego Library. Miami University alumni University of Iowa alumni Chancellors of the University of California, San Diego University of California, Los Angeles faculty 2003 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 1916 births Historians from California 20th-century American male writers British emigrants to the United States 20th-century American academics {{US-historian-stub