Patrick Duncan McTaggart-Cowan, (May 31, 1912 – October 11, 1997) was a Canadian meteorologist and the first president of Simon Fraser University. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he moved to North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with his family in 1913. He received a degree in Mathematics and Physics from the University of British Columbia in 1933. A

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Science from Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1936. Returning to Canada, he joined the Meteorological Service of Canada and was an officer in charge of the meteorological service in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

from 1937 to 1942. During World War II, he was the chief meteorologist for the RAF Ferry Command and was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1944. After the war, he moved to Ontario and re-joined the Meteorological Service of Canada becoming its director in 1959. He served as president of th
Canadian Branch of the Royal Meteorological Society
1959–60. In 1963, he was appointed the first president of Simon Fraser University and served until 1968. He then became the Executive Director of the

Science Council of Canada The Science Council of Canada (SCC) was a Canadian governmental advisory board existing from 1966 to 1993. It originally had 25 scientists and senior civil servants, later expanded to 40 natural and physical scientists, with the civil servants remo ...

and served until his retirement in 1975. In 1979, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for his "internationally recognized achievements in meteorology". He was awarded seven honorary doctorates. In 1939, he married Margaret Palmer and they had two children: Gillian and James Duncan. His brother was the naturalist

Ian McTaggart-Cowan Ian McTaggart-Cowan (June 25, 1910 – April 18, 2010) was a Scottish-Canadian zoologist, conservation movement, conservationist, and television presenter. He has been called "the father of Canadian ecology". He was the brother of meteorologist P ...

, and his sister the architect Pamela Charlesworth.

References

* 1912 births 1997 deaths Canadian meteorologists Canadian Rhodes Scholars Canadian university and college chief executives Canadian Members of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of Canada Scientists from Edinburgh People from North Vancouver Scottish emigrants to Canada {{Canada-scientist-stub