George F. Curtis

George Fredrick Curtis (1906 - October 23, 2005), was the founding dean of the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law.

Early life and career

Born 1906 in Stogumber, England, Curtis came to Canada in 1913. He attended Moose Jaw Collegiate and then earned his law degree at the University of Saskatchewan in 1927, being awarded the Governor-General's Gold Medal on graduation. He then went on to study at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, where he earned his Bachelor in Arts in Jurisprudence in 1930 and his BCL in 1931, both with first class honours.

Curtis was in private legal practice in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and taught at Dalhousie University until he was appointed the founding Dean of the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law in 1945. He arrived at a time when there was little money, no facility to house classes, and no library. Undaunted by these challenges, Curtis took initiative and recruited judges and practitioners as voluntary lecturers, to supplement himself and one other professor. He served in this capacity until 1971. He was later named Dean Emeritus by the university.

The current UBC Law building, built in 1951 and heavily remodeled in 1975, is named after him. Curtis kept an office in the building until 2005, when he died at the age of 99.

Important dates

*1957 - Named Queen's Counsel
*1960s - Helped draft the [http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/U/96468_01.htm BC University Act]
*1964 - Named a member of the Order of the Coif in 1964
*1986 - First recipient of the [http://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/about/honours_awards/ls_award.html Law Society Award]
*1995 - Named a member of the Order of British Columbia
*1995 - Received the Canadian Bar Association’s [http://www.cba.org/cba/Awards/hnatyshyn Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law]
*2003 - Received the Queen's Jubilee Gold Medal
*2003 - Appointed an officer of The Order of Canada

Bibliography

* [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/u_arch/curtis.html UBC Archives]

External links

* [http://www.law.ubc.ca/orientation/practical/curtis.html George F. Curtis Building] - UBC Law Building named after Curtis