Trent University Saddened to Learn of the Passing of Professor Emeritus Alan Wilson
Dr. Alan Wilson was the founding chair of both Canadian Studies and History at Trent
The University community is saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Alan Wilson, professor emeritus, and founding chair of both Canadian Studies and History at Trent.
Professor Wilson started teaching at Trent when the University opened in 1964. He served as founding chair of the History Department from 1965 to 1972 and the Canadian Studies Program from 1972 to 1989. In recognition of his passion for teaching and support of students, Prof. Wilson was honoured with the Symons Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1988.
Prof. Wilson served on Trent's Senate, Board of Governors, and Faculty Association charter executive. He also acted as Senate-elected advisor in establishing the Indigenous Studies Program. Prof. Wilson retired from Trent in 1990, after 25 years of dedication to the University.
Prof. Wilson’s legacy at the University lives on through the Alan Wilson Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship in support of graduate students in the Canadian Studies Ph.D., History M.A., and Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies M.A. graduate programs, and the Alan & Budge Wilson CAST 50th Anniversary Prize, created in 2023 by a former student, to support creative endeavors by undergraduate and graduate students in Canadian Studies and Canadian Literature. The Alan Wilson Reading Room in Kerr House at Traill College is also named in his honour, built at the time of his retirement in 1989 by funds donated by Prof. Wilson’s friends and colleagues across the University, and described as “signifying the true measure of the respect in which Alan Wilson is held, and of the centrality of his legacy in building the intellectual edifice of Trent University.”
Born in Nova Scotia, Prof. Wilson earned degrees in English and History at Dalhousie and a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. In addition to teaching at Trent, he taught at Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown, Acadia, and the University of Western Ontario. He lectured across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, at Canada House, and at the Universities of London, Oxford, Edinburgh, Nantes, Rouen, and Moscow. During his retirement, Prof. Wilson was associated with St. Mary's University's Institute in Atlantic Studies; chaired the Helen Creighton Folklore Foundation and the South Shore Regional Library Board; was a past president of the Library Boards Association of Nova Scotia; and was an adviser to the Nova Scotia Ministry of Education. Prof. Wilson has written scripts for CBC Radio, CBC Television, and for the History Channel. An editor or contributor to 10 volumes of the 'Canadian Biographical Series' for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, he also published two books and over 50 encyclopedia and academic articles.
Prof. Wilson was married to writer Budge Wilson, who also had a lasting influence on students. They have two daughters, Glynis (Trent '79) and Andrea, and two grandsons.
According to his obituary, Prof. Wilson "will be remembered with great fondness by his family and his many loyal students, colleagues, and friends, many of whom stayed in touch to the very end."
The University extends heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of Dr. Alan Wilson and to all who knew him at Trent.