James S. Thomson Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Very Reverend
James Sutherland Thomson
Office:President of the University of Saskatchewan
Predecessor:Walter Charles Murray
Successor:Walter P. Thompson
Term Start:1937
Term End:1949
Office2:17th Moderator of the United Church of Canada
Predecessor2:George Dorey
Successor2:Angus J. MacQueen
Term Start2:1956
Term End2:1958
Birth Date:30 April 1892
Birth Place:Stirling, Scotland
Death Place:Montreal, Quebec

James Sutherland Thomson (April 30, 1892  - November 18, 1972) was a Canadian academic and Christian minister, a president of the University of Saskatchewan, and the 17th Moderator of the United Church of Canada.

Biography

Born in Stirling, Scotland, Thomson was educated at the University of Glasgow. He studied theology at Trinity College, Glasgow, and was ordained in the Church of Scotland in 1920. Upon moving to Canada in 1930, he accepted an appointment as professor of systematic theology and philosophy of religion at Pine Hill Divinity Hall (now part of the Atlantic School of Theology) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From 1937 to 1949, he was the second president of the University of Saskatchewan. During World War II, he was general manager of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1942 to 1943.[1]

In 1949, he became dean of the newly formed Faculty of Divinity at McGill University and also served there as professor of religious studies. He retired as dean in 1957. From 1956 to 1958, he served as Moderator of the United Church of Canada, elected by the 17th General Council at their meeting in Windsor, Ontario.[2] He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1942.[3] In 1967 the Ryerson Press published The Church in the Modern World, a collection of essays in his honour.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Presidents: James S. Thomson (1937-1949). University Archives and Special Collections. University of Saskatchewan. June 5, 2016.
  2. Web site: Historical Timeline: 1950s. The United Church of Canada. United Church of Canada. June 5, 2016.
  3. Web site: James S. Thomson (1937-1949) - Obituary. University Archives and Special Collections. University of Saskatchewan. June 5, 2016.
  4. Book: Johnston . George . Roth . Wolfgang . Wolfgang Roth (scholar) . The Church in the Modern World: Essays in Honour of James Sutherland Thomson . English . . 1967 . B000FH6L4C .