Hugh Thorburn
Professor Emeritus in Memoriam
He/Him
B.A. (University of Toronto); PhD (Columbia)
Professor Emeritus in Memoriam
Brief Biography
Dr. Hugh Garnet Thorburn (1924-2014 ) was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He entered Victoria College at the University of Toronto in 1942 but left the next year to join the Canadian Army, where he was seconded to the British Army Intelligence Corps. Throughout the rest of the Second World War, he served with the Army, rising to the rank of Captain by the time he was discharged in 1946. He returned to Victoria College, where he completed an honours course in Political Science and Economics in 1949. From 1949 to 1952, he continued his studies at Columbia University where he was awarded a PhD.
He was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Political Studies at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ in 1956. He rose through the academic ranks to Associate Professor in 1963, Professor in 1964, Head of the Department from 1968 to 1971, and most recently to the distinction of Professor Emeritus, after nearly 40 years of teaching in the department. He was President of the Canadian Political Science Association, the author of numerous books, and the editor of Party Politics in Canada. Dr. Thorburn passed away in Kingston on June 3, 2014, at the age of 90.
To honour Dr. Thorburn's legacy, The Hugh Thorburn Memorial Award was established in the Department of Political Studies. It is awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need and academic achievement to students in any year of a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree program in the Faculty of Arts and Science with an academic plan in Political Studies. Those who wish to honour Dr. Hugh Thorburn with a contribution to this award, may do so .