In memoriam: Professor Emeritus Ann Provost Robson

Updated: A Memorial Resolution submitted to the Senate of Victoria University presented by Professor Kenneth Bartlett. Please see the attached pdf: PROFESSOR ANN ROBSON.

Dear Colleagues,

We have just received the sad news that our former colleague, Professor Ann Provost Robson, has passed away. Ann Robson taught British History in our Department for three decades from 1967 until 1997. I have included her obituary here, together with details regarding a celebration of her life which is to take place on Saturday 6 June.

Very best,
Nick

Ann Provost (Wilkinson) Robson          
2 December 1931 – 3 May 2015

Born to Bertie and Edith (Provost) Wilkinson in Manchester, England, Ann moved with her family to Toronto in 1938.

She attended Brown School and Havergal College, and earned her BA and MA at the University of Toronto. She married John (Jack) M. Robson in 1953 and received her PhD from the University of London in 1958. Ann was professor of history at the University of Toronto, specializing in 19th century Britain, from 1967 until her retirement in 1997. She was active and a leader in many professional, cultural and community organizations, including the Arts and Letters Club, the Republic of Rathnelly, and the Madawaska Club at Go Home Bay.

A loving mother to William (Helen), John (Brigitte) and Ann Christine (Ben), and devoted grandmother to Maria, Jim and Christine Robson, to Catherine, Jennifer and Rebecca Robson, and to Lisa, Andrew and Michael Bacque. Predeceased by her loving husband and academic collaborator Jack Robson (1927-1995) and her brother John Wilkinson. Distinguished by her energy and lively wit, she will be much missed and fondly remembered by her immediate family, nieces and nephews, former colleagues and friends.

A celebration of Ann’s life will take place at 226 Glengrove Avenue West, Toronto, on Saturday June 6th from 5:00 to 9:00 pm. The family would appreciate donations to the Bertie Wilkinson Scholarship at the University of Toronto (www.donate.utoronto.ca/history).

Congratulations to new Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Margaret MacMillan and David Wilson!

We are very pleased to announce that Margaret MacMillan and David Wilson, two of our faculty members, have been elected Fellows of the prestigious Royal Society of Canada!

Established in 1882, the Royal Society of Canada recognizes outstanding research and scholarly achievements in the humanities, arts and natural and social sciences. Elected by their peers for their contributions to the research community, please join us in congratulating new Fellows Margaret MacMillan and David Wilson on achieving this high honour!

MACMILLAN, Margaret – Department of History, University of Toronto; Warden, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University. Through her research and writing Professor Margaret MacMillan has contributed to the greater understanding of international history and to the revival of narrative history. Her work situates the relations between states and the making of war and peace in their broader social and historical contexts. She delivers many of the world’s most prestigious lectures and is committed to bringing history to as wide an audience as possible.

WILSON, David A. – Department of History, University of Toronto. Historian David A. Wilson is internationally recognized for making substantial, original contributions to our understanding of the modern Atlantic world. Focusing on the themes of democracy, conservatism, nationalism and religion, he opens up new perspectives on the transatlantic interchange of ideas. He has written pioneering studies of Thomas Paine, William Cobbett, the United Irishmen, and Thomas D’Arcy McGee, and is also the General Editor of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

For the entire Class List of 2015, please see: https://www.rsc-src.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/NF%20Citations%202015_2.pdf

Other members of the Department who are members of the Royal Society include: Robert Bothwell, Derek Penslar, James Retallack, Edward Shorter, Nicholas Terpstra, Lynne Viola. Natalie Rothman is a member of the New College of the RSC.

Double Congratulations to Associate Professor Li Chen

We warmly congratulate Li Chen on the award of tenure and promotion to the rank of Associate Professor. He has also taken on the role of Associate Chair of Historical and Cultural Studies at UTSC, for which we thank him and wish him well.