UBC Reports | Vol. 48 | No. 12 | Oct.
10, 2002
Former UBC President Kenneth Hare Remembered
Meteorologist guided university through stormy seas
It was the ’60s, one of the most turbulent times in
UBC’s history, when Dr. F. Kenneth Hare succeeded Dr.
John B. Macdonald to become the university’s fifth president.
It was a time when protesting students across North America
were demanding a greater say in university affairs. It was
a time made worse at UBC by rising enrollment coupled with
some facilities so overcrowded and out of date that Hare would
eventually dub them “deplorable.”
Those who were close to him remember him as a gentle man
who probably was quite surprised to discover what was waiting
for him at UBC. As soon as he arrived he was presented with
a document from students that outlined their dissatisfaction
with many aspects of university life and called for substantial
changes in the way the university functioned.
The conflicting pressures of the job soon took their toll.
On Jan. 31, 1969, just a year and a half after he accepted
the presidency, he resigned. In his letter of resignation
he said that he had found the job impossible for a man of
his temperament.
A native of England, Hare came to UBC from London where he
was Master of Birkbeck College of the University of London.
In addition to UBC, his academic career included 19 years
on the faculty of McGill University where he was dean of arts
and sciences. He was a professor emeritus in Geography at
U of T, a recipient of the Order of Ontario and 11 honorary
degrees and was Chancellor of Trent University and Provost
of Trinity College.
An internationally respected environmental scientist, he
was known for his expertise in the disposal of nuclear waste
and global warming. He was well known for his work in the
field of meteorology and was the author of a widely used textbook
on climatology The Restless Atmosphere. Helen, his wife of
49 years, says her husband’s most treasured skill was
singing bass in the church choir.
Born in Wylye, Wiltshire in 1919, he died peacefully at his
home in Oakville, Ontario on Sept. 3.
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