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Walter P. Thompson

president of University of Saskatchewan (1889–1970)

Layered newspapers, civic records and oral-history reels arranged as chronological evidence
History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ7965769 ↗
Source-derived summary

Walter Palmer Thompson (April 3, 1889 – March 30, 1970) was a Canadian academic and former President of the University of Saskatchewan.

Biography

Born near Decewsville, Ontario, he received a BA in 1910 from the University of Toronto, an MA in 1912 and a Ph.D. in 1914 both from Harvard University. In 1913 he joined the University of Saskatchewan as Professor and Head of the Biology Department. In 1934 he was appointed Dean of Junior Colleges; in 1938 he became Dean of Arts and Sciences; in 1942 he was Acting President; in 1948 he was Director of Summer School; and in 1949 he became President of the University. He retired in 1959. After he stepped down as university president, Thompson served as chair of the Advisory Planning Committee on Medical Care for the province of Saskatchewan.

In 1967 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

See also

James Walter Thompson

References

"Walter P. Thompson (1949-1959)". University of Saskatchewan Archives. Retrieved April 26, 2005.

Editorial summary

“Walter P. Thompson” enters the record as president of University of Saskatchewan (1889–1970). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Walter, Thompson and president can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful synthesis for locating the documentary relationships between formal authority, participants and affected communities. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1889, 1970, 1910, 1912—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1889-04-03. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Walter, Thompson and president.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Walter P. Thompson” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Walter, Thompson and president provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7965769. VIAF identifies the subject as 299690921. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1889, 1970, 1910 and 1912.

Critical limits

Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Walter P. Thompson”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Walter P. Thompson primary sources, Walter P. Thompson archive and Walter research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Walter P. Thompson”?
  2. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
  3. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Walter P. Thompson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.