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Copyright © 2004-2020 Dawn E. Monroe. All rights reserved.

  
 

  The names appearing are just a fraction of the Canadian women of accomplishment.
Check out The Famous Canadian Women 's section ON THE JOB 
which contains mini profiles of 3000 Canadian Women of Achievement.
 
         
     
1870's
Elizabeth Barrett  Died 1888, Morleyville, Alberta. Like many young women of her era Elizabeth attended Normal school to become a teacher. In 1874 she was teaching at Orone, Ontario when she decided to head the call for teachers and missionaries to go to the Canadian Northwest. Her 1st post was at Whitefish Lake Mission100 miles northeast of Fort Edmonton with the Rev. Henry Bird Steinhauer ‘Shawahnekezhik, an Ontario Ojibwa she was the 1st First Nation Christian Missionary in the Northwest. Elizabeth taught there two years and made sure that Henry’s son, Egerton Steinhauer could continue with the Whitefish Lake school. While at Whitefish Lake Elizabeth had learned the Cree language. In 1877 she was one of six white women to sign Treaty No. 7 with the local tribes. Her second assignment was with Reverend George McDougall and his family at the Morley Mission. Here she studied the language and customs of the Stoney. She was soon relocated to Fort Macleod where she opened a public School, the 1st in southern Alberta. She also held the 1st Methodist Religeous Services at Fort Macleod. Suffering from ill health she returned to Morleyville. Cochrane, Alberta is proud to be home to the Elizabeth Barrett Elementary School, named for the 1st professional teacher in Alberta. Source: 200 remarkable Alberta women. Online (Accessed October 2014)
Onésime Dorval  Born August 3, 1845 St. Jérôme ,Lower Canada (Quebec). Died December 10, 1932, Rosthern, Saskatchewan. Onésime was a devoted Roman Catholic Métis. She had hoped to serve with the Sisters of Good Shepherd in New York, U.S.A. but it was felt that her poor health would keep her from being devoted to completing her duties and she did not take her final vows. She had earned her teaching certificate at the Ecole Modèle at St. Jérôme and soon found herself heading for the Canadian North West to apply her trade. She is conceded the 1st certified teacher in Saskatchewan.  In 1877 she travelled to the Red River Settlement at Fort Garry (now Winnipeg). She also taught at St Albert and St. Laurent de Grandin in Saskatchewan, where she helped establish the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto. From 1894-1914 she taught at Batoche No. 1 School District where she also worked as a housekeeper for local clergy and provided board for students were far from home. She went on to Aldina and back to St Laurent de Grandin. She retired from teaching in 1921, living and serving the Sisters of Presentation. It was here that she wrote her memoires. On June 7, 1954 the Canadian Historic Sites and Monuments Board had her declared a Person of National Historic Significance.  in her honor. In 1994 the Division scolaire francophone established the Prix Onésime Dorval Award annually presented to exemplary and dedicated teachers. October 2, 2002 a plaque showing her story was unvalued in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan by the Government of Canada. Source: Dorval, Onésime (1845-1932) Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Online (Accessed May 2014)
1880's
Alice Maud Dunning Grant. (née Fitch) Born 1865 New Minas, Nova Scotia. Died March 1946 Wolfville, Nova Scotia. On June 4, 1885 she became the second woman to graduate from Acadia University. The following year, 1886, she was the 1st woman to receive a Master’s Degree from Acadia University. From 1989 to 1893 she taught at Acadia Ladies Seminary. In 1893 she moved to Toronto serving as Principal of Moulton College. On June 17, 1896 she married Rev. Donald Grant and the couple moved to Quebec City where their two children were born. In 1904 there were in Strafford, Ontario but soon moved to Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A. for Donald’s failing health. By 1906 Alice and her children were settled in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Alice taught Latin and History at Acadia Ladies Seminary until she retired in 1925. After retirement she became librarian at Morse Library at Acadia University. She would become the first woman to serve on the Senate of Acadia University. Source: Biography, Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University online. Accessed April 2013.
Eliza Ritchie. Born Halifax, Nova Scotia May 20, 1856.  Died September 5, 1935. An educator, feminist and author in 1889 Eliza received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in the United States. She is probably the first Canadian woman to have received a doctor of letters. Her appointment to the Dalhousie University board of governors in 1919 is also a first for Canadian women.
1900's
Marie Arzélie Éva Circé-Côté. née Circé. Born January 31,1871 Montreal, Quebec. Died May 4, 1949 Montreal, Quebec. Éva was a bright student winning a bronze medal for literature from the Governor General. She also excelled in her studies in French and music.  In 1900 she joined the staff of the newspaper Les Debats.  As a prolific journalist Éva used several pen names including Colombine, Musette, Jean Nay, Fantasio, Arthur Maheu, Julien Saint-Michel and Paul S. Bédard. writing works for a dozen different newspapers. In 1902 she co-founded the literary journal L’Étincelle. In 1903 her 1st play Hindeland et De Lorimer, was produced by the  Théâtre National Français, in Montréal was produced by the During this era women oven used male pen names so that their works would be published. Éva also wrote poetry and was a playwright. She was Montreal's 1st Librarian in 1903 at the 1st public library.  She also served as the curator of the prestigious Philéas Gagnon collection, of rare and antiquarian Canadian books.  A staunch feminist she stood up for compulsory education for everyone and fought for the status of women. April 19, 1905 she married a physician, Pierre-Salomon Côté (d 1909) and the couple had one child. In 1908 Éva was the co-founder of a secular high school for girls which ran for two years. In 1922 she was a founding member of the Canadian Authors association and served as 1st vice-president of the French section. The library forced Éva to retire in 1932. After her retirement she became a spokesperson for Filles natives du Canada the female counterpart of the Native Sons of Canada. Having used so many pen names she died not having been recognized for all her numerous writings. (2019)
1910's

Carrie Matilda Derick. Born January 14, 1862 Clarenceville, Quebec. Died November 10, 1941 Montreal, Quebec. Carrie attended Clarenceville Academy and received her teacher training at McGill Normal School in 1881. She was teaching when she was just 15 and by the time she was 19 she was a school principal!  She would go onto study for her Bachelor degree at McGill University, Montreal in 1890 as top of her class. She began teaching at the Trafalgar Institute for Girls in 1890, while also working part-time as McGill's first female botany demonstrator. She went on to earn her Master's degree in 1896 and then on to study at the Academy of Science, London England, Harvard University, USA, and Bonn University, Germany. Although she completed the required research to earn a PhD from University of Bonn, Germany she did not receive her degrees because the university did not give degrees to women.  Returning to Canada to Canada and McGill in 1905 she was promoted to Assistant professor at one-third the salary of male colleagues. In 1909 she took on the role of chair for the Department of Biology when the former head was ill. Upon the death of the ill professor in 1910 Carrie continued as Chair of the department for another three years. In the 1910 American Men of Sciences Carrie was listed as one of the few women in the publication. In 1912 McGill searched for a male head of the department. In 1912 she  was officially appointed as professor and Carrie became the 1st woman professor at an university in Canada. A feminist and activist she was President of the Montreal Suffrage Association from 1913 through 1919. She believed strongly in Birth control the need for mandatory school attendance and care for 'abnormal' children.  From 1920 to 1937 Carrie was the 1st Woman on the Protestant Committee of Public Health in Quebec. She did not receive a raise in pay for this promotion or a seat on the faculty as she was considered  to hold 'courtesy title' only. Carrie would found the McGill University Genetics Department. Upon retirement from McGill in 1929 due to poor health she was awarded the honorary title of Professor Emerita making her the 1st Canadian woman to hold this tile.  She was also and activist in women's rights. and a co-founder and a life member of the National Council of Women.  Montreal boasts of a Carrie Derick stree. McGill University created the Carrie M. Derick Award for Graduate Supervising and Training. In 2007 Carrie Derick became designated as a National Historic Person. Google, the internet search engine created a 'Google Doodle' in recognition of her 155th birthday January 14, 2017.

Lillian Helena Smith. Born March 17, 1887 London, Ontario. Died 1983. Graduating with her BA from the University of Toronto in 1910 Lillian trained as a children's librarian at he Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. In 1911 she worked at the Children's Department of the New York Public Library and within three weeks of being hired she was in charge of the children's room at the Washington Heights Branch Library in New York City, U.S.A. The following year in 1912 she was hired to organize the children's department for the city of Toronto, becoming the 1st trained children's librarian in Canada. She would devote the next  40 years of her working life to the development of the children's collection within the Toronto Public Library.  Lillian also led the idea of the importance of libraries in schools. In 1928, when the University of Toronto established its post graduate Library School, Lillian was on staff to teach Children's literature until she retired in 1952.In the early 30's she served on the Executive Board of the American Library Association and chaired it's Children's Services Division thorough the 1940's.  In 1930 she developed a special classification system fitted to children's books. This system was in use for some 30 years before it was accepted that the Dewey Classification would be used in the Toronto Board of Education. Up until 1999 some public libraries still used the Smith classification for picture books. Retiring in 1952 her legacy was in print with her book The Unreluctant Years. The book was also translated into Italian and Japanese. In 1962 she was the 1st Canadian to earn the Clarence Day Award . It is in her honor that the Toronto main children's library is named; The Lillian H. Smith Library. It houses an electronic resource center, the Osborne Collection of Early Children's books, the Lillian H. Smith Collection, the science fiction fantasy and horror  collection (known as the Merrit Collection), the Bagshaw collection of puppetry and children's drama, videos, CD's and lots and lots of children's books to be read and loved.  Source: Personal contact with Toronto Public Library 2002)
1920's
Mary Louise Bollert Born Guelph, Ontario 1884. Died Vancouver, British Columbia , August 1, 1945. Mary Louise attended the University of Toronto and graduated in 1906. Her Masters degree was earned a Columbia University, New York, U.S.A. in 1908. She worked as Director of women’s education and social welfare programs in Toronto and then moved on to be Dean of Women at Regina College in 1914 to 1921. In 1921 she was appointed the First Dean of Women at the University of British Columbia, a position she retained for 20 years. She was a founder of the British Columbia Teachers Federation and a delegate to several international women’s conferences. She was President of the Confederation of University women in 1929-30. Suggested reading: Lee Stewart. It’s Up to You: Women at UBC in the early Years. Source: http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/whoswho (accessed June 2009 )
Madeleine Alberta Fritz. Born Born November 3, 1896 St John, New Brunswick.  Died August 20, 1990. Madeleine graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. A summer job inspired her to return to university to earn a geology degree from the University of Toronto in 1923 earning both a Masters degree and then a PhD in 1926. . She is the 1st woman in Canada to receive that level of studies in geology.  She pursued a career as a paleontologist, she would rise to associate director of the Royal Ontario Museum of Paleontology.  For many years she was a geology professor at the University of Toronto. She was only the 2nd woman in Canada to be elected to the Royal Society of Canada. She has written numerous substantial articles for scholarly journals. In 1967 she received the Canadian Centennial Medal.  Her scientific studies of the Toronto Area stand as definite works.
Mattie Rotenberg (née Levi) Born 1897, Toronto, Ontario. Died 1989, Toronto, Ontario. Evan as a child she exhibited a powerful desire for leaning and retention of knowledge. In 1921 she earned her BA in Mathematics and physics from the University of Toronto. In 1924 she married Meyer Rotenberg (1894-1958) a lawyer and businessman. The couple would have 5 children. By 1926 she had completed her doctorate and was the 1st woman and 1st Jew to earn a PhD in Physics at the University of Toronto. Her thesis “on the characteristics X-rays from light elements” was actually published in 1924. In     1929 she founded the Hillcrest Progressive School the 1st Jewish Day School in Toronto. She served as a director through to 1944. Mattie also enjoyed being a journalist, in 1930 she worked for the Jewish Standard writing a women’s column. From 1939 through 1966 she was a regular commentator on the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (C.B.C.) Trans Canada Matinee, which was dedicated to women’s issues. In 1945 her work was recognized by the Canadian Women’s Press Club (CWPC) with the presentation of the Memorial Award. In 1947 she covered the session at the United Nations and the Status of Women for the C.B.C.  By 1941 she had returned to the University of Toronto where until 1968 she was a demonstrator at the University physics laboratory. She was always a strong family oriented person who  made sure  the younger generations knew of their religious beliefs. Sources: Mattie Levi Rotenberg by Nessa Rapoport. We Remember, Jewish Women’s Archives. Online Accessed December 2012.
1940's
Maureen "Mimi" Mitchell Donald Born November 19, 1917 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Died Vancouver, British Columbia September 24, 2012. She became deaf as a toddler and was educated in schools for the deaf in Winnipeg and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 1945 she became the 1st teacher of deaf children at the British Columbia Provincial Jericho Hill School for the Deaf, Vancouver. She remained at the school until her retirement in 1978. She was awarded an honorary doctor of laws in 2000 from the University of British Columbia which considered her the 20th centuries most outstanding teacher of the deaf in Canada. She was the 1st woman president of the Vancouver Association of the Deaf and was on the executive of the Western Canadian Association of the Deaf. She was one of only a few Canadians named to the U.S. National Fraternal Society of the Deaf Hall of Fame. She was involved with the production and publication of the Canadian Dictionary of American Sign Language. She refused to take it for granted that the deaf could not attend university and she encouraged and paved the way for many deaf students. Source: “Lives lived” by Stephen McClure. The Globe and Mail November 15, 2012 ; Obituary, The Vancouver Sun.
Freda Farrell Waldon. Born Winnipeg, Manitoba August 29, 1898. Died 1973. After obtaining her BA at the University of Toronto, Freda did post graduate studies in English at Columbia University in the U.S.A. and studied Librarianship in England. She began her career in the cataloguing section of Hamilton Public Library. Head Librarian by 1940, she would help her library become one of the top Canadian urban public libraries. She worked towards the establishment of the National Library of Canada and served as the first president of the Canadian Library Association founded in 1946. She also served as the first president of the Programme Planners Institute in Canada.  She was the recipient of the United Nations Award for Meritorious Service.
Gloria Cranmer Webster Born July 4, 1931 Alert Bay, British Columbia.  On September 10 1949 Gloria Cranmer, future film maker and linguist.  became  1st native Indian woman to attend the University of British Columbia. She graduated with a degree in anthropology. Her first job was as a counselor for first time offenders in prison.  She married John Webster, executive director of the Saskatchewan John Howard Society. Eventually the couple settled with their three children on the west coast.  Gloria worked with the Vancouver  YWCA and later became program director for the Vancouver Indian Center. In 1971 she became assistant curator for the ne British Columbia Museum of Anthropology. From 1960 through 1991 she served as curator of the U’mist Cultural Centre in Alert Bay. She has authored several books and co-piloted a project to create to transcribe the sounds of the Kwak’wala language. She worked with the Museum of Civilization on the creation of the Great Hall and served as a member of the Board of the Museum of Civilization. Her contributions to British Columbia native life are remarkable. She was awarded the Heritage Society of British Columbia’s Heritage Award in 1996.  Source: Gloria Cranmer Webster, ABC Book World abcbookworld.com (Accessed November 2012)
1950's
Dormer M. Ellis Born November 22, 1925. She must have been an independent child. As a teen she was the only youth working as a “Sales girl” at her Woolworth’s 5 and 10 cent store. She could do math and calculate the correct change for customers when there were no cash registers! She told her High School Teacher she wanted to learn engineering but the teacher told her to attend university orientation with all the other girls. She studied engineering anyhow earning a PhD! In 1950 she was a professor of electrical engineering at Ryerson Institute of Technology in Toronto, the 1st (and only women) of her time to hold such a position. She shocked her family when she married in 1952 by retaining her maiden name. She interested women in the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Toronto when she told them that she had worked all during her pregnancy because her students wanted to learn from her. She marked student exam papers in the maternity word after giving birth to her daughter. In 1982 she was the President of the BPW of Toronto herself. In 1983 she was honoured with the Woman of Distinction Award of the Metropolitan Toronto YWCA. In 1984 she became the 1st woman to receive the Ontario Professional Engineers Citizenship Award. And in 1988 she received the Elsie Gregory McGill award from BPW of Canada. In 1991 she was the 1st woman to be awarded the University of Toronto Engineering alumni gold medal. In 1992 she became Professor Emeritus of the University of Toronto. In 2002 she was the only Canadian among pioneers honoured by the International Congress of Women Engineers and Scientists. Source The Toronto Business and Processional Women’s Club. Online Accessed February 2013.
Edythe M. Brown In 1936 she earned her BSc degree in Home Economics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg. She then worked for the Extension Service of the Manitoba Department of Agriculture and was active working with community youth in local 4H groups. She also taught school on permit at Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba and Kenora, Northern  Ontario. She served as Mayor of Lac du Bonnet from 1953 to 1957 and was said to be Manitoba’s first female Mayor. After the completion of her term, and the death of her husband Frank in 1959, she attended the University of Manitoba, served as Don of the Women’s Residence, and received a teaching certificate. She then returned to Lac du Bonnet as a High school teacher. Sources: Memorable Manitobans. Profile by Gordon Goldsborough. Online (Accessed December 2011)
Purvathi "Pari" Basrur Born September 15, 1921, Kerala, India. Died November 10, 2012, Guelph Ontario. After earning her masters degree in sciences she immigrated to Canada to study for her Doctorate at the University of Toronto in 1955. She began work at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph as the first woman on the faculty. She married Dr. Vasanth Basrur and the couple had one daughter. She would author over 200 scientific articles for journals and books but is perhaps best known for her dedication to her students, many of whom endearing called her “Mamma Basrur” She received many honours during her life time: YMCA/YWCA Woman of Distinction; the Norden Award for distinguished teaching; the Order of Canada and in 2012 the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. Source: Obituary, Globe and Mail , November 17, 2012 ; Guelph loses leading veterinary scientist ‘Mama’ Basrur. The Guelph Mercury November 13, 2012.

Mabel Frances Timlin. . Born Forest Junction, Wisconsin U.S.A.  December 6, 1891. Died 1976.  "Timmie" moved to Saskatchewan from the United States in 1917.  She worked as a secretary while studying at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1940 she earned a PhD at the University of Washington and returned to the University of Saskatchewan to teach economics. She would go on to write some of the basic Canadian economic works of the 1950's and 1960's. She would become the first woman to be elected to the executive committee of the American Economics Association from 1957-1960. Among her many awards were the Canada Centennial Medal 1976 and the Order of Canada.
1960's
Jeanne Fisher Manery.  Born Chelsey, Ontario July 6, 1908. Died September 6, 1986. She became the first woman appointed professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto in 1964. She was president of the Royal Canadian Institute in 1980. She has received honours for her scientific achievements and has promoted the role of women within her field.

Alice M. Gerard.  Born November 11, 1907.  A public health nurse she would develop into a leading nursing educator. Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the Université de Montréal, she was the 1st Canadian woman dean at a French language university. She served as president of the Canadian Nurses Association and was the 1st Canadian to be president of the International Council of Nurses.
Phyllis 'Pat' Grosskurth. Born March 16, 1924, Toronto, Ontario. Died August 2, 2015, Toronto, Ontario. Known to family and friends as ‘Pat’ she earned her MA at the University of Ottawa. When her 1st husband, naval officer Robert Grosskurth , took her to England with his job she earned her PhD in 1962 from Birkbeck College, University of London. In 1965, back in Toronto, she was the 1st female professor hired in the English Department of the University of Toronto.  Pat would may 2 more times to actor and producer Mavor Moore from 1968-1978 and to Bob McMullan. She would have 3 children. Pat was renowned in her chosen genre of writing biographies. She published life stories of such giants as John Addington Symonds, which contained a frank treatment of his homosexuality, in 1964. The book won the Governor General’s Award. She wrote of Havelock Ellis in 1980, and her second Governor General’s Award winning book was the biography of Melanie, Klein  in 1986. Lord Byron’s biography was published in 1997. In 1999 she published her own memoirs. She enjoyed travelling and she was invited to deliver lectures in Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France and Germany. She retired as a professor in 2000 only to lead a group of some 100 retired professors and librarians in a fight against the University to give retired female professors better pensions, akin to those of their male counterparts. In 2002 the group reached a settlement which was expected to bring the protestors enhanced benefits. That same year she was inducted into the Order of Canada. She also holds the Order of Ontario. Throughout her life she had battled depression as well as both breast cancer and leukemia in her lifetime, and suffered a debilitating stroke in late 2002 which limited her to a wheelchair.  Sources: Lisa Fitterman, ’Phyllis Grosskurth: Brilliant biographer relished a challenge’ , The Globe and Mail, August 28, 2015; Diana Hall, ‘Biographer Phyllis Grosskurth a fiery literary force ‘, The Toronto Star, August 9, 2015.
1970's
Pauline Jewett.  Born St Catherines, Ontario December 11, 1922.  Died July 5, 1992. She would use her own educational background from Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Radcliff University in the USA, Harvard University in the USA, Oxford University in England and London [England] School of Economics as a background for being a politician, educator and professor of political science.  She was an elected member of parliament in the 1960's and again in the 1980's. She was appointed president of Simon Fraser University in 1974, the first woman to be head of a major co-educational university in Canada. She was appointed Chancellor of Carleton University in Ottawa in 1990, a position she held until her death. In 1992 Carleton University renamed its women's studies program to become the Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's Studies. She was also an Officer in the Order of Canada.
1980's
Mary Eileen Travis Née Connolly . Born March 16, 1931 New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Died Rothsay, New Brunswick December 21, 2005. She earned her B.A. at St. Frances Xavier University, Nova Scotia and Her Masters in Library Science at McGill University, Montreal. She worked from 1960-69 as Head, Children’s Department, Saint John Regional Library and from 1969-1997 as Head, Saint John Regional Library. She was also a role model for single mothers, raising her two children alone after her husband, Art, was killed in a plane crash in 1970. She was an active member in the Atlantic Provinces Library Association, serving as president from 1967-1969, the Canadian Library Association and a member of the National Library of Canada Advisory Board. In 1972 she was honoured with the Saint John Woman of the Year. In 1977 she was a recipient of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1982 she earned the Merit Award, from the Atlantic Provinces Library Association. In 1983 she became the first woman to head the Saint John Board of Trade. In 1985 she was Vice-President of Ceremonies for the Canada Summer Games. She was involved the founding of Hestia House Women’s Shelter and President of Opera New Brunswick and was on the Board of Govenors of St. Francis Xavier University.  She was honoured by the YMCA with the Red Triangle Award and in 2003 she was recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Award. After a stroke confined to a wheelchair she wanted to develop a cross-country so she could go fishing! In 2004 she was presented with the Chairman’s Award from the Saint Jon Board of Trade and was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. Source: Mary Eileen Travis Biography Collection Ex Libris Association Online (Accessed November 2011)  : Personal Knowledge;  Literary champion Eileen Travis dies by Grant Kerr Saint John Telegraph Journal December 23, 2005
Ursula Martius Franklin. Born September 16, 1921 Munich, Germany. During the Nazi regime in Germany in World War ll Ursula was separated from her parents and sent to a forced labour camp and fortunately were reunited in Berlin after the war. In 1948 she earned her Ph.D. in experimental physics from the Technical University of Berlin. Offered a post doctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto she moved to Canada becoming a senior scientist at the Ontario Research Station from 1952-1967. An expert in metallurgy and materials science she was the 1st woman to become a professor at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Toronto. She authored some 100 research papers and reports and is an acclaimed contributor to books on the structure and properties of metals and alloys. She contributor to the 1977 report : Canada as a Conserver Society which recommended steps to reduce wasteful consumption and environmental problems it causes. She was active in the Voice for Women (VOW) and called for the U.S. military withdrawal from Vietnam. She fought for the right to refuse military service on the grounds of conscience to be extended to the right to refuse to pay taxes for war preparations. The case was refused by The Supreme Court of Canada. In 1982 she was named as an officer of the Order of Canada and this was upgrade to Companion of the Order of Canada in 1992. In 1987 she was presented the Elsie Gregory McGill Memorial Award for her contributions to education, science and technology.  In 1989 she was the author of the Real World of Technology based on her 1989 Massey lectures for CBC Radio. In 1990 she was inducted into the Order of Ontario. After her retirement she was part of a group of women she fought for pay equality from the University of Toronto. The university made a pay equity settlement to some 60 retired women faculty. In 1991 she received the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Person’s Case for advancing the equality of girls and women in Canada. In 1995 the Ursula Franklin Academy, a high school in Toronto was founded.  In 2006 the Ursula Franklin Reader included her articles and speeches on pacifism, feminism, technology and teaching. In 2012 Ursula was inducted into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame. In April 2013, Franklin donated her extensive collection of writings devoted to Chinese culture and history to the Confucius Institute at Seneca College in Toronto. Sources: Ursula Franklin, Quakers in the world, Online (Accessed September 2009) ; Dr. Ursula M. Franklin, United Nations Association in Canada. Online (Accessed 2009)
Marianne Florence Scott. Born Toronto December 4 1928. She studied at McGill University where she earned her Bachelor in Library Sciences. During her career she would receive several LLD honours. She started her career as a law librarian and was the cofounder of the Index to Canadian Legal Periodical Literature which began in 1963. She was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977. She was the 1st woman to be appointed as National Librarian of Canada, a position she held from 1984-1999. In 1995 was received the Order of Canada. She was active on boards and executives of various professional library associations at both the national and international levels.
1990's
Gretta Chambers. née Taylor. Born January 15, 1927, Montreal, Quebec. Died September 9, 2017, Montreal, Quebec. Gretta learned at an early age from her family about family commitment and community service. While still in her mid- teens she studied Political Science at McGill University, Montreal graduating in 1947. In January 1951 she married Edgar Chambers and the couple had five children. She became a political wife in 1958 when her husband was elected to the Quebec provincial legislature. She worked at this time as a translator and researcher and later worked as a front-line journalist, public-affairs analyst and a broadcast commentator. From 1964 thought 1978 she had a weekly radio programme called the Province in Print. From 1977-1980 she hosted a weekly CTV program called The Editors. It was in 1977 that she began her 25 years as a columnist for The Gazette newspaper. A convince federalist she was a major spokesperson for the English community at a time when separation was a hot topic. She served on numerous boards and committees including in 1978 to 1988 sitting on the McGill Board of Governors. In 1991 she was invested as the 1st woman chancellor of McGill University. She was an Officer of the Ordre National du Quebec in 1993 and in 2000 she became a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Shelagh Dawn Grant. Born June 28,1938 Montreal, Quebec. She completed her studies in nursing sciences at the University of Western Ontario, London she took time out to raise her three children. She returned to school attending  Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario earning a B.A. in history in 1983 before heading to London, England and Washington DC for archival research. Her master thesis became her 1st published book, Sovereignty or Security? Government Policy in the Canadian North, 1939-1950 published by the University of British Columbia Press in 1988. A study group with the former Canadian Institute for International Affairs took her to remote Arctic locations such as the Svalbard Islands and in Greenland: Station Nord, Meistervig and the United States Thule Air Base. She is a professor of History and Canadian Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. She was the 1st historian and 1st woman to receive the Northern Science Award in 1996.  She has been active on various Inuit policy advisory committees, editorial boards and northern scholarship committees. She also presented papers at a number of international conferences: in Australia, Central Siberia, England, Scotland and Iceland. She has been editor of various reviews and co-editor for Federalism in Canada and Australia published in 1989. Her work Polar Imperative: A history of Arctic Sovereignty in North America in 2010 was the winner of the 2011 Lionel Gelber Prize for the best English language book on global affairs. and the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize.
2000's
Heather Anne Elyse Lilian Munroe-Blum Born August 25, 1950 Montreal, Quebec. She earned her Bachelor degree and her Bachelor of Social Work from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. She continued her studies for a Master of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario and her doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.A.  In 1970 she married Len Blum and the couple have one child. She taught at York University, Toronto, (UofT) McMaster University, Hamilton and at the University of Toronto. From 1994-2002 she served as Vice-President of Research and International Relations at UofT. In 2003 she became the 1st woman to serve as McGill University President and Vice Chancellor where she served until 2013. . She has authored works in over 60 scholarly publications and published four books. She has served on the board of directors of the Medical Research Council of Canada (now the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) as well as on international reviews of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Swiss National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Mental Health (USA). In 2003 she was inducted into the Order of Canada and in 2009 she was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.
Patricia Demers. Born 1946 Hamilton, Ontario. Patricia earned her Bachelor of Arts and her Master's degree from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. She attended the University of Ottawa to study and earn her PhD. She began her working career as a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta  and went on to be an assistant professor and full professor in English and film studies. Among her specialties are children's literature and contemporary women's writing. In 1983 she published A Garland from the Golden Agee: An Anthology of Children's Literature from 1850 to 1900 which has seen several editions. From 1991 to 1993, she was Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and in 1992 she published Women as Interpreters of the Bible.  From 1995 to 1998 she was Department Chair. From 1998 to 2002, she was Vice-President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She was made a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada in 2000 and served as its 1st woman to be President from 2005 to 2007. In 2005 she published her forth book Women's Writing in English: Early Modern England. Patricia has also contributed numerous articles to scholarly journals. She has been awarded the Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Studies, the Arts Faculty Teaching Award and the McCalla Research Professorship and in 2005 the University Cup from the University of Alberta. In 2012 she was presented with the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. On June 30, 2016 she became a Member of the Order of Canada.
2010's
Wanda Thomas Elaine Bernard. Born August 1, 1953. She is the 1st Black Canadian to have an academic tenure position and become a full professor at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She would serve as director of the Dalhousie School of Social Work for ten years. She was one of the founding members of the Association of Black Social Workers. In 2004 she received the Order of Canada in appreciation of her work addressing racism and diversity in the field of social work. In 2014 she was inducted into the Order of Nova Scotia. She has served as Chair of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women. She has served as a member of the National Coalition of Advisory Councils on the Status of Women. On October 27, 2016 she was named to the Senate of Canada, sitting as an independent. She became the 1st Black Nova Scotia woman to serve in the Canadian Senate.

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