James M. Ham

Biography

James M. Ham graduated from the University of Toronto in 1943 and received a Ph.D. from MIT in 1952. He enjoyed a lengthy career at the University of Toronto. He chaired the department of electrical engineering from 1964-66, was dean of its faculty of applied science and engineering from 1966-73, dean of its school of graduate studies from 1976-78 and university president fro m 1978-83.

During his career he served on many national and international bodies, including the International Federation on Automatic Control, the National Research Council (Canada), the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, the Royal Commission on the Health and Safety of Workers in Mines, the Ontario Nuclear Safety Review, the Ontario Industrial Disease Standards Panel and the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research.

He was a founding member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and was its 1990-91 president. He received the Gold Medal of Professional Engineers Ontario, was made an officer of the Order of Canada, (Canada's highest honor), and he received the McNaughton Medal from IEEE Canada. Ham was an IEEE Life Fellow.

Ham died on September 17th, 1997.