Albert Trueman


Albert William Trueman, OC, FRSC was a teacher, professor, cultural and university administrator.

Early life

Trueman was born in the United States, where his New Brunswick-born father John Main Trueman taught college in Storrs, Connecticut between 1907 and 1913. The family lived in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia after 1913, where his father taught at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. Trueman attended high school in Truro, Nova Scotia and graduated from Mount Allison University in 1927. He finished his Master of Arts degree in English Literature at Exeter College, Oxford University in 1932.

Career

Truman taught high school teacher, and then became school superintendent in Saint John, New Brunswick. He later worked a university administrator, serving as President of the University of Manitoba between 1945 and 1948, and President of the University of New Brunswick from 1948 until 1953. He was principal and dean of University College at the University of Western Ontario from 1965 until 1967. He was chancellor of the University of Western Ontario from 1967 until 1971. He returned to academic life and had an extended term as visiting professor of English at Carleton University in Ottawa from 1967 to 1981.
Truman acted as Government Film Commissioner and Chairman of the National Film Board of Canada from 1953 to 1957, and then as the first Director of the newly created Canada Council for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, serving from 1957 to 1965. In these positions, he made contributions to Canadian cultural policies, primarily by promoting the roles and influence of both agencies. He also served on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Truman was given many honorary degrees. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 1964, and was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1974.
Trueman wrote and edited several books, including A Second View of Things: A Memoir in 1982.
His son Peter Trueman, was a well-known television journalist.

Publications