George Peel Gilmour
George Peel Gilmour was born in the city of Hamilton, Ontario in 1900. He took up the chair of Church History at McMaster in 1929 and held the position for 27 years. He was appointed Chancellor of McMaster University in 1941. When the position was renamed in 1950, he was appointed President and Vice Chancellor, a position which he held until his retirement in 1961.
He received three degrees from McMaster University and completed post-graduate work at Oxford and Yale.
Dr. Gilmour was named "Man of the Year" in 1950 and his tenure as president saw the re-organization of the university as a private foundation and broadened from its religious background to an all-embracing institution. He also held positions in the Baptist Convention in Ontario and Quebec and was president of the Canadian Council of Churches from 1946 to 1948. He was named citizen of the year by the City Council of Hamilton in 1950 and received eight honorary degrees.
