WILLIAM MacKENZIE LEBANS

William MacKenzie Lebans was born in Campbellton, New Brunswick, on
February 3, 1937. A descendant of United Empire Loyalist stock, he is
the son of Norman C. Lebans and Muriel Lebans.

He attended Prince of Wales College (1952-54). He received a Bachelor of
Science degree (1958) and Bachelor of Arts degree (1960) from Memorial
University of Newfoundland: a Master of Arts degree at Cornell
University in 1961; and a Bachelor of Letters degree at Oxford
University (Merton College) in 1964. In 1963 he won the Rothermere
Scholarship and did graduate research at Birkbeck College in London.

In 1971 he joined the Department of English at the University of
Toronto. After a year of sabbatical leave, he moved to the English
Department at the University of Calgary in 1974. Professionally, he
became seriously involved in the program of student literacy and
established a ground-breaking programme in testing English proficiency
and remedial teaching.

His son, James, is a producer of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s
award-winning science programme Quirks and Quarks.

W.M. Lebans died in Toronto on December 25, 1988.

Sources: -Rhodes Scholars Register (1904-1981), Alden Press, Oxford, 1981.