Keenleyside, Hugh Ll., 1898-1992 : Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside was born on 7 July 1898 in Toronto, the son of Ellis William and Margaret (Irvine) Keenleyside. He served during the 1st World War with the Canadian Field Artillery and the 2nd Canadian Tank Battalion. He studied history at the University of British Columbia (B.A., 1920) and at Clark University, Massachussets (M.A., 1921; Ph.D., 1923). Between 1923 and 1927, Keenleyside taught in various universities.
Keenleyside joined External Affairs in 1928; after promotion to 1st Secretary in 1929, Keenleyside was sent to Tokyo to open the first Canadian legation in Japan where he stayed until 1936. Prime Minister Mackenzie King named him chairman of a Board of Review investigating charges of illegal entry of Orientals in British Columbia in 1938. The following year Keenleyside coordinated the arrangements of the Royal Tour. In 1940, he was named member and Canadian Secretary of the Canadian-United States Permanent Joint Board on Defence. Elevated to the rank of Assistant Under-Secretary of External Affairs in 1941, Keenleyside also became a member of the Northwest Territories Council the same year. From 1944 to 1947, he served as Ambassador to Mexico. He was recalled to Ottawa to take up the positions of Deputy Minister of Mines and Resources and Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.
In 1950, Keenleyside was appointed Director-General of the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration. He also held briefly the position of the U.N. Under-Secretary General for Public Administration in 1959. Later that year, Keenleyside accepted the invitation of B.C. Premier W.A.C. Bennett to become Chairman of the British Columbia Power Commission. From 1962 until his retirement in 1969, he served as co-Chairman of the B.C. Hydro and Power Authority. In 1976, the Canadian Government asked him to act as Associate Commissioner General of the United Nations Habitat Conference.
Mr. Keenleyside played a role in the establishment of Carleton University as vice-chairman of the Board of Governors from 1942 to 1950 and served as Chancellor of Notre Dame University in Nelson, B.C. from 1969 until 1977. He was recipient of the Vanier Medal in 1962, the Companion of the Order of Canada in 1969 and the Pearson Peace Medal in 1982. Keenleyside authored five books including his two-volume memoir (Hammer the Golden Day and On the Bridge of Time) and numerous articles on economic, social and international affairs. He died in 1992.
