User:Dgrahamnf/William Creighton Graham

William Creighton Graham, BD, PhD, DD, D.Litt., (1887-1955) was a Canadian clergyman, Old Testament scholar and university administrator. Born September 22, 1887, in Perth Co., ON, Graham spent his early years in Toronto, marrying Ella Cook in 1914. As a minister of the Methodist Church of Canada (and subsequently, following its establishment in 1925, of the United Church of Canada), he served during the First World War in the Canadian Army as a chaplain, holding the rank of Captain. After the war, he moved with his family to Montreal, where he completed a doctoral degree at McGill University in 19##. He then moved to Chicago, IL, accepting a position at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, where he taught until 1938. He then relocated with his family to Winnipeg, MB, Canada, to become the first Principal of United College, which had been formed by the merger of Manitoba College and Wesley College, and is now the University of Winnipeg). He held the position of Principal from his arrival in 1938 until his retirement in 1955. Moving to Roche's Point, ON, Graham died not long afterward. He is buried in the churchyard of Christ Church in that community.

As the first Principal of United College, Graham succeeded Dr. J. H. Riddell, who had been Principal of Wesley College at the time of the merger with Manitoba College. Under Graham's leadership, United College, then still affiliated with the University of Manitoba, consolidated its central position in downtown Winnipeg. In 1952, at his suggestion, the College Auxiliary began awarding $50 entrance bursaries. In the early 1960s, the College named a new residence building, Graham Hall, in his honour.

Graham was the author of a number of works of Old Testament history and scholarship. These include The Meaning of the Cross (Toronto, 1923), ''Barhebraeus' Scolia on the Old Testament. Part I: Genesis - II Samuel (1931, with Martin Sprengling), The Prophets and Israel's Culture (1934), and Culture and Conscience'' (1936, with Herbert May). He was a member of the American Academy of Religion, and served as President of the Chicago Society of Biblical Research, 1934-1935.

Graham was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, by Victoria University in the University of Toronto in 1939, and the degree Doctor of Letters, honoris causa by the University of Manitoba in 1955. He was the father of Canadian political historian Roger Graham.