Fonds JMR - John Morton fonds

Dr. John Morton was born in Bedford, Nova Scotia on January 8, 1906 and died October 29, 1987 in Smiths Falls, Ontario. He attended Dalhousie University in 1923 and graduated in 1929 with a Masters in Science. He then went on to study at Princeton, graduating in 1933 with a PhD. After university Dr. Morton had several teaching positions: working at McMaster University (1936-1939) and the University of Delaware (1939 to 1940). In 1940, Morton joined the RCAF for six years as a Navigation Instructor and Operational Research Officer. He held the rank of Squadron Leader at the time of his discharge. Afterwards, Dr. Morton returned to teaching, this time at the University of Toronto from 1946 to 1947. In 1947, Dr. Morton came to Carleton University as an Assistant Professor. At that time he was the only professor of the Chemistry Department and served as its Chairman from 1947-1957. Dr. Morton was later joined by James Homes and Paul Laughton in the department and together they pioneered Carleton's Chemistry Department. In 1949 Morton was promoted to Associate Professor, and in 1957 to Full Professor. He taught until his retirement in 1971. During his time at Carleton, Dr. Morton served as a member of the Student Personnel Services Committee, the Committee on Admission and Studies, the Student Aid Committee and the Senate (1949). He also received the following awards: American Petroleum Institute Fellowship at Princeton; elected a Fellowship of the Chemical Institute of Canada (1954); and he was elected honorary Vice-President of the Carleton University Alumni Association (1958). Dr. Morton's publications include his PhD thesis on Kinetics of Thermal Decomposition of Hydrocarbon vapours, NRE Report: The Anodic Dissolution of Magnesium and Canadian Journal of Chemistry: Preparation of Distilbene.