In Memoriam: Dr. John Dawson, Cumming School of Medicine

Dr. John Dawson, MD, passed away on Saturday, March 13, 2021 after a brief illness. He was 92.

John was a founding member of the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine. He was appointed as the first head of medicine at the newly opened Foothills Medical Centre in 1966. When the Faculty of Medicine, later named the Cumming School of Medicine, opened the following year, John was the first associate dean of clinical affairs, director of continuing medical education and professor in the Department of Medicine.

In 2003, he retired from active clinical practice but stayed involved with the medical and academic community as president of the University of Calgary Emeritus Professor's Association and member of the University Senate. In recognition of his outstanding service, the Dr. John Dawson Award for Clinical Excellence is awarded annually to exemplary physicians in the Department of Medicine.

John was born and raised in Toronto, starting a career in medicine that would continue for over 50 years after being admitted to the pre-medicine program at the University of Toronto.

In the summer of 1948, John accepted a summer job at the Banff Springs Hotel. While there, he met Pauline, who would become his wife. They moved to Calgary together in July 1959.

Read the full obituary.