HISTORY/BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | George Wheeler Govier was born in Nanton, Alberta on June 15, 1917, the son of George Arthur Govier of Parry Sound, Ontario and Sarah Gertrude Govier of Minnesota. He grew up in Nanton, Penticton, and Vancouver, graduated as a chemical engineer in 1939 from the University of British Columbia and moved to Edmonton in 1940 to be a lecturer at the University of Alberta. On February 23, 1940 he married Doris Eda Kemp, whom he had met when while both were in elementary school. Together they had three daughters: Gertrude (Trudy) Rose, Katherine Mary, and Susan (Sue) Elizabeth.
In Edmonton he completed his Master of Science in Physical Chemistry in 1945, and his doctorate in science (Sc.D.) in 1949 from the University of Michigan. He served on the faculty of the University of Alberta, setting up the department of petroleum engineering and becoming Professor, then Dean of Engineering. Besides teaching, he also conducted and directed research on multiphase flow. His book, The Flow of Complex Mixtures in Pipes, co-authored with Dr. Khalid Aziz, remains relevant today. In 1948 Dr. Govier was appointed a member of and later became Chairman of Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board, where he served for 30 years. He became Chief Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources in 1971 under the Peter Loughheed government of Alberta. From 1978, he served on the board of directors of a number of companies and enjoyed a full career for nearly thirty more years as consultant to corporations and Canadian and foreign governments, before entering full retirement in 2006.
Dr. Govier was President of the Association of Professional Engineers of Alberta and of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He was active in the World Petroleum Congresses, serving as Chairman of the Scientific Program Committee for eight years. He received honorary degrees from the Universities of Calgary, Waterloo, and McGill. In 1967 he was named winner of the Sesquicentennial Award from the University of Michigan as "resource conservationist educator". He was inducted into the Calgary Petroleum Hall of Fame in 1999 and received the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2013, cited as a builder of key Alberta industries "as a university professor, researcher and leader in regulatory development". He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1982. Dr. Govier was a long time honorary member of the Calgary Petroleum Club.
Doris was born October 3, 1918, the daughter of Henry Kemp of London, England and Rose Ellen Melton of Yorkshire. She grew up in Vancouver and attended the University of British Columbia receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1939, majoring in English and French. After marrying George and moving to Edmonton in 1940, Doris received her Bachelor of Education in 1943. Doris and George’s daughters, Trudy, Katherine, and Sue, were all born in Edmonton before the family moved to Calgary in 1963.
In 1970 Doris received her M.A. in English from the University of Calgary, focusing on Canadian Literature. She was also a pioneer in her support for Canadian and prairie literature. In 1972 she founded the "Doris Govier Canadian Literature Group", which introduced this burgeoning national book culture to hundreds of devoted Calgary followers. Doris was awarded the YWCA's Woman of Distinction Award in Arts and Culture in 1990.
Doris also enjoyed swimming, badminton, tennis, golf, books, and ballroom dancing with George. His other interests included fishing, skiing, cruising, playing bridge, and gardening. Doris passed away April 19, 2014 and George passed away February 22, 2016.
George and Doris’ daughter Katherine was born in Edmonton, Alberta, July 4, 1948, and was educated at the University of Alberta and York University in Toronto. She has been made a Distinguished Alumna of the University of Alberta, is one of York University's "Famous Fifty" graduates, has been Chair of the Writers' Trust of Canada, President of PEN Canada, and published essays in major newspapers and magazines.
She won the City of Toronto Book Award in 1992, the Marian Engel Award for a woman writer in mid-career in 1997, and her novel "Creation" was a New York Times Notable Book of 2003. Her 2010 novel, The Ghost Brush (The Printmaker’s Daughter in the USA), has been published in translation in French, Japanese, Spanish, and Romanian.
Katherine lives in Toronto, Ontario with her partner Nicholas Rundall. She has two children, Robin and Emily Honderich, from her previous marriage to John Honderich, former publisher of the Toronto Star.
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SCOPE AND CONTENT: | The fonds covers the education and careers of George, Doris, and Katherine as well as the family life of the Goviers.
Records include obituaries, diaries, degrees, awards, speeches, teaching material, publications, conference material, anniversary material, journals, reports, business records, geneaology, biographical notes, newspaper clippings, articles, notebooks, writing, correspondence, interviews, ceremonies, architectural drawings, and maps. Photographs, negatives and slides show travel, work, and family.
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