Persona

Cronkite, Frederick Clinton, 1894-1973 (Dean of Law)

Born on a New Brunswick farm on 22 December 1894, Frederick Clinton Cronkite received his early education locally, including a B.A. from the University of New Brunswick. Upon graduation he studied at Harvard, obtaining both a MA. in economics and government and a LL.B. He returned New Brunswick were he practised law until 1924, when he joined the faculty of law at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1929 he succeeded Dr. A. Moxon as Dean of Law, a post he held until his retirement in 1961. During his tenure as dean, enrollment in the College of Law increased and the College broadened its curriculum, providing classes in both labour and administrative law. Dean Cronkite was active in civic politics, serving as an alderman for ten years. He was also active provincially and nationally, aiding in the presentation of the Saskatchewan case to the Rowell-Sirios Royal Commission on Dominion-provincial Relations, serving on the Royal Commission on Transportation, corresponding on various other royal commissions, and serving on The Saskatchewan Reconstruction Council, the Committee on Urban Assessments, and on the Saskatchewan Health Services Planning Commission, etc. Between 1945-1961, he was also asked to hear several labour arbitration cases. Upon Cronkite's retirement in 1961 he was named Dean Emeritus; and in 1967 the University of Saskatchewan awarded him an honourary Doctor of Laws. Dr. Cronkite died in April 1973 at the age of 78.