Head and shoulders image of Dr. Bill Waiser, Department of History; outdoor image.

Bio/Historical Note: William Andrew Waiser (b. 1953) earned a BA in History (Hons) from Trent University in 1975 and an MA in History from the University of Saskatchewan in 1976. He was awarded a Queen's Fellowship from The Canada Council in 1975-1976. He earned a PhD (History) from the U of S in 1983. Dr. Waiser was also awarded a Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada from 1979-1981. Dr. Waiser joined the Department of History at the U of S in 1984 and served as department head from 1995 to 1998. He was Yukon Historian for the Canadian Parks Service prior to his university appointment. He was named the university's Distinguished Researcher in 2004 and received the College of Arts and Science Teaching Excellence Award in 2003. Dr. Waiser was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, the province's highest honour, in 2006, and elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada the following year. He was awarded an honourary Doctor of Literature (D.Litt) from the U of S in 2010. Dr. Waiser retired from the university in 2014. He was named a Member of the Order of Canada on 30 June 2017. He is the 2018 recipient of the Royal Society of Canada J.B. Tyrrell medal, presented for “outstanding work” in Canadian history, as well as the 2018 Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media: The Pierre Berton Award. Dr. Waiser has published several books, including Park Prisoners: The Untold Story of Western Canada's National Parks and (with Blair Stonechild) Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion, which was a finalist for the 1997 Governor General's Literary Awards for non-fiction. Dr. Waiser's book All Hell Can't Stop Us: The On-to-Ottawa Trek and Regina Riot won the 2003 Saskatchewan Book Award for non-fiction. His award-winning centennial history of the province, Saskatchewan: A New History, was published in 2005. In 2020 he was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for Prairie history by the Canadian Historical Association (CHA). Dr. Waiser is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History (2023), and is a full-time writer and speaker.