Head and shoulders image of George Herbert Ling, first Professor of Mathematics, and first Dean of Arts and Science from 1909-1939.

Bio/Historical Note: George Herbert Ling (1874-1942) was born in Wallacetown, Ontario and obtained BA, (Toronto), PhD (Columbia), and ad eundem (Saskatchewan) degrees. He was the lone professor of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Saskatchewan from 1910-1915. During this time he also took on secretarial duties. Ling was Dean of the College of Arts & Science from 1912-1939, director of summer school from 1919-1937, and remained with the mathematics department until 1939. Ling also served as Acting President of the University in 1919-1920. He helped make the summer school one of the best in Canada. Ling taught in summer sessions at Columbia, Cincinnati, New York, and California. He served as a Chairman of the Saskatchewan Educational Council, and was a member of many academic societies American Mathematical Society, Mathematical Association of America, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Ling co-wrote a book on projective geometry, and contributed to scholastic journals. Well respected and much loved by students and associates, Ling believed that the Faculty of Arts & Science was the root of any university, and strived to strengthen these roots. Ling retired in 1938 was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws degree by the University in 1939. Ling died in Toronto in 1942.