Head and shoulders image of Thomas H. McLeod, dean, College of Commerce, from 1953-1964.

Bio/Historical Note: Thomas Hector McLeod was born 11 August 1918 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, and took his schooling there, graduating from Weyburn Collegiate with honours. It was in Weyburn that Tommy McLeod met T.C. Douglas, the young Baptist minister who would play such an important role in his life. During the Depression, Douglas organized a boys' group which devoted its time to sports and boxing, and to debating and drama. Douglas was a graduate of Brandon College, and persuaded several of his 'boys' to attend that venerable institution. There McLeod received a BA with distinction. After earned a MA from Indiana University, he was urged by President Evans to come back to Brandon to teach economics, where he stayed for three years. In 1944, when T.C. Douglas led the CCF party to a landslide election victory in Saskatchewan, Premier Douglas asked McLeod to work for the new government. He began as advisor to the premier and general troubleshooter, taking on assignments as Secretary of Health Services Planning, Secretary of the Economic Planning Board, Chair of the new Budget Bureau, and ending as Deputy Provincial Treasurer. Together with Dr. Mindel Sheps in the Health Service Planning Commission, Dr. McLeod helped plan the introduction of hospitalization in 1947. In between jobs, he earned two degrees from Harvard University, an MA in Public Administration and a PhD in Economics. In 1952 McLeod was appointed dean of Commerce. During this period he served on several boards and commissions, chairing the Saskatchewan Commission on Taxation. In 1964 McLeod returned to Regina as dean of Arts and Vice-Principal at the new university. In 1971 the Canadian International Development Agency offered a broader mandate, where McLeod joined the senior ranks of CIDA travellers, attempting to sort out administrative problems in several countries, including Turkey, Iran, Nigeria, and Botswana. So the family moved to Ottawa, where they stayed for 26 years. McLeod moved from CIDA to the Federal Management Institute, acted as administrator of the Anti-Inflation Board, and held other management positions. McLeod was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the U of S in 1972. He was awarded the Vanier Medal from the Institute of Public Administration in 1971 and the Order of Canada in 2003. He co-wrote a popular biography of T.C. Douglas with his son Ian; Tommy Douglas, Road to Jerusalem was published in 1987. In 1997 Tommy McLeod moved to Victoria, where he died New Years' Day, 2008.