Falconer, Sir Robert Alexander, 1867-1943.
President, University of Toronto, 1907-1932

President Falconer was the son of the Reverend Alexander Falconer and Susan Douglas. Married in 1867 to Sophie Gandier, the couple later celebrated the arrival of two sons. He was educated at the Queen's Royal College School, Trinidad, for eight years, and later at the Universities at Edinburgh, Leipzig, Berlin and Marburg. He was awarded the Gilchrist Scholarship in 1885 and graduated B.A. London, 1888; M.A. 1889; B.D. 1892 and D.Litt.,1902, all from Edinburgh. Falconer held a number of teaching positions , including Lecturer and Professor New Testament Greek in Pine Hill College, Halifax, N.S. 1892-1907, until being appointed President, University of Toronto in 1907.

Robert Falconer inherited a collection of colleges and left behind an integrated university that led the country in research and scholarship. As president, he was responsible for creating the School of Graduate Studies and the faculties of Education, Music, Dentistry, Forestry, Social Work, Nursing and the former Department of Household Science, now part of the Department of Nutritional Science, Faculty of Medicine. He was president of the university when the discovery of insulin was made by Banting, Best, Collip and Macleod. During his term, the campus grew significantly with buildings such as Simcoe Hall, the Royal Ontario Museum (which was then part of the university) and Hart House. Falconer's tenure also saw St. Michael's College become a federated university in 1910 and Trinity College open its building in 1925.

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