Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Henry George Thode fonds
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Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
RC0130
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Edition statement
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Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
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Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1932-1996 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
9.8 m of textual records and other materials.
27 items, mostly medals.
Publisher's series area
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Henry George Thode was born in Dundurn, Saskatchewan in 1910. He completed his BSc. and MSc. at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1934, he took his Ph.D in physical chemistry at the University of Chicago. For his post-doctoral work, he was given the opportunity to conduct research at Columbia University under the tutelage of Dr. Harold C. Urey, a pioneer in atomic research. Thode's time with Urey influenced much of his later work.
In 1939, Thode came to McMaster University as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry. In 1942 he was promoted to Associate Professor. During World War II he was relieved of duties to participate in the wartime work and research of the Canadian Atomic Energy Project. Thode was a consultant for Atomic Energy Canada Limited from 1945 to 1951, and from 1966 to 1981 he was the director and member of AECL Executive Committee. He was also a member of the Defense Research Board from 1945 to 1961. Thode made numerous contributions to the research efforts of his colleagues at the AECL. Perhaps the most notable was his construction of the first mass spectrometer in Canada. The mass spectrometer, housed at McMaster, played a vital role in wartime research and kept Thode traveling back and forth between Hamilton and Montreal to take advantage of McMaster's technological advancements.
Once the war was over, Thode returned to his teaching duties. From 1944 to 1979, he was a Professor of Chemistry; between 1948 and 1952 he was Head of the Department of Chemistry. Thode was Director of Research from 1947 to 1961 and Principal of Hamilton College, McMaster University's early scientific school from 1949 to 1963. In 1957 he became even more involved with the University's development by directing the first nuclear reactor at a university in the British Commonwealth and becoming Vice President of the University, a position he held until 1961 when he became President and Vice Chancellor. Thode occupied this latter position from 1961 to 1972. In 1979, he was given the title of Professor Emeritus, a title held until his death in 1997. Thode was also responsible for organizing and hosting the first post-war international conference on nuclear chemistry, held at McMaster in 1947. He actively participated in and encouraged visits and scientific exchanges between Canada and the Soviet Union, beginning in 1957. Thode received numerous honours during his long scientific career. Thode died on 22 March 1997.
Custodial history
Scope and content
There have been two accruals. The first accrual (24-1997) consists of nine series: National Research Council/Atomic Energy Canada Limited; McMaster University; Nuclear reactor and Nuclear Activation Services; experiments and research; correspondence; conferences and lectures; Thode's publications; biographical material and reprints. Fonds includes: 11 figures, 4 certificates, 2 posters, 17 maps, ca. 209 photographs, ca. 60 negatives and ca. 550 slides. There is material contained within this fonds which came from the papers of two individuals who worked very closely with Thode, Dr. Jan Monster and Dr. C.E. Rees. Both men were colleagues who co-authored a number of publications and participated in a number of joint studies with Thode. Dr. Charles Edward Rees died while at McMaster, and it would appear that Dr. Thode assumed control of his papers. Dr. Rees's papers were discovered within the accession. Most of his papers were deemed to have no permanent archival value, but those that were linked closely with Dr. Thode remain in the fonds where appropriate. Dr. Jan Monster was a long-time research associate. Thode supervised and oversaw much of Monster's work. The funding for Dr. Monster's position ended in the mid to late 1980s. Dr. Thode assumed control of many of the projects being worked on by Dr. Monster. This can be seen in the fonds with the inclusion of the Monster Reports within the experiments and research series. The second accrual (40-2007) consists of Thode's many awards, a collection of stamps from the Soviet Union, and a plaque issued by Yorkton, Saskatchewan in 1909 to its mayor.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
The first accrual was acquired in 1997 from Dr. Thode. The second accrual was acquired from Patrick Thode in October 2007.
Arrangement
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Restrictions on access
There are no access restrictions.
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Accruals
Further accruals are not expected
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Description record identifier
RC0130