It’s always fun to brag about who used to go to your school. Lucky for us, Dalhousie has an abundance of successful alumni. Below are a few that we found particularly cool!
1. Brad Peyton
Brad Peyton is a famous film director. You probably know his works: San Andreas, Journey 2, Cats and Dogs, etc. He’s recently been getting into more horror genres, but definitely brag worthy! After all, he’s probably partially to thank for the rekindling of your Josh Hutchinson crush.
2. Lucy Maud Montgomery
Especially more recently, Montgomery should get a lot more attention. She’s actually part of the reason I decided to attend Dal! Montgomery is a novelist, most famous for her book Anne of Green Gables. CBC has recently decided to turn her book into a tv show. I for one am super excited and love to share that Lucy Maud Montgomery went to my school.
3. Michel Trudeau
Everyone loves Michel’s big brother, Justin, AKA our Prime Minister, AKA Trudaddy! Well Michel Trudeau attended Dal, way back when. He would be doing big things today, if it weren’t for his early death during an avalanche in BC.
4. Colleen Jones
You may recognize this name from your television. Jones is a world champion curler who attended Dal! Since her curling days, she has started writing books about her time as a curler. Seriously cool!
5. Robert MacNeil
Robert MacNeil is another famous novelist. He also had a small role on the movie Hamlet where he co-starred with Julia Styles, Bill Murray, and other noteworthy celebrities.
6. George Elliott Clarke
George Elliott Clarke is a poet graduated from Dalhousie University. You can read some of his work in his book Execution Poems. Whether you’re a poet, yourself, or you just enjoy the occasional poem here and there, check out Clarke and marvel at his magnificence!
7. Brian Mulroney
Though we might not have been able to have seen him rule as Prime Minister as we were either not born yet, or fresh out the womb, PM Brian Mulroney attended Dal. How’s that for cool? Not only do we have a Trudeau, we have a past PM!
8. Joe Clark
Clark was the 16th Prime Minister of Canada. How cool is that? He also wrote a few books. Admittedly, one of his books is about governing Canada, and another is about building websites; but you’d be surprise to find that he wrote a children’s book, published a photography book, wrote an entire book on the History of Australian Baseball, and, my personal favourite: The Unlimited Book of Whiskey.
9. R.B. Bennett
Wow. Yet another past PM! This one, maybe our grand parents or great-grand parents would remember, but it’s more for the history buffs, or for those of you wanting to go out an be the next Prime Minister of Canada. Obviously, Dal is the school to go to for success.
10. Kathryn D. Sullivan
Talk about girl power! Sullivan is an American geologist who graduated from Dal back in 1978. She went on to be an astronaut for NASA! She took part in the crew for three different space shuttle missions! Coolest part? Sullivan was the first American woman to walk in space!
11. John Buchanan
John Buchanan was a Canadian senator, as well as an author. His favourite to write, seemingly, is historical fiction. If you want a good time travel via books, check out his novel The Road to Valley Forge.
12. Donald O. Hebb
While he isn’t known for writing poetry or fiction, or being a senator or PM, Hebb is a very influential psychologist. He was particularly interested in the topic of neuropsychology. He was the man that put the research into discovering how neurons function in relation to psychological processes (how you best learn.) So if you are grateful for teachers that teach topics in various ways so that you can better understand, you have Mr. Hebb to thank for it.
13. Ian Hanomansing
Ever turn on CBC to see CBC News Now with Ian Hanomansing? Now you can tell all your friends and family “that guy went to Dal.” He has won several awards for “Best News Anchor” in the past, and continues to work hard at his job as a broadcasting journalist.
14. Arthur B. McDonald
McDonald is a renown astrophysicist! He has won several awards, including a Nobel Prize in Physics! That’s impressive. He graduated from Dalhousie University in 1965 where he later attended California Institute of Technology where he met his advisor, William Alfred Fowler-a nuclear physicist and, later, astrophysicist. Fowler, too, won a Nobel Prize in Physics, as well as a National Medal of Science. Pretty cool to have a mentor like that with humble beginnings of North Sydney, NS.
15. Hugh MacLennan
Though he may have taught at McGill, he studied at Dal, and we all know which is better and more important. MacLennan is yet another author who attended Dal. His novel, Two Solitudes was later turned into a movie, if you’re not much of a reader. He was awarded the “Governor General’s Award for English-Language Fiction” several times for several of his novels, as well as being awarded the “Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts”.
But, of course, there are so many more famous alumni to check out! Google it for yourself; you might be surprised. And if any of these struck an interest or sense of pride, go ahead and flaunt it around! We all know what school winners come from.
