“Nothing is here for tears; nothing to wail” : Legacies
Roughly three months before Murray died, Robert England, a friend since the Community Progress Competitions of the early 1930s, was able to visit him one last time. England wrote the family to express his appreciation for the visit, and for the man he had come to know:
It is unlikely that I will be in Saskatoon again….So I carry his smile and happiness with me. I owe him a great deal, and I think him to be the greatest man and the gentlest that Western Canada has known. It is impossible for those who knew him to reach the high standards of courtesy and human understanding that he carried in his high office.
As an inaugural university president, Walter Murray was unsurpassed in the history of Canadian higher education.
Peter MacKinnon
Eighth President and Vice-Chancellor
University of Saskatchewan
Murray's vision of a university in Saskatchewan winning an honoured place among the best in the world continues to inspire us to this very day. This was an ambitious goal in a new province a century ago. It is a reminder not to dream small.
Dr. Brett Fairbairn
Provost and Vice-President Academic
University of Saskatchewan
Our work at the University of Saskatchewan continues to be inspired and defined by Murray's founding vision – of an internationally competitive institution, serving the many-sided life of our community.
Dr. Richard Florizone
Vice-President Finance and Resources
University of Saskatchewan
Walter Murray wanted the University of Saskatchewan to concentrate on providing excellent teaching (supported by theoretical and applied research), especially at the undergraduate level. He wanted the teaching and the results of the research to be shared by all the people of the province.
Michael Hayden
Professor Emeritus of History
University of Saskatchewan
author of Seeking A Balance:
The University of Saskatchewan, 1907-1982