A geologist and educator, Sir John William Dawson was born at Pictou, Nova Scotia, 13 October 1820. Superintendent of Education for Nova Scotia from 1850 to 1853, he was Principal of McGill University from 1855-1893 and Principal of McGill Normal School from 1857 to 1870.
The major achievements of his administration were the establishment of McGill on a firm financial basis, the development of instruction in pure and applied science, the continuation of a strong Faculty of Medicine, the establishment of the Normal School, and the construction of the Redpath Museum and Redpath Library. His principalship was also marked by a number of controversies, such as the questions of the Jesuit estates and the co-education of women at McGill. Dawson continued to write on geology and evolution throughout this period. He died in Montreal, 19 November 1899.