Cecil Law

Cecil E. Law Flags on campus were lowered to mark the passing of Professor Emeritus Cecil E. Law, 88, on April 20. Research scientist, decorated war veteran, pioneer of QSB’s first microcomputer labs — his accomplishments were legion in a career spent in wartime service, the federal government, the private sector and academia.

Cecil, a Vancouver native and 1st Canadian Scottish volunteer, was a company commander in the South Saskatchewan Regiment during the 1944 raid on Dunkirk and later participated in the liberation of Holland. There he met his wife, Gerry, when billeted with her family. He returned to Canada as a decorated war veteran to study zoology at UBC, later accepting a position at the Defence Research Board (DRB) in Suffield, Alberta. He then transferred to Fort Churchill, Manitoba, where he led a research team tasked with reconnaissance of potential Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line sites during the Cold War.

His private sector experience included management of operations research and computing at C-I-L and later at Canadian National Railways. While serving as President of the Canadian Operations Research Society in 1966, Cec joined QSB as a professor and headed up Queen’s Operations Research and Computing department. He was cross-appointed as Executive Director of the Canadian Institute of Guided Ground Transport (a national, Queen’s, and personal first) from 1972 to 1983. After a sabbatical at IBM, he returned to QSB and established the School’s new microcomputer labs and taught operations research until retiring in 1992.

Having previously been active as both a coach and executive of Kingston minor hockey and soccer associations, retirement brought Cec’s other interests to the fore, including writing a book about the liberation of an internment camp in Holland, and teaching seniors computing, neuroscience, and other subjects. His wife Gerry passed away after their 65th wedding anniversary in 2010. He is survived by their six children, their 13 offspring and his second wife, Maysel Grace (Armstrong).

The Professor C.E. Law Commerce Entrance Scholarship has been established in his memory. For more information about supporting it, call 613.533.6164 or send an email to development@business.queensu.ca