Ian MacPherson (historian)

Dr. Ian MacPherson (born 1939 in Toronto) is a Canadian historian, and a supporter of the Co-operative movement.

Education

MacPherson received his B.A. from the University of Windsor in 1960. After working as a high school teacher for four years, he returned to school, earning his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in History from the University of Western Ontario. [http://www.bcics.org/node/141 Dr. Ian MacPherson] , BCICS Website]

Academic life

MacPherson taught at the University of Winnipeg for 8 years, and helped establish the Canadian Studies program there. In 1976, he moved to the History Department at the University of Victoria, serving as Chair from 1981 to 1989. He became Dean of Faculty of Humanities in 1992, but stepped down in 1999 to establish the B.C. Institute for Co-operative Studies (BCICS). He continues to teach history and serves as director of BCICS.

Focus of scholarship

Although an enormous amount of MacPherson's work has focused on the Canadian and international co-operative movement, he has also written on the nineteenth century Ontario family, Canadian Prairie rural history, urban history, and the history of the Canadian north.

Involvement with the Co-operative movement

MacPherson has participated in numerous co-operatives, and served on the boards for Consumers' cooperatives in Winnipeg and Victoria, a health co-operative in Winnipeg, a child care co-operative in Victoria, and several credit unions in Victoria, including Pacific Coast Savings. He was a member of the BC Central Credit Union board, the Canadian Co-operative Credit Society, the Co-operative Union of Canada, the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), and was the founding President of the Canadian Co-operative Association in 1989. As part of his work with the ICA, he wrote the 1995 revision of the Rochdale Principles adopted at the 1995 ICA Congress in Manchester.

Awards

* Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC) – CASC Merit Award 2002
* BC Credit Unions – Distinguished Service Award
* Canadian Co-operative Association (BC Region) – Distinguished Co-operator Award, 2000
* World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) - Credit Union Ambassador Award, 2000.
* Canadian Credit Union Hall of Fame Member, 2000

elected bibliography

*Hands around the globe : a history of the international credit union movement and the role and development of World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (Victoria: Horsdal & Schubart Publishers Ltd., 1999.)
*Co-operative principles for the 21st century (Geneva: International Co-Operative Alliance, 1996)
*Co-operation, conflict and consensus : B.C. Central and the credit union movement to 1994 (Vancouver: B.C. Central Credit Union, 1995.)
*Building and protecting the co-operative movement: a brief history of the Co-operative Union of Canada, 1909-84 (Ottawa: Co-operative Union of Canada, no date.)
*Matters of loyalty : the Buells of Brockville, 1830-1850 (Belleville: Mika Pub. Co., 1981)
*Co-operative movement on the prairies, 1900-1955 (Ottawa : Canadian Historical Association, 1979.)
*Each for all : a history of the co-operative movement in English Canada, 1900-1945 (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1979.)

References

External links

* [http://www.bcics.org/ BC Institute for Co-operative Studies]