William Murray Telford, the George Boyd Webster Emeritus Professor of Mining Engineering, died in Montreal on November 19 at the age of 81.

Born on Ottawa, Murray Telford came to McGill as a student of physics in 1935. A few months after he graduated, World War II began and Murray was recruited by the National Research Council as a member of a team to conduct research and development of advanced thermionic tubes so essential to the development of radar. By war's end, he had designed the equipment for production control of these components, vital to the Allied war effort.

After the war, Murray registered as a doctoral student under Professor John Stuart Foster and was part of the team responsible for design and construction of the McGill synchrocyclotron which was commissioned in 1949 and only recently de-commissioned to allow for the construction of the Wong Building. Murray remained closely associated with the Radiation Laboratory until 1960 when he was appointed associate professor of applied geophysics in the Department of Mining Engineering. His appointment followed naturally from a long-standing interest in geophysics   he introduced laboratory courses in the subject while associated with the physics department and had developed several new prospecting instruments during the 1950s.

From 1960 on, Murray Telford's chief interest was geophysics, especially in its applied aspects. Postgraduate programs were introduced into the mining department, courses were developed and the first master's and PhD degrees began to be awarded (1963). The emphasis was always on applications, on field work. New methods of electromagnetic prospecting were conceived, new insights were gained into the phenomenon of induced polarization. Dozens of highly trained geophysicists graduated under Murray's direction during the next 30 years and these graduates now form the core of the community of exploration geophysicists in Canada.

In 1975, in recognition of his academic achievements and contributions to ore discoveries in Eastern Canada, Murray Telford was appointed to the prestigious George Boyd Webster Chair in Mining Engineering. A year later, Applied Geophysics, a 900-page text of which he was the senior author, was published and won instant acclaim. The book has been translated into Russian and French, and has been revised and reprinted several times, most recently in 1997.

Murray Telford was totally devoted to McGill. He started here as a student and made his mark early on as a prominent member of the 1938 football team, which yanked McGill out of a 10-year slump by wresting the Yates Cup from Western. He "retired" 44 years later in 1982 but continued his work in geophysics in the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, as well as in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, until just a few years ago.

News of his passing will especially sadden his former students. They will remember this amiable, intelligent professor, not only for his interest in teaching them geophysics but also for his camaraderie. Perhaps they will remember him playing the piano hour after hour at the annual Miners' Oyster Party.

Certainly his colleagues will miss him. Uninterested in University politics or faculty rivalries, he could always be counted on for a wise opinion  but only when asked. He was always ready to put himself out for the benefit of the department and particularly for its students.

Professor G.P. Demopoulos, Chair
Emeritus Professor W.M. WIlliams
Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering