Donald Arthur George was born in Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario in 1932 and arrived in Grade 7 in St. Lambert via Winnipeg and Ottawa. That year, having nowhere to go but up, he received a book prize for improvement in French, although that did not predict his future. Later, having barely survived two years of Latin, he opted for the Mathematics option. Even so, high school did not really capture his imagination, although he enjoyed working on the first two school Annuals and the Student Council. This brought him in contact with Mr. Shufelt, and also with Mr. Greene whom he respected as both an administrator and history teacher. Trawling through the Montreal financial district selling ads in the Annual was also an experience.

As a member of the stalwart CCHS group which went on to McGill, he spent enough time on the Montreal and Southern Counties Railway and its successors to last a couple of lifetimes although his family moved to the Town of Mount Royal just before his final year. Studying engineering and science activated his academic strengths and he found the Engineering Physics program particularly interesting. It had the added attraction of requiring little mechanical drawing, in which he had even less interest than languages.

Study at McGill was aided by bursaries and he subsequently won awards at Stanford University in California and, later, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was awarded his doctorate in Electrical Engineering in 1959. At these institutions he was fortunate to be able to study with many outstanding people including Norbert Wiener of cybernetics fame. His research interests focused on communications and that remained his specialization.

At this juncture he needed a full-time job for the first time. That his wife was pregnant also provided motivation. Never one to take the easy path, he elected to return to Canada in spite of the many tempting offers south of the boarder. He also decided to try the academic life although this had not previously entered his mind. The University of New Brunswick offered him a position and he has stayed in university work ever since.

After three years, he moved to Carleton University in Ottawa were he progressed through the academic ranks to Professor putting much effort into teaching, research and consulting. He also hooked up with David Coll, a St. Lambert classmate from Grade 7 through McGill and then MIT, who was with the Defense Research Telecommunication Establishment. Their research in adaptive equalization for telecommunications was truly pioneering and, although recognized, has unfortunately produced little fame or fortune.

At about the same time, Donald drifted into administrative work, soon becoming Carleton's Dean of Engineering while in his mid-thirties. His term as dean saw the Faculty of Engineering organized into four departments, the School of Architecture begin operation, the initiation of the School of Industrial Design, as well as considerable growth in student and faculty numbers, and research. Together with Dave Coll, who had become a Carleton faculty member, he initiated a research venture called the Wired City; a facility focused on human communications via media technology. The use of technology in education was also of interest, particularly a course exchange with Stanford University via satellite communications.

On the completion of his term as dean, he proposed the formation of a School of Continuing Education to further develop Carleton's programs for part-time students. On its approval, he was appointed its first Director. One of its initiatives was ITV, giving access to a Carleton classroom to every cable TV subscriber in Ottawa.

In the late 1970s, he became associated with Simon Fraser University in Vancouver in a project to create a new engineering program. This lead to his leaving Ottawa for the West Coast and, subsequently, governmental approval of the new program and his appointment as Dean of Engineering Science. The program had a “hi-tech” orientation, was limited to superior students and was immediately oversubscribed, likely due to the perversity of human nature but perhaps too to its quality. In a reorganization of the University, Engineering Science became a School in a new Faculty of Applied Sciences with Donald as Director of the School and Dean of the Faculty. Continuing education continued as an interest, particularly a million-dollar program to upgrade the electrical engineering employees of the British Columbia Telephone Company. All this lead to many very busy, interesting years, but in 1990 another temptation arose: involvement in the creation in a brand- new university.

On relocating to Hong Kong, he became Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology that was poised to occupy magnificent new facilities. Much remained to be implemented including hiring most faculty, laboratories, curricula, academic regulations and the like, and it was great challenge to coordinate much of this in such an exotic environment – it was a wonderful experience during which he became involved in most aspects of the institution.

Next, he returned to Ottawa and research, consulting and, finally, full retirement. Initially married to Barbara Brooks, also a CCHS graduate, he later married June Landsburg, born in Vancouver and his long-time partner in continuing education. Now a widower, he spends part of the winter in Florida and the rest of the year in Ottawa, pursuing several hobbies, particularly gardening, along with some volunteer work. His two children also live in Ottawa.