Edward Corbett
Director of Extension at the University of Alberta (1928-37), Edward Annand Corbett was born April 12, 1884 in Truro, Nova Scotia to parents Agnes Harriet Crowe and the Reverend Thomas Corbett. He attended McGill University, earning a BA (1909) and an MA (1913) before earning a PC from Montreal Presbyterian Theological College in 1912.Corbett spent the summers between 1907-10 as a student minister in northern Alberta before becoming a Presbyterian minister in Fort Saskatchewan in 1912.
During World War I, Corbett was an acting captain (1916-18) with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was invalided out of the army while in France in 1917 and attended Khaki University that same year. He was presented with a service medal in 1919.
From 1920-29, Corbett was assistant director of the Department of Extension at the University of Alberta. In 1929, he became director of Extension and would continue in that role until 1936. From 1936 until his retirement in 1951, Corbett was director of the Canadian Association of Adult Education.
In 1920-21, Corbett was secretary of the Alberta Branch of the YMCA Intercollegiate. Between 1933-36, he was founder and director of the Banff School of Fine Arts.
A member of the Wartime Information Board and president of the Canada Foundation, Corbett was also a founder of the Farm Radio Forum, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the National Film Board of Canada. A board member of the Dominion Drama Festival, he was a governor in 1936-37.
Corbett received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees (LLD honoris causa) from Mount Allison University (1938) and from the University of Alberta (1963). Corbett Hall at the Banff Centre for the Arts, E.A. Corbett Hall at the University of Alberta, and Corbett House Toronto, headquarters of the Canadian Association for Adult Education, are all named in his honour. In 1984, the Edmonton Historical Board presented Corbett with an award recognizing his achievements.
Corbett married Anna Rae Dickson in 1913; they had three children, Bruce, Paul, and Joan (Fairfield).
Corbett passed away in November, 1964 in Toronto, Ontario.