Laurence Yeomans Cairns (1958–1964)
Laurence Yeomans Cairns was born in 1892 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. While attending the University of Alberta, Cairns was President of the Literary Society. When he graduated with a BA in 1912, he was a member of the University's first graduating class. He also received an LLB from the University of Alberta in 1915.
During World War I, Cairns served as both a sergeant and a gunner.
Between 1930 and 1951, Cairns was a lawyer with the firm of Wallbridge, Henwood & Gibson and a part-time lecturer in law and commerce at the University of Alberta. He was very involved with the University and was President of the Alumni Association, a founder of the Friends of the University, and a member of the Board of Governors (1958–1964). Cairns was Chancellor of the University of Alberta between 1958 and 1964. His contributions to the University earned him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1955 and a 1964 Alumni Golden Jubilee Award. The L.Y. Cairns Memorial Bursary is named in his honour.
Appointed to the King's Counsel of Alberta in 1935, Cairns was Judge in the District Court of Northern Alberta and in the Supreme Court of Alberta between 1957 and 1965. He was also Vice-Consul to Finland, Honorary President of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Edmonton Public School Board, a member of the Northern Alberta Old Timers' Association, and, in 1950, President of the Alberta Law Society.
Cairns had three children, two daughters and one son. Cairns passed away on July 27, 1967 in Edmonton.