JOHN S. FOSTER, Honorary President of the
World Energy Council
and a former President of
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited,
was born in Halifax, N.S. in 1921. He attended Dalhousie
University and the Technical University of Nova Scotia (Note: now the
Faculty of Engineering at Dalhousie University),
graduating with a B.Eng. (Mech) degree in 1943. Following graduation, Dr. Foster served in the
Royal Canadian Navy (Lt.(E)) to the end of the war, after
which he returned to Nova Scotia. He received
his B.Eng. (Elec) degree in 1946, and was awarded the Governor General’s Medal for highest
standing in his class.
Dr. Foster joined Montreal Engineering Co. Ltd. and was engaged in engineering for thermal
power plants in the Maritime Provinces, Western Canada and Central and South America.
Dr. Foster’s career with the nuclear industry commenced in 1953 when he assisted with the
rehabilitation of the NRX reactor at Chalk River, and at the beginning of 1954 he became
one of the members of the Nuclear Power Group that produced the feasibility study on the
practicality of a heavy water-moderated reactor for power generation. When design and
construction of the Nuclear Power Demonstration Station was started by
Canadian General Electric in 1954, Dr. Foster was appointed as CGE’s head of the Design Engineering Group.
The nuclear power division of AECL was formed in 1958 to design a full-scale power plant.
Dr. Foster was selected as Deputy Manager, becoming Manager later that year. With the
growth of responsibilities and staffing, the division grew into the Power Projects
organization, with Dr. Foster as General Manager. He was appointed a Vice-President of
AECL in 1966.
Under his direction, this organization performed the engineering for the nuclear portions
of the 200 MW prototype Douglas Point Station, Ontario Hydro’s
(now Ontario Power Generation's) Pickering A and Bruce A
stations, and for a two-unit, 200 MW each station in India. Work was also begun on the
CANDU 6 units for Quebec, Korea, Argentina and New Brunswick. He was also responsible
for the management of the engineering and construction of the Bruce A heavy water plant
and the first 1,000 MW phase of the HVDC Nelson River transmission facility in Manitoba.
Dr. Foster was President of AECL from 1974 to 1977. From 1978 to 1984, he served as a
Vice-President of Monenco companies and
was a director of Monenco Limited, the holding
company. During 1984, he headed a review of Ontario Hydro’s staffing and training
policies and practices for its power plants, and from 1986 to 1988 he was a consultant to
New Brunswick Power. He is currently a member of the Technical Advisory Panel on Nuclear
Safety for Ontario Hydro. Dr. Foster was a charter member of the World Energy Council,
known formerly as the World Energy Conference. He was a charter member of its
Conservation Commission, 1975-1980, Chairman of the Program Committee, 1980-1986. elected
Chairman of the International Executive Committee, 1986-1989, and elected President of
the WEC for the period 1989-1992. He is a Past Chairman of the Canadian National
Committee.
Dr. Foster has honorary doctorates of engineering from the Technical University of Nova
Scotia and Carleton University.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the
Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Engineering
Institute of Canada. He was awarded
the Gold Medal of the Association of Professional
Engineers of Ontario in 1984. He is an
Honourarv Director and a Past Chairman of the Canadian
Nuclear Association, from whom he
received the W.B. Lewis Medal in 1979. In 1989, he was awarded the General A.G.L. McNaughton
Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers,
Canadian Region.
- From Personality of the Year - John S. Foster, Nuclear Canada 1993, Canadian Nuclear Association
|
From the Globe and Mail, Friday March 30 2001
FOSTER, Dr. John S., F.R.S.C. - Born Halifax, N.S., June 14, 1921, son of Stanton Ray and Mabel Rose (Davies) Foster of Halifax. John Foster was proud to say that he, like his wife, came from Nova Scotian families, which had roots in the New World that reached back three hundred years. Sea captains, and farmers in the Annapolis Valley, they represented the unshowy honesty, practicality and humane view of people that informed his own approach to life. His quick intelligence, subtle humour and curiosity added to those values whatever was needed to make him an unusual and successful engineer. His colleagues describe him as a mentor and an inspiration as a caring human being. A graduate of Dalhousie University and, after wartime service as a lieutenant in the RCNVR, graduating from the then Nova Scotia Technical College, he followed a career which led from Montreal Engineering Company Ltd. 1946-54 to president of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (1977). He and his colleagues pioneered the development of heavy water for nuclear reactors in 1954 and he headed the early stages of design of the nuclear part of Canada's first nuclear power station, and later led the engineering and project management for 11 nuclear units in Canada and three abroad. Recognized world wide, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, past president of the World Energy Council, honoured as a nuclear pioneer by the American Nuclear Society, awarded the gold medal of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, and honourary degrees from Carleton University and Nova Scotia Technical College. He died on March 26th, 2001. He leaves his wife of 52 years, Margaret Lane Foster of Toronto, daughter Anne of London, England, sisters Margaret A. (Mrs. G.R. Guy of Halifax, N.S.) and Marion W. (Mrs. Russell Berry) of Oakville, Ont., nephews, nieces and many, many friends. His younger brother, Richard, predeceased him. John was a gardener and loved flowers, so flowers will be appreciated, or you may make a donation to the Art Gallery of Ontario in his name. Friends may call at the Turner & Porter Yorke Chapel from 2-4 and 7-9 on Tuesday. A service of Remembrance will be held at St. Olave's Anglican Church on Wednesday, April 4, 2001 at 1 o'clock. Service of Remembrance at All Saints Cathedral, Halifax, N.S. at a later date. |
Additional References on John Foster:
The Development of Nuclear Power
by J. Foster, at the Special Symposium 50 Years of Nuclear Fission in Review held by the Canadian Nuclear Society, June 1989