Cyrus MacMillan

Cyrus Macmillan, PC (September 12, 1878 – June 29, 1953) was a Canadian academic, writer and politician. Born in Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1900 from McGill University. He was appointed to the faculty of Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown (1901–1907). He received a Master of Arts (1905) and Ph.D. (1909( from Harvard University and started as a contract lecturer at McGill. He joined the faculty full time in 1911. During World War I, he took a leave from McGill and served with both the 6th and the 7th Canadian Siege Battery, 1916–19. After the war, he resumed his faculty position at the rank of Associate Professor and in 1923 was appointed Chair of the English department. From 1940 to 1947, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, retiring in the latter year. His entry to politics was through appointments to the federal Royal Commission on Maritime Claims (1926) and Atlantic Fisheries (1928). He chaired the Royal Commission on Education for Prince Edward Island in 1929. In June 1930, he was appointed Minister of Fisheries in the cabinet of Liberal Prime Minister Mackenzie King. He was defeated in July's 1930 federal election in the Prince Edward Island riding of Queen's. In 1940, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the riding of Queen's. He was defeated in 1945. From 1943 to 1946, he was the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of National Defence for Air and served on or chaired numerous government committees.