Dear King’s community,
The University of King’s College joins the people and institutions of our province in remembrance of the widely respected Dr. John Hamm, OC, BSc’58, DCL’14, who passed away this week at the age of 88.
Remembered for his innumerable contributions to Nova Scotia as a family physician, politician and educational advocate, Dr. Hamm became Nova Scotia’s 25th Premier, serving from 1999 to 2006.
His political career began as an MLA for Pictou Centre in 1993, and in 1995 he was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. Under his leadership, the Nova Scotia government helped stabilize the economy and renegotiated the Atlantic Accord, securing a greater share of offshore energy revenues for Nova Scotia. His government tabled the first balanced budget in 40 years that allowed for the investment of millions in health care and the Nova Scotia Community College.
In his post-political life, he chaired several corporate and public boards, including the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada and “Democracy 250,” marking a quarter millennium of elected parliamentary government in Nova Scotia. In 2009, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Much has been said to honour Dr. Hamm’s fiscal and social contributions to Nova Scotia, and the care he showed as a family doctor. He will also be remembered for his devotion to learning, particularly his influence as a public policy advocate for early literacy initiatives. Dr. Hamm helped pioneer early intervention strategies and was instrumental in launching the “Read To Me!” program at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre. This initiative encouraged parents to read to their infants from their very first days of life, promoting early childhood development and language acquisition.
Following a provincial report indicating that a quarter of children were entering school unprepared to learn, Dr. Hamm penned a widely read 2015 education column in which he noted, “The failure to provide adequate early childhood education is the most important public policy issue in our province today.” His public stance added significant political weight to the growing movement across Canada to establish publicly funded, universally accessible pre-primary education.
He was a man recognized and respected across the province, and at King’s he was a committed and engaged alum and one of our own. Dr. Hamm graduated from King’s in 1958, and the Angels’ Roost at King’s remained his home for his subsequent years of medical training at Dalhousie. His experience living on campus inspired him to direct what he called his final legacy gift to King’s to help fund the 2020 restoration of three historic residence Bays.
In 2006, the Alumni Association bestowed its highest honour upon Dr. Hamm, the Judge J. Elliott Hudson Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2007, Dr. Hamm began the first of his two terms as Chair of the Board of Governors. To this role, he consistently brought his broad smile, wry chuckle and navy-blue blazer with its vintage King’s crest. In his characteristic humble and steady way, Dr. Hamm led King’s through advances and triumphs and a few difficult years with skill.
In 2014, King’s conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law on Dr. Hamm for his leadership at King’s and across Nova Scotia. In the accompanying citation, it was noted that in 2005, when he announced his retirement from politics after 12 years as a Member of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly and six years as the province’s 25th Premier, “voices from all parties not only lauded his record of service but praised his personal integrity with rare warmth and concord.”
In his Encaenia speech at the President’s Dinner in 2014—more than 50 years after first graduating from King’s—Dr. Hamm praised the educational experience at the university for being special and rounded, stating, “I am reminded of the Ontario junior high principal who once said, ‘The doctor of philosophy who cannot make a simple box is as poorly educated as the carpenter who cannot read.’”
Few are as truly well-rounded as Dr. Hamm himself—a beloved father, husband, friend and colleague, a devoted doctor and public advocate, and a respected politician dedicated to making life better for Nova Scotians.
To honour Dr. Hamm’s contributions to King’s and the province, the flags in the Quad will fly at half-mast for the duration of this week.
In friendship, and on behalf of the King’s community, we offer heartfelt condolences to his wife, Genesta, their children, John, Jeffrey and Jennifer, and their extended family, including two grandchildren who are also King’s alumni, one of whom just graduated from King’s in May. We are thinking of all of you.
We’d also like to honour Dr. Hamm with a photo gallery celebrating some of his time at King’s through the years.
