Title: Clay Gilson fonds.

Dates: 1951-2000.

Extent: 6.5 m of textual records and other material.

Biographical sketch: James Clayton "Clay" Gilson was born in Deloraine, Manitoba on February 7, 1926. He served in the Canadian military for two years during World War II. He entered the University of Manitoba in 1946, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1950 and a M.Sc. in 1952. He received a Ph.D. from Iowa State in 1954. That fall he joined the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Manitoba. He was named Department Head in 1967 and the following year was awarded a three year term as the Dean of Graduate Studies. From 1971 to 1978 he was the Vice-President of Research.  In 1981, Gilson won a Distinguished Professor Award. In 1982, he was the Federal Representative on the Western Grain Transportation Task Force. He was also the Chairman of the Board of the Manitoba Crop Insurance Corporation. In 1993, he was named a member of the Order of Canada. That same year, upon his retirement, he was made a Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. In 1996, he was elected to the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. In his nomination, he was credited with presenting 383 papers at seminars, meetings and conferences and contributing to 75 major journal publications. Beyond his academic life, Gilson was the Federal Representative on the Western Grain Transportation Task Force in 1982 and served as Chairman of the Board of Manitoba Crop Insurance. Gilson died on June 11, 2000.

Custodial history: The fonds was donated to University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections by Jean Gilson in 2006.

Scope and content: The fonds has been arranged into eight series. They are manuscripts, articles, speeches and papers presented, Western Grain Transportation Task Force, academic material, research material, photographs, and tape collection.  4 photographs and 338 slides comprise the photograph collection.  The tape collection consists of 4 audio-cassettes.

Restrictions: There are no restrictions on this material.

Finding aid: An on-line finding aid is available at the link below:

MSS 259, PC 220, TC 130, (A.06-41).