A. B. Macallum was born in Belmont, Ontario and took his B.A. in 1880 from the University of Toronto. In 1888 he received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. His teaching career began in Toronto in 1884, and he taught biology, physiology, and physiological chemistry until 1907, when he became chairman of Canada's first Department of Biochemistry. In 1920 Macallum came to McGill as Professor of Biochemistry, a post he retained until his retirement as Emeritus Professor in 1929. From 1916 until 1920, he was the first chairman of the Advisory Council for Science and Research (later the National Research Council). Macallum published widely on the chemistry of animal and vegetable cells, particularly as regards the localization of minerals, on the composition of cellular and tissue fluids, blood plasma, and physical and chemical factors in heredity.

William Ivison Macadam was born on January 27, 1856, in Edinburg, Scotland, the son of Dr. Stevenson Macadam (1829-1901), a scientist.

He was a Scottish scientist (analytical chemist), academic author, and antiquarian. He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Collegiate School, and at Heidelberg University, Germany. Like his father, he became a Lecturer in Chemistry, teaching medical students at the University of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Surgeons, and veterinary students at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. He was also an officer in the 1st Lothian Volunteer Infantry Brigade, rising to the rank of Colonel and commander of the 2nd Scottish Volunteer Coronation Battalion in 1902. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1888) and was also a leading freemason. His son was Sir Ivison Macadam (1894-1974), the first Director-General of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and the founding President of the National Union of Students.

In 1879, he married Sarah Mcconnichie MacDonald (1855-1941). He died on June 24, 1902, in Edinburg, Scotland. He was shot dead by a deranged employee in his laboratory in Surgeons' Hall, along with one of his students.

Otto Maass was born in New York, but moved to Montréal at an early age. He earned his B.A. from McGill in 1911 and his M.Sc. in 1913. His postgraduate research at the University of Berlin was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, at which time Maass accepted a lectureship at McGill. He left to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard (1919), but returned in 1923 as Macdonald Professor of Physical Chemistry. He was appointed chairman of the department in 1937. During the Second World War, Maass combined the administration of chemical defence research with the directorship of the Pulp and Paper Research Institute. After his retirement in 1955, he became principal research officer in the National Research Council’s division of chemistry. He passed away in 1961.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Maase lived at 9 Rockcliff Road, Brockville, ON, Canada in 1975.