Kenneth grew up in an apple orchard near Yakima and attended local schools. He received his BA in Economcs from Washington State College in 1953. Because of his interest in labour relations he took a job with the contractor building the Hanford atomic project. A project that was plagued with labout disputes. He returned to school as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Ford Foundation Fellow at the University of Wisconsin. After receiving his PhD. he taught at Washington State University and Oberlin College before joining the division of Manpower and Social Affairs at the OECD in Paris.
In 1966 he joined the Department of Economics and Commerce at the newly opened SFU. Because of his experience he chaired the joint faculty meetings that voted non-confidence in the existing President of the University. He was appointed Acting-President of SFU in 1968 and as President in 1969. He served as President of the University until 1974. He returned to teaching until his retirement in 1986.
After retirement he was consulted on various labour related issues. He served as Chairman of the Task Force on Employment and Training for the Ministry of Education and Job Training, Chairman of the Industrial Adjustment Committee for the Construction Labour Relations Association and the Building Trades Council of BC, Manager of the Strategic Planning Project for the Universities Council, Chairman of a Special Commission concerning industrial relations on BC Rail, and was a member of the National Study Team concerning industrial relations policy for mega project construction in Canada.
In 1995, he and his wife Elna moved to Lac le Jeune, near Kamloops, where he pursued his hobby of fly-fishing lakes. He had many fond memories of fishing friends and fish-outs with the Kamloops Flyfishers.
Kenneth passed away after a long battle with infections. He leaves his wife Elna of Kamloops.
Kenneth was not only respected but well loved by his many friends and colleagues. His sage advice and quick good humour will be missed.
No service by request. In memorium please support the Robert C. Brown Award at SFU or the charity of your choice.
