123600: John Alexander Boan, BA (Hons) FRCS PhD

Iain Alasdair Alasdair Dàibhidh

John Alexander (1918-1928) was a son of Alexander Macalpine Boan and Jean Campbell, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He served  in the Canadian Royal Airforce in the Second Word War from 1940-1945 and attained the rank of Sergeant and was awarded the Canadian Volunteer Services Medal.

After the War he studied at the University of Saskatchewan and obtained a BA (Hons). At this time he met his future wife, Jean Campbell from Regina and they married in 1949. John Alexander received a full scholarship to attend Ohio State University and graduated in 1953 with a PhD in Agricultural Economics.

Upon his return to Canada, Jack worked for the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA), the Defence Research Board, and the Department of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources in Ottawa. One of his major contributions to the Canadian community was his involvement in the Royal Commission on Health Services (Hall Commission) in 1962-1964, which recommended the implementation of Medicare for all Canadians. His interest in health care economics forged a new network of health economists across the country that became known as the Canadian Health Economics Research Association (CHERA). This organization became the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) and he continued to attend the annual conference until 2015.

John Alexander was Professor of Economics at Regina University for sixty years where he taught and influenced thousands of students. He was awarded Global Citizen of the year in 2017 for his work work with refugees.

John Alexander and Jean lived in Regina and they had three children. The couple were members of the First Presbyterian Church and the  Wesley United Church.