A century after Zachariah Adam Hall patented a two-piece hockey stick, his ingenuity and creativity are helping inspire a new generation of student researchers at St. Francis Xavier University.
Four StFX students, Emillie Murdock, Brenna Alford, Jaylene Nauss and Ariana Rosero, have received the inaugural Z.A. Hall Student Research Award, each receiving $1,500 to support undergraduate research in biology and related life sciences.
Dr. William (Bill) Marshall, former Research Professor in the StFX Biology Department, and Mr. Hall’s grandson, established the endowed awards in honour of his grandfather and the 100th anniversary of his 1926 patent.
The awards are intended to support and encourage student research and academic excellence in the life sciences and to help students launch research careers.
“The idea was to honour my grandfather for his inventiveness and focused energy in building up his business. Those are qualitative that I tried to emulate in my own career as a scientist,” says Dr. Marshall, a former Dean of Science at StFX.
“My mother was very proud of her dad, especially the hockey stick invention and his election as the member of the Ontario Legislature for Waterloo South (1914). Considering that ZA started with nothing after his family emigrated from Belfast Co, Ireland, his accomplishments were very much the product of individual effort.”
Mr. Hall, an inventor and industrialist, patented the two-piece hockey stick in 1926 for his company, the Hespeler Wood Specialty Co.
Mr. Hall has some 22 patents in Canada and the U.S. for hockey sticks, stoves, furnaces, and children’s toys.
Dr. Marshall says his grandfather never wanted to celebrate his own accomplishments publicly during his lifetime but was justifiably proud of his success.
These new awards recognize innovation, determination, focused effort, and commitment to scientific inquiry, qualities all embodied by Mr. Hall, Dr. Marshall says.
They also commemorate Mr. Hall’s ingenuity, perseverance, and steadfast defence of his inventions and patents.
