A century after St. Francis Xavier University-connected inventor Zachariah Adam Hall patented a two-piece hockey stick, his legacy of creativity and invention is helping fuel a new generation of student researchers at StFX.
Dr. Bill Marshall (second right) with award recipients, l-r, Brenna Alford, Jaylene Nauss, and Emillie Murdock. Missing is Ariana Rosero.
Four StFX undergraduate students Emillie Murdock, Brenna Alford, Jaylene Nauss and Ariana Rosero are the inaugural recipients of the Z.A. Hall Student Research Award, receiving $1,500 each to support research in biology and related life sciences.
The awards were established by Dr. William (Bill) Marshall, StFX senior research professor and former Dean of Science, and Mr. Hall's grandson. The endowed awards commemorate the 100th anniversary of Hall's 1926 hockey-stick patent while supporting undergraduate research and helping students begin careers in the life sciences.
For Marshall, the awards are both a tribute to his grandfather and a way of passing forward the qualities that shaped Hall's remarkable career.
"The idea was to honour my grandfather for his inventiveness and focused energy in building up his business," says Marshall. "Those are qualities that I tried to emulate in my own career as a scientist."
Hall was an inventor and industrialist who held approximately 22 patents in Canada and the United States for products ranging from hockey sticks and stoves to furnaces and children's toys. In 1926, he patented a two-piece hockey stick for his company, the Hespeler Wood Specialty Co.
His inventions included hockey equipment that was ahead of its time. A 1922 U.S. patent illustration, for example, shows Hall's design for a goalie stick. Marshall says Hall's composite goalie sticks predated the development of composite sticks for forwards and defencemen.
Hall's story is one of invention, perseverance and determination qualities the new awards are intended to recognize in today's student researchers.
"My mother was very proud of her dad, especially the hockey stick invention and his election as the member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Waterloo South (1914)," Marshall says. "Considering that ZA started with nothing after his family emigrated from Belfast Co., Ireland, his accomplishments were very much the product of individual effort."
Although Hall did not seek public attention for his accomplishments during his lifetime, Marshall says his grandfather was justifiably proud of what he achieved.
The Z.A. Hall Student Research Awards now extend that legacy to students who are pursuing their own discoveries.
The awards are designed to encourage student research, academic excellence, innovation and scientific inquiry, while providing financial support that can help undergraduate researchers gain experience and launch research careers.
The connection between Hall's inventive spirit and today's student researchers is particularly fitting as StFX continues to provide undergraduate students with opportunities to participate directly in research.
