Murray Macneill

Macneill started at Dalhousie University, where he received the Sir William Young Medal in 1896 after graduating from an arts degree in mathematics, after which he attended both Cornell University and Sorbonne University, where he also taught as a professor. He then earned an MA from Harvard University.

Early in his career he taught mathematics at McGill University, and in 1907 he became the head of the mathematics department at Dalhousie - a position he held until 1942. In addition to his role at the mathematics department, he served as Registrar for Dalhousie's Faculty of Arts & Sciences for twenty-seven years. He also co-founded Dahousie's Alumni Association, where he became Honorary President before his death. In 1947 Dalhousie bestowed an honorary LLD upon him due to his years of service.[2][3]

He is the first skip to win the Brier, back in 1927. He began curling in his back yard while he was a boy in Saint John, New Brunswick. He was always competitive and went on to become one of the top curlers in Maritime Canada. After he became a professor of mathematics at Dalhousie University, Macneill was selected to be skip of the Nova Scotia team at the first Canadian Men's Curling Championship, held in the first week of March 1927 at the Granite Curling Club in Toronto.

Curling games had a marathon aspect at that time, being of 14 ends duration. Macneill and his team started well, winning four of their first five games, and then, in the last draw, came back from an eight-point deficit to capture the championship, which, before the next year's event came to be known as The Brier.¹ Macneill returned to the Brier in 1930, 1932 and 1936.[4] Macneill served as President of the Canadian Curling Association from 1948 to 1949.[5]

Macneill was a first cousin of author Lucy Maud Montgomery,[4] though it was reported that she did not like him.[7] He died of pancreatic cancer in 1951 in the City of Halifax at the age of 74.[8][9]