Dr. R. Tait McKenzie was an inaugural inductee to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Robert Tait McKenzie, was born in Almonte, Ont., on May 26, 1867 and died in Philadelphia on April 28, 1938. He enrolled at McGill in 1885 and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1889, followed by a medical degree (MDCM) in 1892. He was granted an honorary doctorate of law in 1921.
At McGill, he won the Wickstead Silver Medal as the 1888 intercollegiate junior gymnastics champion and in his senior year, won the Wickstead Gold Medal. He also competed in football, boxing, acrobatics, track and field, skating, swimming and fencing.
A lifelong friend of James Naismith, McKenzie succeeded Naismith as the University's gym instructor in 1890 and four years later became McGill's medical director of physical training, the first appointment of its kind in Canada. In 1891, Naismith had invented basketball in Springfield , Mass., and a decade later, McKenzie was instrumental in forming McGill's first basketball team in 1901.
A pioneer in rehabilitative medicine, he was appointed chair of physical education at the University of Pennsylvania in 1904. He took a leave of absence to accept a commission in the British Royal Army Medical Corps and his methods and innovations for rehabilitating wounded soldiers laid a foundation for modern physiotherapy practices.
McKenzie returned to the University before retiring in 1930.
He was also renowned for outstanding sculptures of athletic figures, depicting the joy, courage and challenge of athletics. His work - which captured dozens of athletes, including Jesse Owens, David Cecil and Lord Burghley - established him as America's foremost sculptor of sports. A number of his works are displayed at the Louvre in France and the National Arts Gallery in Ottawa. He produced 126 works on sports subjects and was working on a number of other projects at the time of his death in Philadelphia on April 28, 1938.
An avid sports enthusiast, he attended every Olympic Summer Games from 1896 in Athens to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.
Player-related articles
McKenzie: one of our best-known doctors & artists
Jul 19, 08
By Janet Wilson
(reprinted from The Ottawa Citizen)
R. Tait McKenzie is credited with revolutionizing the way doctors treat the wounded and was one of Canada's best-known doctors and artists. He was a lifelong friend of James Naismith, who invented the game of basketball. Over a century ago, the two young men went off to Montreal, where they attended McGill (1885-92), excelled in sports and became doctors.
Hall of famer, Tait McKenzie home a rustic museum
Aug 20, 05
By RICK BOOK
(reprinted from The Globe and Mail)
ALMONTE, ONT. -- On a warm summer evening, the forest is glowing as bullfrogs in the river harrumph for mates. It's easy to imagine Robert Tait McKenzie sitting here in his kilt, deeply contented, as he gazed across the pond at his stone mill. One of Canada's greatest doctors, educators and artists, the renown McGill graduate returned here to his birthplace late in life to make this his summer home and studio.
