Ronald Norman Dalby (September 5, 1929 â October 28, 2014) was a Canadian engineer. He served as chancellor of the University of Alberta from 1974 to 1978. Dalby was born in Edmonton and attended primary schooling there. He attended the University of Alberta and graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering. He then worked as a manager for Imperial Oil and Northwestern Utilities. From 1967 to 1968 and from 1973 to 1974, he was president of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta. Dalby continued to work in the utility industry as an executive, and was vice president of Canadian Utilities Limited when he was elected chancellor of the University of Alberta in 1984. He died in 2014.
Ronald Norman Dalby was born on September 5, 1929, in Edmonton to Norman and Obeline Dalby. He was raised in the city with his brother, Bill Dalby, and his sister, June Prichard. He completed all of his early schooling in Edmonton, attending Norwood Elementary School, Spruce Avenue Junior High School, and Victoria High School. After graduating, he spent a year working as a technician with the Alberta Research Council, contributing at its Edmonton laboratories as well as the Oilsands Pilot Plant near Fort McMurray. This initial professional experience, combined with his local education, laid the groundwork for his later engineering studies at the University of Alberta. Growing up in a family rooted in Edmonton and strongly oriented toward education played a key role in guiding Dalby toward a career in civil engineering, which he went on to pursue with notable achievement after completing high school.