Dr. Alex Johnston Lecture Series

The Alex Johnston Lectures, which began in 1990, are the University of Lethbridge’s longest-running lecture series. They are a cooperative endeavour between the Department of History & Religion, the Department of Geography and the Lethbridge Historical Society, commemorating the life, wide-ranging interests and community service of Dr. Alex Johnston.

Alex Johnston was a range management specialist whose great passion was local and regional history, which he researched and shared widely. He launched the Lethbridge Historical Society’s publications program, writing numerous papers on local people, architecture, ecology and a wide range of other subjects.

Johnston’s remarkable work was acknowledged through some twenty lifetime-achievement awards. Among the most notable distinctions he received were an initiation into the Kainai Chieftainship (1973), an honourary Doctor of Laws from the University of Lethbridge (1976), and the Alberta Order of Excellence (1984). 

When Alex Johnston passed away in 1989, many in the community worked together to honour his legacy. The Alex Johnston Memorial Trail (the trail between the Galt Museum and Fort Whoop-Up) was named in his honour. Additionally, an endowment was set up at the University of Lethbridge to develop this lecture series which hosts a renowned speaker/researcher who is working on a subject that would have been of interest to Alex Johnston, in either his professional or volunteer life.