Fonds SC13 - Edmund Murton Walker fonds

Edmund Murton Walker was born in Windsor Ontario on October 5, 1877. He was the second of seven children born to Byron Edmund Walker and Mary Alexander Walker.

Walker is considered to be a pioneer of Canadian entomology. Upon graduating with a degree in Natural Science from the University of Toronto in 1900, Walker went to complete a hospital internship at the Toronto General Hospital. He soon changed routes and went to study biology at the Department of Zoology at the University of Toronto and invertebrate zoology at the University of Berlin. In 1906, Walker was appointed as lecturer in invertebrate zoology at the University of Toronto and remained on staff there until his retirement in 1948.

Walker was instrumental in the development of the invertebrate collection at the Royal Ontario Museum. He served as Assistant Director of the Museum of Zoology between 1918-1931 and was named Honorary Curator of Invertebrate Zoology. Upon his retirement, Walker donated his collection to the museum and spent nearly 15 years in the museum organizing the data.

Walker held memberships in many clubs. He served as the president of the Entomological Society of Ontario, 1910-1912; vice president of the Entomological Society of America in 1917, and president in 1939. He was a founding member and later president of the Toronto Field Naturalists' Club and attended the Summer Nature Camp as group leader; and was president and director of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. Walker also served as editor of the Canadian Entomologist between 1910-1920. He was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Flavelle medal in 1960, and an honorary degree from Carleton University in 1963. The University of Toronto's Edmund M. Walker Scholarship is named for him.

Walker was married twice. His first wife died in 1941. He later married Norma Ford Walker, a geneticist, in 1943. They were married until her death in 1968.

Walker died on February 14, 1969 at the age of 91.