John Alexander Weir

John Alexander Weir (December 13, 1894 – June 3, 1942) was a Canadian attorney, and the first Dean of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law from 1926 to 1942.

Early life John Alexander Weir was born in Ardoch, North Dakota on 13 December 1894 to the Reverend Richard and Margaret Moir Weir. He had three brothers and two sisters. Due to his father being called to new congregations the family traveled from Ardock to Hensall, Ontario when John was two years old, then to Petrolia, Ontario in 1898, and finally to Regina, Saskatchewan in 1901 where John attended the Regina public school. He continued his education by enrolling at Nutana Collegiate Institute in Saskatoon in 1908.

Weir graduated with University and Chancellor's Scholarships. He entered University of Saskatchewan with the class of 1912, was chosen for Rhodes Scholarship for Saskatchewan in 1914. In 1918, he resumed his Rhodes Scholarship at Merton College, Oxford, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in the School of Jurisprudence with first class honours.

Law career

Weir moved to Alberta to become the first professor of law in 1921 and the first Dean of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, a position he held from 1926 until his death in 1942. The full-time faculty staff consisted of Dean Weir and his assistant, there was a plan in place to hire additional staff in 1930, but it was canceled the next year, due to drastic cuts to the University of Alberta grant.