Fonds F0335 - Morris Katz fonds

Morris Katz (1901-1987), educator, scientist and author, was born in Kiev and emigrated to Canada as a child. Educated at McGill University (PhD 1929), Katz was employed as a research chemist at the National Research Council (1931-1947) and at the Defence Research Board of Canada (1947-1955). He then worked as a consultant before becoming director of Environmental Assessment, Occupational Health Division, of the Department of National Health and Welfare (1956-1965). In the latter year Katz became a professor in the Graduate School in Sanitary Science and Engineering at Syracuse University. He joined the Chemistry Department and the Division of Natural Science at York University in 1969. In 1980 he was named Professor Emeritus at York.

In addition to his work as an academic and for the Canadian government, Katz served on numerous committees and as a technical consultant. He served with the Technical Advisory Board on Transboundary Air Pollution for the International Joint Commission (1949-1965), on the Expert Advisory Panel on Air Pollution for the World Health Organization (1964-1973), and on the Air Pollution Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (1960-1962). He also was an editor and member of the Intersociety Committee, an umbrella body of American scientific and engineering societies with an interest in the measurement and analysis of air sampling and pollutants. Katz acted as a consultant on air and water pollution to the World Bank, the Ontario Department of Mines (with special interest in the nickel smelters of Sudbury) (1947-1965), and the International Nickel Company. Katz was the author of many articles, book chapters, research bulletins and reports dealing with environmental issues, specifically the impact of air pollution on vegetation, water and the development of monitoring devices to measure air and water quality.