Dr. David Sparling, professor at the Ivey School of Business
at the University of Western Ontario, has died of brain cancer.
I met him when he was a broiler chicken farmer near Cambridge and respected his thoughtful comments during district seven meetings of the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board.
He was a graduate of Queen's University, Kingston, and after chicken farming for a few years, returned to university
to gain his doctorate in business, and served as professor and associate dean
at the University of Guelph, then moved to Western and London where he was
professor emeritus and chairman of Agri-Food Innovation.
He travelled the world training managers of large-scale
farms. He wrote a number of agriculture policy papers and was a
thought-provoking speaker at many Canadian agricultural gatherings.
He was never without a smile on his face.
There is a David Sparling Scholarship Fund at Western’s Ivey
School of Business.
