with gold medal in 1890, despite his mother's desire for him to attend Mount Allison University to study Arts and Theology.

In 1905 during a stop in Edmonton, he had a chance meeting with Alexander Cameron Rutherford, future Premier of Alberta.

The two quickly became friends and found they shared ideas concerning the importance of establishing new publicly funded and non-denominational universities in Canada.

[3] When Rutherford founded the University of Alberta two years later, he asked Tory to serve as president.

[2] After a tour of the front lines in France, he returned to England and proceeded to set up and run what came to be known as the Khaki University, enrolling over 50,000 Canadian student soldiers by the end of the Great War.