John William Tranter Spinks, CC MBE SOM (1 January 1908 – 27 March 1997) was President of the University of Saskatchewan from 1960 to 1975.
Born in Norfolk, England, John Spinks received a BSc (1928) and his doctor of philosophy degree (Ph.D.) in chemistry (1930) from King's College London.
Spinks emigrated to Canada in 1930 to join the chemistry faculty of the University of Saskatchewan as an assistant professor and was promoted to professor in 1938, head of the Department of Chemistry in 1948, and dean of the college of Graduate Studies in 1949.
Spinks spent the 1933-34 academic year at the University of Darmstadt, Germany, where he first met Dr. Gerhard Herzberg, whom helped emigrate to Canada.
During World War II, Spinks developed search and rescue procedures for missing aircraft and was appointed MBE.