Ralph Gordon Stanton (21 October 1923 – 21 April 2010) was a Canadian mathematician, teacher, scholar, and pioneer in mathematics and computing education.
[1] His PhD dissertation was on the topic "On The Mathiew Group M(Sub 24)", under advisor Richard Dagobert Brauer.
Stanton was one of five members of the Academic Advisory Committee that, in 1958, urged the board of governors to buy the Schweitzer farm on the outskirts of Waterloo that today houses the main campus.
Stanton's gaudy neckties were the inspiration for the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Mathematics mascot, a giant pink tie that was hung by students over the Math and Computer Building when it opened in 1968.
[7] Stanton founded and administered three not-for-profit corporations dedicated to mathematical research and communication.
Stanton also helped organize the first Southeastern Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computing.
[4] In 1985 he was awarded the Killam Prize in Mathematics for Natural Sciences from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Thanks to his generosity, the Fisher Rare Book Library now "boasts comprehensive collections of most of the significant French playwrights of the Classical period".