Robert Charles Wallace
It was during his tenure at Queen’s that Wallace became highly regarded nationally (and internationally) as an extremely effective and efficient academic administrator. He was one of just three Canadians chosen to represent the country at the United Nations Conference for the establishment of an educational and cultural organization (ECO/CONF) held in London in November 1945. It was at this conference that the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Educational Organization (UNESCO) was created. Additionally, Wallace received honorary degrees from twenty different universities.
International Bureau of Education
The IBE was an independent organization for the first 44 years of its existence. When UNESCO was created in 1945, the IBE helped develop its education programs, thus establishing the first of many collaborations with the nascent UN agency. By 1952, a permanent joint commission was established to ensure effective cooperation between the IBE and UNESCO, and they began to jointly organize the International Conference on Public Education. After 20 years of collaboration, an agreement was signed which would integrate the IBE with UNESCO. In 1969, the IBE joined UNESCO; however, it maintained intellectual and functional autonomy. The IBE is the oldest of UNESCO’s category 1 institutes.