Nirmal Singh Rihal

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Biography of Nirmal Singh Rihal

Nirmal Singh Rihal at Auchendennan Freshers' Camp, September 1949

Nirmal Singh Rihal graduated MBChB from the University in 1955.

He was born in Bhattian, Punjab, India, son of Banta Singh, a government civil servant. Rihal received his education at the Government Indian Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya (to where the family had moved) and also the Khalsa High School in Ludhiana, Punjab. With a Kenyan government bursary, Rihal enrolled at the University of Glasgow in 1949 to study Medicine.

Rihal went on to practice in Aberdeen and the north midlands before returning to Kenya. In 1963, he obtained a Diploma in Public Health at the University of Toronto and relocated his family to Manitoba, where he worked as Medical Officer of Health. He was among the earliest Sikh immigrants to Manitoba, playing a role in the Sikh community, and is said to have been involved in Manitoba becoming the first jurisdiction in North America where Sikhs could legally wear turbans rather than helmets while riding motorcycles and bicycles.

Rihal retired in 1991 as Chief Epidemiologist for the Province of Manitoba, and passed away in 2011.

Summary

Nirmal Singh Rihal
Born 2 December 1929.
Died 5 August 2011.
University Link: Alumnus, Graduate
GU Degree: MBChB, 1955; Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences,
Occupation categories: physicians
Record last updated: 25th Sep 2013