University of Saskatchewan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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University of Saskatchewan |
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| Motto | Deo et Patriae (God and Country) |
| Established | 1907 |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | $136.7 million |
| Chancellor | W. Thomas Molloy |
| President | R. Peter MacKinnon |
| Students | 15,228 (full-time), 3,854 (part-time) |
| Location | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Sports teams | Saskatchewan Huskies |
| Website | http://www.usask.ca/ |
The University of Saskatchewan (U of S) is the largest education institution in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located in the city of Saskatoon. A satellite view of the campus can be seen on Google maps.
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[edit] History
[edit] Beginnings
The University was created on April 3, 1907 by a provincial statute known as the University Act. It provided for a publicly funded, yet independent institution to be created for the citizens of the whole province. J.A. Calder became the first university official when he was appointed registrar. Chief Justice Edward L. Wetmore was elected the first university Chancellor. Following the formation of the senate and board of governors, Walter Charles Murray was selected as President of the University. The scope of the new institution was to include colleges of Arts and Science including art, music and commerce, Agriculture with forestry, Domestic Science, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Veterinary Science and Dentistry.
Battleford, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Regina, and Saskatoon all lobbied to be the location of the new university. Walter Murray preferred the provincial capital, Regina. In a politically influenced vote, Saskatoon was chosen on April 7, 1909.
A location next to the South Saskatchewan River, across from the city centre of Saskatoon, was selected for the campus. Prime Minister of Canada Sir Wilfrid Laurier laid the cornerstone of the first building on campus, the College Building, on July 29, 1910. The original buildings were built using native limestone - greystone - which was mined just north of campus. Over the years, the greystone was to become one of the most recognizable campus signatures. When the local supply of limestone was exhausted, the University turned to Tyndall Stone, so called because it is quarried at Tyndall, Manitoba. The first building on the new campus, the College Building, opened in 1913; in 2001, it was declared a National Historic Site of Canada.
[edit] First students
The University Act provided that the University should provide "facilities for higher education in all its branches and enabling all persons without regard to race, creed or religion to take the fullest advantage". It further stated that "no woman shall by reason of her sex be deprived of any advantage or privilege accorded to the male students of the university." Seventy students began the first classes on September 28, 1909. The first class graduated on May 1, 1912. Of the three students who earned graduation honours, two were women.
342 students, faculty, and staff enlisted for World War I. Of these, 67 were killed, 100 were wounded, and 33 were awarded medals of valour.
[edit] Establishment of Colleges
Roughly adhering to the original plan of 1909, numerous colleges were established: Arts and Science (1909), Agriculture (1912), Engineering (1912), Law (1913), Pharmacy (1914), Commerce (1917), Medicine (1926), Education (1927), Home Economics (1928), Nursing (1938), Graduate Studies (1946), Physical Education (1958), Veterinary Medicine (1964), Dentistry (1965), and Physical Therapy (1976).
Theological Colleges, affiliated with the University, were also established: Emmanuel College - Anglican (1909), St. Andrew's College (as Presbyterian College, Saskatoon)- United Church of Canada (1913), Lutheran Theological Seminary (1920), St Thomas More College (1936), and Central Pentecostal College (1983).
Regina College was saved from bankruptcy and became part of the University in 1934, and was given degree-granting privileges in 1959, making it a second University of Saskatchewan campus. By another act of legislation in 1974, it was made an independent institution known as the University of Regina.
Correspondence courses were established in 1929.
[edit] Later development
In the late 1990s, the U of S launched a major revitalization program that has and will include new capital projects such as an expansion to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, the building of a new parkade, and a revision of its internal road layout (which has already seen the East Road access being realigned). The Thorvaldson Building, which currently is home to the Departments of Chemistry and Computer Science, as well as the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition has also seen a number of renovations, including a brand new addition, the Spinks Addition.[1]
[edit] Land holdings
Up until the late 1980s, the University of Saskatchewan held an extensive area of land in the northeast quadrant of Saskatoon, stretching far beyond the core campus, east of Preston Avenue and north of the Sutherland and Forest Grove subdivisions. Much of this land was used for farming and some areas were earmarked for future campus and facility development. In the late 1980s, most U of S land beyond Circle Drive was earmarked for residential development; the community of Silverspring was the first of these neighbourhoods to be developed. Another section of land, west of the Preston Avenue/Circle Drive interchange and north of the CPR line, was zoned for commercial use and led to "big box" retail development in the early 2000s (including Wal-Mart and the Preston Crossing shopping centre). Realignment of two major roads in the area around this same time — Preston Avenue and 108th Street — also used up a portion of university land. The U of S now maintains a large tract of land immediately east of the Saskatoon city limits that it obtained after the city took over the northeastern section of U of S land. The U of S also maintains two sites north of Attridge Drive, the Regional Psychiatric Centre on Central Avenue, and an as-yet undeveloped parcel of land at Central Avenue and Fedoruk Drive.
In the 1970s and again in the 1980s, the U of S considered opening up some of its land holdings south of College Drive and north of 14th Street for residential development, but opposition from nearby neighbourhoods that appreciated the "green belt" offered by the university, led to these plans being dropped.
[edit] Distinguished research
Over the years, some of the most prominent projects at the University have been associated with the Department of Physics. In 1948, the University built the first betatron facility in Canada. Three years later, the world's first non-commercial cobalt-60 therapy unit was constructed. (The first female Chancellor of the University, Sylvia Fedoruk, was a member of the Cobalt-60 research team. She also served as Saskatchewan's Lieutenant-Governor from 1988-1994.) The success of these facilities led to the construction of a linear accelerator as part of the Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory in 1964 and placed university scientists at the forefront of nuclear physics in Canada. Experience gained from years of research and collaboration with global researchers led to the University of Saskatchewan being selected as the site of Canada's national facility for synchrotron light research, the Canadian Light Source. This facility opened Oct. 22, 2004 and is the size of a football field. The Plasma Physics Laboratory operates a tokamak on campus.
The university owns the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization. Innovation Place Research Park is an industrial science and technology park that hosts private industry working with the university.
[edit] Campus life
The Sheaf, a student publication, was first published on 1912, either monthly or less frequently. By 1920, it was published weekly with the aim of becoming a more unifying influence on student life. It was continued to publish continually through to the present time (as of 2006).
In 1965, a student-run campus radio station, CJUS-FM began broadcasting on a non-commercial basis. In 1983, the station became a limited commercial station. By 1985, however, funding was no longer provided, and the campus radio presence died. In early 2005, CJUS was revived in an internet radio form and continues to broadcast today. The university also maintains a relationship with the independent community radio station CFCR-FM, which actively solicits volunteers on campus.
Place Riel Theatre, a campus theatre, was opened in 1975, as was Louis, a campus pub. Place Riel, the existing campus student centre, opened in 1980, and now holds retail outlets, arcade, lounge space, student group meeting areas, and a food court. These facilities were named after Louis Riel. In the late nineties, Place Riel Theatre stopped public showings and is now used for campus movie features and lectures.
The official motto of the University is Deo et Patriae (Latin) which translates to God and Country.
Campus sports teams in Canadian Interuniversity Sport use the name Saskatchewan Huskies.
There are also two (main) residences available to students: McEown Park and Voyageur Place.
[edit] Alumni
[edit] Notable faculty and researchers
- His Honour the Honourable Gordon L. Barnhart, 20th Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan
- The Honourable Sylvia O. Fedoruk, Researcher in nuclear medicine and Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan.
- Gerhard Herzberg, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1970 - Offered a position in 1935 to flee Nazi Germany, and remained at the university for ten years.
- William Sarjeant, geologist and novelist.
- Dr. Thorbergur Thorvaldson, internationally known scientist and first dean of graduate studies at the U of S.
[edit] Notable students
- The Right Honourable Raymon Hnatyshyn, 24th Governor General of Canada
- The Honourable Dr. Lynda M. Haverstock, Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan (2000-2006), Leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party (1989-1995)
- The Honourable Fredrick W. Johnson, 16th Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan
- The Honourable George Porteous, 14th Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan
- The Right Honourable John G. Diefenbaker, 13th Prime Minister of Canada
- Diefenbaker was also the university's chancellor. After he died, he and his wife were buried at the university, near the Diefenbaker Canada Centre.
- Henry Taube, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1983
- Dr. John Hewson, Australian politician
[edit] University Administration
[edit] University Presidents
- Walter Charles Murray (1908-37)
- James Sutherland Thomson (1937-49)
- Walter Palmer Thompson (1949-59)
- John William Tranter Spinks (1959-74)
- Robert William Begg (1974-80)
- Leo Friman Kristjanson (1980-89)
- J.W. George Ivany (1989-99)
- R. Peter MacKinnon (1999- )
[edit] University Chancellors
- Edward Ludlow Wetmore (1909-1917)
- Frederick W. A. G. Haultain (1917-1940)
- P. E. MacKenzie (1940-1946)
- Donald Maclean (1946-1947)
- F. H. Auld (1947-1965)
- E.M. Culliton (1965-1969)
- John Diefenbaker (1969-1979)
- Emmett M. Hall (1979-1986)
- Sylvia O. Fedoruk (1986-1989)
- E. K. Turner (1989-1995)
- Peggy McKercher (1995-2001)
- W. Thomas Molloy (2001- )
[edit] Partner universities
[edit] Notable companies started by alumni and spin-offs
- SED Systems
- IL Therapeutics
- Quack.com by Steven Woods B.Sc. '87 and Verna Friesen B.Sc. '87 (acquired by America Online)
