York University

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York University
Motto:	Tentanda via (The way must be tried)
Established:	1959
Type:	Public
Endowment:	$306 million (CAD) [1]
Chancellor:	Roy McMurtry
President:	Mamdouh Shoukri
Staff:	7,000
Undergraduates:	39,100
Postgraduates:	3,300
Location:	Toronto, ON, Canada
Campus:	Urban/Suburban, 2.17km²
Sports teams:	York Lions
Colours:	Red and white
Affiliations:	AUCC, IAU, COU, CIS, OUA, CUSID
Website:	yorku.ca

York University (French: Université York), located in Toronto, Ontario, is Canada's third largest university and has produced several of the country's top leaders in the fields of law, politics, literature, philosophy, journalism, management, meteorological, chemical, and space sciences, and fine arts including film, theatre, jazz and experimental music, dance, digital media, and cultural studies.

York supports a student population of approximately 50,000 and staff of 7,000, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. It is home to 11 faculties, including the Schulich School of Business, Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Environmental Studies, as well as 24 research centres.

Relatively new in the history of universities, York has gained international recognition in several fields, most notably law and management as reflected by the joint degrees it now has with New York University and Northwestern University respectively. York University has always enjoyed a strong participation in the Canadian Space Program. The Faculty of Science and Engineering is Canada's primary research facility into Martian exploration and has designed several space research instruments and applications currently used by NASA.^[2][3]

Contents 1 History 2 Academics 2.1 Faculties 2.1.1 Research centres & institutes 2.2 Libraries 3 Newspapers and other publications 4 Athletics 5 Campuses 5.1 Keele Campus 5.2 Glendon 5.3 Schulich & Osgoode Hall 6 Fraternities and sororities 7 Students 7.1 Colleges 8 Rankings 8.1 Global rankings 8.2 Canada 9 Faculties and abbreviations 9.1 Seneca@York 10 Transit 11 Security services 12 Controversies 13 Presidents 14 Chancellors 15 Noted alumni 15.1 Nobel Laureates 15.2 Politicians 15.3 Judges 15.4 Business leaders 15.5 Artists and Entertainers 15.6 Scientists 15.7 Athletes 15.8 Broadcasters 15.9 Other 16 Noted faculty 17 See also 18 External links 19 References 19.1 Histories of the University

[edit] History

York University, a non-denominational institution in Toronto, Ontario was founded in 1959, by virtue of the York Act, which received Royal Assent in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on March 26 of that year. ^[4] Its first class was held on September 1960, ^[5] in Falconer Hall on the University of Toronto campus with a total of 76 students.

The policy of university education initiated in the 1960s responded to population pressure and the belief that higher education was a key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and for society.^[6] The governance was modelled on the provincial University of Toronto Act of 1906 which established a bicameral system of university government consisting of a senate (faculty), responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens) exercising exclusive control over financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to provide a link between the 2 bodies and to perform institutional leadership. ^[7]

In the fall of 1961, York moved to its first campus, Glendon, and began to emphasize liberal arts and part-time adult education. ^[8]

It became independent in 1965 after an initial period of affiliation with the University of Toronto. Its main campus on the northern outskirts of Toronto opened in 1965. ^[9]

Murray Ross, who continues to be honoured today at the University in several ways, was still vice-president of the University of Toronto (UofT) when approached to become York U's new president. At the time, York U was envisioned as a feeder campus to UofT, until Ross's powerful vision led it to become a completely separate institution.^[10]

In 1965, the university opened a second campus on Toronto's northern outskirts. The Glendon campus became a bilingual liberal arts college led by Escott Reid, who envisioned it as a national institution to educate Canada's future leaders, a vision shared by Prime Minister Lester Pearson, who formally opened Glendon College in 1966.^[11][12] Its bilingual mandate and focus on the liberal arts continue to shape Glendon's special status within York U.^[13] The new Keele campus was regarded as somewhat isolated, in a generally industrialized part of the city. Petrol storage facilities are still located across the street. Some of the early architecture was unpopular with many, not only for the brutalist designs, but the vast expanse between buildings, which was not viewed as suitable for the climate. In the last two decades, the campus has been intensified with new buildings, including a dedicated student centre and new fine arts, computer science and business administration buildings, as well as a small shopping mall, and hockey arena. The Rexall Centre tennis stadium, built in 2004, is a perennial host of the Canada Masters tennis tournament. As Toronto has spread further out, York has found itself in a relatively central location within the built-up Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and in particular, near the Jane and Finch neighbourhood. Its master plan envisions a denser on-campus environment commensurate with that location.

York University offers part-time and full-time undergraduate and graduate degree programs and non-degree courses. ^[14]

[edit] Academics

York University attracts and grooms some of the most promising students of Canada and has produced the current directors and CEOs of almost all the major banks in Canada (Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, TD Bank, Bank of Montreal), the largest and most prominent media networks in Canada (CTV Television Network, Rogers Communications, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), and numerous judges, diplomats, and senior politicians including the current Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada, the Minister of Finance of Canada, the Attorney General of Ontario, the President of the Privy Council of Canada and the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. Astronaut Steve MacLean was educated at York University in the physics department and later taught there before going to work at NASA. Canada's youngest billionaire, Alex Shnaider, is also a graduate of York University.

York's approximately 2,450 full-time faculty and academic librarians are represented by the York University Faculty Association. Contract faculty, teaching assistants, and graduate assistants are represented by CUPE Local 3903.

[edit] Faculties

York University has eleven faculties. Several of these faculties' programs overlap. The Faculties of Arts (which is merging with the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & professional Studies to form the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies in July 2009), Science & Engineering, Liberal & Professional Studies (Atkinson), and Glendon College, for instance, each house separate mathematics departments, although some of these are being merged; the Schulich School of Business (which ranked 1st among Canadian business schools in 2006 by The Economist, The Financial Times, and Forbesmagazines and third in the world in a global ranking of Master of Business Administration programs conducted by the Aspen and World Resources Institutes, two US think tanks; first in Canada according to Forbes and Wall Street Journal 2007) offers undergraduate and graduate International Business Administration programmes, but the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies' School of Administrative Studies acts as a completely separate business school, nevertheless both Atkinson and Schulich share many full time professors any many of Atkinson accounting courses "shadow" those of their Schulich counterpart. Also, Atkinson, Glendon, and Schulich units are offering or are in the processing of preparing to offer degrees in public policy and administration. The University administration has, however, taken steps in some cases to unify departments in separate faculties, in part to support York's efforts to brand itself as a university focused on interdisciplinarity. For example, the Faculty of Health, opened on 1 July 2006, houses the School of Health Policy & Management, School of Kinesiology and Health Science, School of Nursing, and the Department of Psychology (one of the largest in North America).

The Osgoode Hall Law School is one of Canada's oldest and most prestigious law schools, having moved from a downtown location to the York campus in 1969 following the requirement that every law school affiliate with a university. The law school is a top tier internationally recognized institution with several flexible degrees available including the Osgoode-NYU JD/LLB degree in conjunction with New York University School of Law. Osgoode Hall Law School of York University has been ranked the Number One law school in Canada in Canadian Lawyer magazine’s 2008 Law School Survey.

York University offers the first and largest Graphic Design program in Ontario (Bachelor of Design Honours degree)[1]. It is a four-year University degree delivered jointly by the two leading educational institutions of design in Canada, York University and Sheridan College and recognized throughout North America for maintaining the highest academic and professional standards. The alumni demonstrate the excellence of the program through their placements into top design firms, national and international graduate study programs and their high rate of self-employment. The student’s talent and dedication reflects itself at every opportunity. Students have received much recognition in regional, national and international competitions, and with private and government agencies in Canada, the USA and Europe. Retention is the highest in the university, in the mid 90s. Many students have received multiple offers to the leading graduate programs throughout the world in the fields of Design, Architecture, Business, Law, Environmental Studies and Education.

York University's Faculty of Graduate Studies offers graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines, and there are several joint graduate programs with the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. It is the second largest graduate school in the Province of Ontario.

The Ph.D. program at York in Social and Political Thought (http://www.yorku.ca/spt/index.htm} consistently ranks as one of Canada's best PhD programs as reflected by the number of times York U students in this program have won the award for best PhD thesis in Canada. The School of Women's Studies at York University offers a large array of courses in the field, some of which are offered in French. The Canadian Centre for Germanic and European Studiesis co-housed at York University and Université de Montréal. The Centre is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service.

[edit] Research centres & institutes

• Canadian Centre for German and European Studies
• Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry
• Centre for Feminist Research
• Centre for International and Security Studies
• Centre for Jewish Studies
• Centre for Practical Ethics
• Centre for Public Law and Public Policy
• Centre for Refugee Studies
• Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science
• Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry
• Centre for Atmospheric chemistry.
• Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean
• Centre for Research on Work and Society
• Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability
• Institute for Research on Learning Technologies
• York Institute for Social Research
• The Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption
• LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution
• Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies
• York Centre for Asian Research
• York Centre for Vision Research
• York Institute for Health Research

York is the only university in Canada to make Fine Arts its own faculty and has a world class art gallery (Art Gallery of York University at www.yorku.ca/agyu).The Faculty of Fine Arts is one of the most competitive in Canada, offering programs such as ethnomusicology, cultural studies, visual arts, music, dance, and theatre. York's jazz department is particularly well-reputed and was once overseen by jazz great Oscar Peterson. York also has a joint Bachelor of Design program with Sheridan College. York's Departments of Film, Theatre and Creative Writing (which is not officially affiliated with the Faculty of Fine Arts) offer highly competitive programs in film production/directing, acting, and writing respectively, producing many award-winning graduates. The founders of Toronto's critically acclaimed Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival and CineACTION film theory magazine were graduates of York's Faculty of Fine Arts.

York's Dance department is highly reputed and competitive and was founded by National Ballet of Canada's first choreographer Grant Strate.

York offers a Space & Communication Sciences undergraduate degree. York’s Centre for Vision Research has developed a ‘virtual reality room’ called IVY (Immersive Virtual Environment at York) in order to study spatial orientation and perception of gravity and motion. The Canadian Space Agency and National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) use this room to strengthen astronauts’ sense of ‘up’ and ‘down’ in zero-gravity environments. The room is a six-sided immersive environment made of the glass used in the CN Tower’s observation deck and includes walls, ceiling, and a floor comprised of computer-generated pixel maps. York's Faculty of Science and Engineering most recently took part in the 2007 NASA Phoenix (spacecraft) Mars Mission.

York is also the only university in Canada with specialized programs in meteorological sciences at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

[edit] Libraries

York's six libraries contain more than six-and-a-half million items including more than two million books and subscriptions to over 13,000 electronic journals. Scott Library is the largest of these and houses collections in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. Science-related items are at the Steacie Science Library, while the Osgoode Hall Law School houses the largest law library in the Commonwealth. The Leslie Frost library is located at Glendon College and houses collections in all disciplines with a significant proportion of research materials in the French language. The Peter F. Bronfman Business Library, in addition to print materials, gives access to dozens of e-resources such as the Bloomberg Terminal. Finally, the Clara Thomas Archives contains the literary and personal papers of many notable Canadian cultural figures such as Margaret Laurence, Rohinton Mistry, Adele Wiseman, bill bissett, Wayne Ray and others. The Government of Ontario announced in December 2006 that it would relocate the Archives of Ontario from rented facilities on Grenville Street to the Keele campus. A new building will house the archives and provide room for university researchers. The building is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2009.

[edit] Newspapers and other publications

Excalibur has been the university's autonomous student newspaper since 1967. It has been described as "muck-raking" and "feisty" in several major Toronto newspapers.

Colleges and some programs also have individual newpapers or zines. They include: The Flying Walrus (Stong College), MacMedia (McLaughlin College), The Pipe (Calumet College), Winters Free Press (Winters College), SOFA (Spotlight On Fine Arts), The Lexicon (Norman Bethune College), The Vandoo (Vanier College), Obiter Dicta (Osgoode Law School), Pro Tem (Glendon College), The Insider (Schulich School of Business), The Phoenix (Founders College), and The Atkinson Beat (Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies).

Existere - Journal of Arts and Literature (est. 1978) is a national publication with local and international contributors. It is financed by Vanier College Council. The journal publishes short fiction, poetry, non-fiction and art from novices and seasoned veterans. Several major writers got their early start in Existere.

YorkU Magazine (est. 2003) is the official magazine of York University. It publishes five times per year in hard copy and digital editions.

e-MAGINED (est. 2007) is The Canadian electronic-Magazine of International Education. It is produced three times yearly by York International.

[edit] Athletics

The University is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the York Lions. Beginning in 1968 York's sporting teams were known as the "Yeomen", after the Yeomen Warders, the guardians of the fortress and palace at the Tower of London, otherwise known as Beefeaters. Later, the name "Yeowomen" was introduced to encourage women to participate in sports, as "Yeomen" was deemed to be gender-specific. Popular sentiment ran against this name scheme, however, as many students were fond of noting that a "Yeowoman" was fictitious, neither a real word nor having any historical merit. In 2003, after conducting an extensive internal study, the University replaced both names with the "Lions", as part of a larger re-branding effort, and a new logo, now a white and red lion, was brought into line with the university's new visual scheme. The name change also brought York University in line with the 92% of other Canadian universities which use a single name for both genders' sports teams. Ironically, students often refer to the female Lions teams as the "York Lionesses", despite the fact that the name "Lion" is intended to apply to both genders. [2]

SportYork offers 29 interuniversity sport teams, 12 sport clubs, 35 intramural sport leagues, special events and 10 pick-up sport activities offered daily.

York U has several athletic facilities, some of which are used for major tournaments. These include a football stadium, 4 gymnasia, 5 sport playing fields, 4 softball fields, 9 outdoor tennis courts, 5 squash courts, 3 dance/aerobic studios, an ice arena, a swimming pool, an expanding fitness centre and the new Rexall Centre (home of the Rogers Tennis Cup).

In 2005, plans were made to build a new football and soccer stadium to host the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League as well as future football tournaments. These plans were scuttled, however, when a deal was signed by the Argos to remain at the Rogers Centre. York's proximity to many of Toronto's cricket-playing communities and role as host of an annual "York is U" cricket tournament has led to speculation that the university might act as a permanent home for Canada's cricket program.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Campuses

[edit] Keele Campus

Main article: Keele Campus (York University)

York's primary campus ("The Keele Campus") is located in the former municipality of North York. Most of the University's faculties reside here, including Arts, Fine Arts, Environmental Studies, Science and Engineering, Education, and Health. Altogether, nearly 50 000 students attend classes on the Keele campus.

[edit] Glendon

Glendon College, a bilingual liberal arts faculty which conducts its own recruitment and admissions and hosts its own academic programs, is also housed on its own campus on Bayview Avenue in North Toronto. Glendon is the only university-level institution in Southern Ontario that offers university courses in both French and English; others elsewhere in Ontario include the University of Ottawa and Laurentian University in Sudbury. A shuttle bus runs regularly between the Glendon and the Keele campuses. Glendon students are generally free to take courses at the Keele campus (and vice-versa), but the difficulty of getting from one campus to the other reduces the attractiveness of this option.

[edit] Schulich & Osgoode Hall

While most of the Schulich School of Business and Osgoode Hall programs are offered at the Keele Campus, both of them maintain satellite facilities in downtown Toronto. Schulich operates the Miles S. Nadal Management Centre, while Osgoode Hall teaches some professional development courses at a facility on Dupont street.

[edit] Fraternities and sororities

Prior to 1989, membership in a fraternity or sorority at York University was forbidden. In 1989, the related senate resolution was revoked and replaced with Presidential Regulation Number 5 which does not forbid membership but rather denies official status to fraternities and sororities at York University. The reasons given in this regulation are that fraternities and sororities deflect students from participation in the College system, that their commitment to exclusivity is in conflict with York's principles of inclusivity (no student club is allowed to deny membership except on the grounds of major, for those organisations with representation to their department), and are often associated with inappropriate conduct. Over the years, however, four fraternities and three sororities have operated, unofficially, on campus:

Fraternities:

• Alpha Epsilon Pi (ΑΕΠ) - (Eta Pi Chapter - York University)
• Phi Delta Theta (ΦΔΘ) - (Ontario Delta Chapter - York University)
• Phi Kappa Pi (ΦΚΠ) - (Sigma Pi Chapter - York University)
• Sigma Alpha Mu (ΣΑΜ) - (Gamma Omicron Chapter - York University)

Sororities:

• Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΑΚΑ) - [3]
• Delta Pi (ΔΠ) - (Local)
• Sigma Delta Tau (ΣΔΤ) - Gamma Omicron Chapter (inactive)

Phi Delta Phi (ΦΔΦ) international legal fraternity, at Osgoode Law School, was given special dispensation when the law school became part of the university, as the fraternity's history with the law school dated back to 1896, and is recognized at York.

[edit] Students

York has more than 50,000 students enrolled. Many students come from the Greater Toronto Area, but there is a sizeable population of students from across Canada and abroad, making York one of the most international universities in Canada. To serve this large population, there are 225 student clubs and organisations; six student-run publications and three broadcast programs; six art galleries; 33 on-campus eateries; and a retail mall. Undergraduate students at York are represented by the York Federation of Students, a student-elected body that sponsors most of the clubs and engages in lobbying with the university administration and the provincial and federal governments. While the YFS is one of the largest student associations in Canada (by virtue of York's large undergraduate population), it has often come under fire for being too political rather than focusing on student specific issues.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Colleges

York has nine undergraduate residential colleges:

Colleges of York University (Arts)
Name (Founded)	Motto/Mandate	Academic Affiliations	Undergrad Population	Namesake
Calumet (1970)	"Technology and the Arts"	Schulich School of Business, Economics, Geography, Business and society, Cognitive science, Communication studies, Urban studies	4806	French word for a type of rock.
Founders (1965)	"Self, Culture & Society"	Anthropology, French, Italian, History, African studies, East Asian studies, Latin American and Caribbean studies, South Asian studies, International Development, Women's studies	4185	Those who founded York University and are not otherwise recognized.
McLaughlin (1968)	Public Policy & Social Sciences	Political science, Sociology, Law and society, Criminology, Public policy, Health and society, Labour studies	5128	Colonel Samuel McLaughlin, businessman and philanthropist.
Norman Bethune (1972)	"Science and its Place in the World"	Science, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Science and society	6261	Dr. Norman Bethune, Canadian doctor and Chinese hero.
Stong (1969)	Language and Sport	English and other Languages, Kinesiology, Health science	4336	The Stong family lived for 130 years on the land now occupied by the Keele campus.
Vanier (1965)	Humanities	Classics, Creative writing, Humanities, Education, Philosophy, Psychology, Theology	4667	Georges Vanier, Governor-General of Canada.
Winters (1967)	Fine Arts	Fine Arts	2574	Robert Winters, Canadian Cabinet Minister and York's first chairman.
Atkinson College and Glendon College operate their own internal systems, and are not included in this table.

--Also, for a bit of trivia, the different houses that make up Founders Residence are actually named after the Group of Seven (Varley House, Harris House, etc.), or as the plaque at the building says, 'The Founders of Canadian Art."

Pond Road Residence

In September 2004, York opened its newest undergraduate residence complex - The Pond Road Residence. Home to approximately 430 students, Pond Road is the largest residence on campus and differs from the other residence buildings because it is not affiliated with any college. Thus, there is a diverse mix of both Canadian and international students from all disciplines living there.

There are over 5,800 spaces in residence, which are mostly given to first and second year students. However, there is a sizeable population of post-grad residences on campus, including Passy Gardens and the Harry Crowman Complex. For undergraduate residences, preference is given to students that come from areas outside of the GTA and out-of-province and international students. However, many students opt for private accommodation in the nearby 'student ghetto', or the popular and attractive 'Village at York' which sits in a 200 acre urban development plan made up of modern and classical styled townhouses and flats in the east side of the main campus.

The Village at York University

The Village at York off campus student housing area has become quite a popular area of accommodation for many upper year and post-grad students, and the area has had a large amount of attention particularly for large parties hosted by students, including the annual Battle of the Village kegger held in March. There have also been many reports of the level of noise pollution from late night parties from students living in the area.^[15]

York University has also begun to extend the Village, with more housing nearer to the campus gates, and an urban market place at Pond and Sentinel Roads, that will have several restaurants, bars, student shops and a mini grocery.

[edit] Rankings

[edit] Global rankings

See also: Canadian University Rankings and Schulich School of Business

• The Times 2007 (THES) World Rankings placed York University at 248th out of the top 400 universities^[16] The same survey ranked York 41st best social science university in the world ^[17]
• The Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2007 Academic Ranking of World Universities placed York in the range of 403-510 of the universities surveyed.^[18]
• The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities 2008, which conducts an annual ranking of the World's Top 4000 Universities, placed York at 115 out of 4000.^[19]

[edit] Canada

• Maclean's 2007 Canadian university listing placed York 8^th in the "comprehensive" ranking. ^[20] Maclean's reputational survey ranked the university 25^th by surveying over 11,000 qualified individuals, asking for their views.^[21]
• In the Globe and Mail 2007 University Report Card, based on student feedback surveys York's "grade" was 'B'.^[22]
• The Gourman Report, an independent US based think tank, ranked York University 6th out of the top 60 universities in Canada in 1998.^[23]

[edit] Faculties and abbreviations

• Arts (AS)[4]
• Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies (AK)[5]
• Education (ED)
• Environmental Studies (ES)[6]
• Fine Arts (FA)[7]
• Glendon College (GL)
• Graduate Studies (GS)
• Health (HH)[8]
• Osgoode Hall Law School (OS)
• Schulich School of Business (SB)
• Science and Engineering (SC)[9]
• York University & Sheridan College Bachelors of Design Honours (YSDN)[10]

[edit] Seneca@York

The Keele campus is host to a satellite facility of Seneca College, Seneca@York, and York University offers a number of joint programs with Seneca College:

• School of Communication Arts
• Computer Studies
• Biological Science and Applied Chemistry
• Corporate and Technical Communications

[edit] Transit

Main articles: York University (YRT), York University GO Station, and York University (TTC)

York University is sometimes referred to as a "commuter school". Over 65% of the students and staff have home addresses in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), particularly in the York Region and downtown Toronto. For students that do live at home commute by car or transit, although many students are opting for public transit due to York's inflated parking fees. York intends to increase the fees for parking for the 2009/10 academic year to combat the congestion around the campus and to assist the fight for making Toronto more environmentally friendly^{[citation needed]}.

Close to fourteen hundred buses move people through the campus each day; a proposed extension of the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line would help alleviate this problem. It would run directly under the campus, creating new stations at Keele and Finch (Finch West), at the centre of campus (York University), and at Steeles Avenue, interfacing with York Region Transit (Steeles West).

York University's Glendon and Keele campuses are served by the Toronto Transit Commission. The Keele site is also served by York Region Transit buses (both regular and Viva) from the immediate north, GO Transit express buses from several other Toronto suburbs and Greyhound buses for regional transportation. The department of Security, Parking and Transportation Services operates a shuttle service to GO Transit's York University train station on its Bradford corridor.

[edit] Security services

York University Security Service provides security services on the university's campuses. York Security Services provide uniformed security officers, campus liaison officers (community services unit) and the Investigative Unit which works closely with the Toronto Police service. Patrols are conducted on foot, bicycle and vehicle. The security service is a member of the Ontario Association of College and University Security Administrators (OACUSA) and the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA).

[edit] Controversies

A tradition of activist politics on campus has resulted in vocal demonstrations, particularly concerning issues relating to the Middle East and economic globalization. There have been criticisms of both activist groups by the administration and media, for disrupting classes and provoking confrontations between students, and of the university administration for its response to demonstrators and activists, including expulsion and alleged police misconduct against activists.

As well, a controversy arose in 2005 regarding the sale of university land for a nearby townhouse development, and whether the developer, Tribute Communities, paid the full market price for the land. York University maintained that it was the best overall proposal. An independent investigation conducted by retired judge Edward Saunders verified that there had been no misconduct.

In October 2005, Professor David F. Noble, in opposition to York's practice of cancelling classes on the Jewish High Holidays, which originated in 1974 in deference to the university's large proportion of Jewish students and faculty members at that time, applied to the university's senate body for review of the policy. Upon the York senate's affirmation of the policy, he pledged that he would teach on those days anyway, but later decided to instead poll students in his courses, asking if they wished future classes to be cancelled out of respect for other religious holidays.

On March 31, 2006, in the case of Freeman-Maloy v. Marsden, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the University, and its President Dr. Lorna Marsden could be sued by plaintiff Daniel Freeman-Maloy for "misfeasance in public office."[11]

Additional controversies are published in the official memoir of Murray Ross, the university's first president. (See 'References' section below.)

[edit] Presidents

• Murray G. Ross 1959-1970
• David Slater 1970-1973
• H. Ian Macdonald 1973-1984
• Harry W. Arthurs 1985-1992
• Susan Mann 1993-1997
• Lorna Marsden 1997 - 2007
• Mamdouh Shoukri 2007 - present^[24]

[edit] Chancellors

• Wilfred A. Curtis, RCAF air marshal, 1959-1968
• Floyd S. Chalmers, publisher, 1968-1973
• Walter L. Gordon, federal cabinet minister, 1973-1977
• John P. Robarts, premier of Ontario, 1977-1982
• John S. Proctor, banker, 1982-1983
• J. Tuzo Wilson, geophysicist, 1983-1986
• Larry Clarke, founder of SPAR Aerospace, 1986-1991
• Oscar Peterson, jazz piano great, 1991-1994
• Arden Haynes, businessman, 1994-1998
• Avie J. Bennett, businessman, 1998-2004
• Peter deCarteret Cory, jurist, 2004-2008
• Roy McMurtry, politician and judge, 2008-Present

[edit] Noted alumni

This section does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This list includes graduates of Osgoode Hall Law School prior to its affiliation with York University.

[edit] Nobel Laureates

• Roger Pulwarty - atmospheric scientist and environmentalist

[edit] Politicians

• John Black Aird - former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Canadian Senator
• Lincoln Alexander - former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
• Maurizio Bevilacqua - former federal Minister and Secretary of State for Canada
• Marion Boyd - former Attorney General of Ontario
• Michael Bryant - Attorney-General of Ontario
• Aileen Carroll - former Minister for International Cooperation
• Carme Chacon - Minister of Defence for the present Government of Spain
• Joseph Clarke - former mayor of Edmonton, Alberta
• Marshall A. Cohen - former President and CEO of Molson, member of the Trilateral Commission
• David Collenette - former senior federal cabinet minister
• Deborah Coyne - prominent legal scholar, former girlfriend of ex-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
• George Drew - 14th Premier of Ontario
• Bill Davis - 18th Premier of Ontario
• Ernie Eves - 23rd Premier of Ontario
• J. S. Ewart QC, advocate of Canadian independence
• Gordon O'Connor - Former Minister of National Defence of Canada
• Martha Hall Findlay - Member of Parliament and active member of the Liberal Party of Canada
• Jim Flaherty - Minister of Finance of Canada
• Leslie Frost - 16th Premier of Ontario
• Herb Gray - former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, former Solicitor General of Canada
• Barbara Hall - former Mayor of Toronto, current Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission
• Carol Hansell - Board of Directors, Bank of Canada
• Charles Harnick - former Attorney General of Ontario
• Ron Irwin - former Federal Cabinet Minister, former Ambassador to Ireland, current Consul to Boston
• James Kelleher, former member of the Canadian Senate
• William Lyon Mackenzie King, former Prime Minister of Canada
• Peter Kormos - former Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations, House Leader for the Ontario NDP Caucus
• Zahir Lalani - Consul and Senior Representative for New York at the Bank of Canada
• Jack Layton - Leader of the federal New Democratic Party
• Floyd Laughren - former Ontario NDP MPP and finance minister
• William Ross Macdonald - former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
• Paul Martin Sr. - longtime MP and celebrated Canadian politician
• John Matheson - former MP, retired judge, and founder of the Canadian Flag
• Roy McMurtry - former Attorney General of Ontario
• John McNee - Canadian ambassador to United Nations
• Arthur Meighen - former Prime Minister of Canada
• James O'Reilly - Federal politician
• John Robarts - 17th Premier of Ontario
• Ian Scott - former Attorney General of Ontario
• Karen Kraft Sloan - former United Nations Ambassador of the environment
• Greg Sorbara - Ontario Minister of Finance
• John Tory - Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
• Peter Van Loan - President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
• Robert Stanley Welch - former Deputy Premier of Ontario, Former Attorney General of Ontario
• George Stanley White, Speaker of the Canadian Senate
• David Young - former Attorney General of Ontario

[edit] Judges

• Archie Campbell (jurist) - legal giant, led inquiry into SARS
• Kim Carter - former Chief Military Judge of the Canadian Forces, current Ombudsmen of British Columbia.^[25]
• John Robert Cartwright - former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
• Peter Cory - former puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada and current Chancellor of the university
• Frank Joseph Hughes - Supreme Court Judge.
• Wilfred Judson - former puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada
• Patrick Kerwin - former Chief Justice of Canada
• Harry S. Laforme - Ont. Court of Appeal, head of Aboriginal Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
• Bora Laskin - former Chief Justice of Canada
• Claire L'Heureux-Dube former judge of the Supreme Court of Canada (LLD)
• Allen Linden - Federal Court of Appeal judge
• Goldwyn Arthur Martin, QC - former Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal, prominent criminal law scholar.
• Roy McMurtry - former Chief Justice of Ontario
• Dennis O'Connor - of the Ontario Court of Appeal and Associate Chief Justice of Ontario
• James O'Reilly - Federal Court of Canada.^[26]
• John D. Richard - Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada
• Wishart Spence - former puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada
• Warren Winkler - Chief Justice of Ontario

[edit] Business leaders

• Isabel Bassett - former MPP and Chief Executive Officer of TVOntario
• Sir Edward Wentworth Beatty- President of the Canadian Pacific Railway
• Douglas G. Bergeron - billionaire, President and CEO of Verifone.
• George Butterfield - co-founder of luxury active travel company Butterfield & Robinson
• Bernd Christmas - Board of Directors, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• Ivan Fecan - President and Chief Executive Officer, CTV
• Gordon Lownds - co-founder of Sleep Country Canada
• Rob McEwen - President and CEO of US Gold Corporation
• Sergio Marchionne - President and CEO of Fiat
• Larry Organ - Chief Executive Officer, ConsumerBase LLC, Founder of FastWeb and JobsOnline
• Edward Samuel Rogers - business tycoon, President and CEO Rogers Communications
• Alex Shnaider - Chairman of Royal Laser Corp. and co-founder of Midland Group Midland Group, Canada's youngest billionaire
• Richard E. Waugh - President and Chief Executive Officer, Scotiabank

[edit] Artists and Entertainers

• Murat Akser - film director, cultural historian
• Will Beauchamp - award winning filmmaker, Warner Bros. Canada representative
• Mark Bluvshtein, chess grandmaster
• Christian Bök - acclaimed poet, professor at University of Calgary
• Arthur Bourinot - Governor General's Award for Poetry
• Elizabeth Bradely - Chair of Drama at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University
• Shannon Bramer - poet
• Natalie Brown - star of Sophie on CBC
• Amanda Brugel - co-star on MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives on CBC
• Gerry Dee - comedian (Last Comic Standing)
• Robert Duncan - composer
• Melyssa Ford - model and actress, on-air personality for Sirius Satellite Radio
• Thea Gill - actress (Queer as Folk)
• Douglas Glover - acclaimed writer, Governor General's Award for Fiction
• Katherine Govier - novelist, winner of Marian Engel Award
• Larysa Harapyn - entertainment reporter for CityTV
• Mark Irwin - cinematographer (Me, Myself & Irene, Scream, There's Something About Mary)
• Kardinal Offishall - Canadian Musician
• Vikas Kohli - producer and founder of Fatlabs
• Bruce LaBruce - Underground Filmmaker and icon of the gay arts community (JD's, Vinyl)
• Ringo Lam - Hong Kong action director, inspired Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs
• Jerry Levitan - producer and star of Oscar Award nominated animated short "I Met the Walrus"
• Orville Lloyd Douglas - poet/writer
• Peter Lynch - filmmaker (Project Grizzly)
• Rachel McAdams - actress (Mean Girls, Wedding Crashers, The Notebook)
• Steve McCaffery - poet
• Annemarie Morais - internationally acclaimed award winning filmmaker (How She Move)
• Mike Murley - jazz musician, recipient of Juno Award
• Steven Page - musician, lead singer for the Barenaked Ladies
• Mark Penney - film director
• Ramona Pringle - actor (Shoot 'Em Up)
• Dina Pugliese - Television Personality, Co-Host of CityTV's Breakfast Television
• Michael Redhill - award winning poet, playwright and novelist, editorial board of Coach House Press
• Nino Ricci - writer, Governor General's Award for Fiction
• Spencer Rice - actor/director (Kenny vs. Spenny)
• Peter Robinson - English-born Canadian-based detective novelist
• Don Ross - noted fingerstyle guitar champion, lauded by Bruce Cockburn
• Albert Schultz - actor
• Eddie Schwartz - legendary songwriter/producer (ex. The Doobie Bros, Pat Benetar)
• Sarah Slean - singer-songwriter
• Ron Sparks - comedian/actor/writer, (Video on Trial)
• Priya Thomas - musician
• Raymond Thompson - Creator of hit New Zealand teen/sci-fi television series, The Tribe
• Scott Thompson - comedian/actor, (The Kids in the Hall, The Larry Sanders Show, My Fabulous Gay Wedding)
• Larry Towell - celebrated photographer
• Maurice Dean Wint - actor, nominated for a Dora Award

[edit] Scientists

• Nigel Lockyer - Director of TRIUMF, Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics located at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Lockyer who graduated from York University's physics department was formerly a Professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Steve MacLean - astronaut
• Helen Rodd - award-winning zoologist

[edit] Athletes

• Karen Cockburn - Olympic medallist, trampoline (Silver in 2004, Bronze in 2000)
• Jeff Johnson - Professional Football Player (Currently playing for the CFL's Toronto Argonauts)
• Carlos Newton - Mixed Martial Artist (Former UFC Welterweight Champion)
• Trish Stratus - Former professional wrestler
• Mathieu Turgeon - Olympic medallist, trampoline (Bronze in 2000)

[edit] Broadcasters

• Zuraidah Alman - Canada News Anchor for Global News
• Barbara Budd - award-winning senior journalist with the CBC
• Nick Czernkovich - meteorologist for CBC
• Ken Daniels - former Hockey Night in Canada host, current Detroit Red Wings commentator on FSN Detroit
• Melissa DiMarco - TV personality and actress. has her own show and a role on Degrassi
• Nancy Durham - journalist and foreign correspondent for the CBC, married to Oxford philosopher Bill Newton-Smith
• Jian Ghomeshi - CBC host, musician, writer and producer
• Michael Harris - Ottawa Sun columnist, Woodrow Wilson Scholar
• Chantal Hebert - award-winning journalist for The Toronto Star as well as Le Devoir and National Post among others, and commentator on Canadian politics, appears often on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• Michael Hirsh - co-founder of Nelvana international animation company based in Toronto (Babar, Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, Bob and Margaret)
• Patrick Loubert - co-founder of Nelvana
• Hazel Mae, news anchor and personality on NESN in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Brian Milner - senior columnist for the Globe and Mail
• Jacquie Perrin - host of CBC's Saturday Report, accomplished pilot.
• Beatrice Politi - political specialist on CP24 in Ottawa
• B.W. Powe - writer and columnist for The Globe and Mail
• Dina Pugliese - co-host of Breakfast Television on CityTV in Toronto
• Natasha Ramsahai - chief meteorologist for CBC Canada
• Sandie Rinaldo - award-winning CTV news anchor for all of Canada
• Paula Todd - award-winning journalist and host of TVOntario's Person to Person and CTV's The Verdict
• Zain Verjee - CNN writer and producer, anchor of Situation Room on CNN

[edit] Other

• Gord Ash - Former Toronto Blue Jays General Manager (1995-2001) and current Milwaukee Brewers assistant to the General Manager.
• Harry Black - humanitarian, former Executive Director of UNICEF Canada.
• Gwen Boniface former Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.
• Marlys Edwardh - civil rights lawyer who repesented Maher Arar.
• Ward P.D. Elcock - former Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
• Susan Eng - former chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, Director of Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
• Melyssa Ford - model and BET personality.
• George N. Farr - computer scientist at IBM Toronto Software Lab, author and speaker on programming.
• Cecil Foster - novelist, essayist and sociologist.
• Edward Greenspan - criminal defense lawyer (clients include Conrad Black among others).
• Edmund Ho - Chief Executive of Macau.
• Sheldon Levy - President & Vice-Chancellor of Ryerson University
• Deborah McCawley - former Chief Executive Officer for the Law Society of Manitoba, currently sitting as a Manitoba judge.
• Gavin MacKenzie - Treasurer (the head) of the Law Society of Upper Canada
• James MacKinnon - head of the Economics department at Queen's University
• Julian Porter - former Commissioner of the Toronto Transit Commission and President of the Canadian National Exhibition
• Victoria Pratt - actress, fitness model, fitness writer
• Pat Quinn - former coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL hockey team
• David Rocco - celebrity chef, actor and producer
• Clayton Ruby - criminal defense lawyer
• Tom Traves - President & Vice-Chancellor of Dalhousie University
• Lorne Waldman - renowned Canadian immigration lawyer
• Tom Wright (CFL) - former commissioner of the Canadian Football League, former President of Adidas Canada
• Alan Young - renowned Canadian constitutional lawyer and civil rights activist

[edit] Noted faculty

• Irving Abella, history
• William Phillips, Professor of Economics, notable for his contribution in Economics with the Phillips Curve
• Louise Arbour, Professor of Law, currently UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Harry Arthurs, law and former President of York University
• Paul Axelrod, education
• Joel Bakan, law, author of The Corporation
• Richard Wellen, Business and Society, Chief Editor for the Toronto Journal of Development Economics
• Shannon Bell, performance philosopher, political scientist, feminist
• Heather Monroe-Blum, currently the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University
• Hédi Bouraoui, French and English literature
• Rob Bowman, ethnomusicology
• Ed Broadbent (1960s) - former leader of the federal New Democratic Party
• Jean-Gabriel Castel - Professor Emeritus of Law
• Jerome Ch'en - Professor Emeritus of History
• G. Ramsay Cook - Professor Emeritus of History
• Neil Leon Rudenstine, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, former president of Harvard University
• Andrea Davis - Professor of Humanities, Latin American Caribbean Studies, History, English
• Christopher Dewdney - author, Professor of English Literature
• Barbara Godard - Professor of English and the Avie Bennett Historica Chair in Canadian Literature.
• Jack Granatstein - Professor Emeritus of History
• Leslie Green, Professor, Law, Philosophy, and Social and Political Thought, permanent Chair in Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford
• Christopher D. Green, Professor of Psychology and Philosophy, President-elect of the Society for the History of Psychology (APA Division 26)
• John Greyson - film director
• Peter Hogg - Professor Emeritus of Law , constitutional expert, former Dean of Osgoode
• Michiel Horn - Professor Emeritus of History, University Historian
• Ali Kazimi - filmmaker
• Gabriel Kolko - Professor Emeritus of History
• Paul Laurendeau - Professor, Department of French Studies, linguist and language philosopher
• James Laxer - author, columnist and commentator, Professor of Canadian Politics
• Irving Layton - poet
• Jack Layton - leader of the New Democratic Party
• Lee Lorch - Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, civil rights activist, member of Cuban Academy of Sciences
• Edelgard Mahant, political science
• Patrick J. Monahan - Professor of Law
• Jonathan Nitzan - Professor of Political Economy
• David F. Noble - Historian of Technology
• Michael Ondaatje - author and filmmaker, Professor of English Literature
• Leo Panitch - Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science (Canada Research Chair in Political Economy), editor of the Socialist Register
• Andreas Papandreou - Greek Prime Minister, Economics Professor (1969-1974)
• Sergei M. Plekhanov - Professor of Political Science, member of Soviet Academy of Sciences
• B. W. Powe - Professor of English
• John Ridpath - Objectivist philosopher and retired Associate Professor of Economics and Intellectual History
• Paul Roazen - Professor Emeritus of Social and Political Science, founder of meta-psychotherapy
• J.T. Saywell - Professor Emeritus of History
• David N. Stamos - Professor of Philosophy
• Grant Strate - founder of York's Dance department and first resident choreographer of National Ballet of Canada
• Orest Subtelny Professor of History
• Priscilla Uppal - professor of creative writing nominated for Griffin Poetry Prize
• Ellen Wood - historian and critic of political theory
• Neal Wood - historian
• Robin Wood - Professor Emeritus of Film and Video, famous film critic

[edit] See also

• York University Observatory

[edit] External links

• York University
• York International
• York Federation of Students (YFS)
• York University Development Corporation (YUDC)
• YorkU Magazine
• e-MAGINED - The Canadian e-Magazine of International Education
• Existere - Journal of Arts and Literature
• Atkinson Centre for Mature and Part-time Students
• York University Mature Students Organization
• Tentanda Via (Underground)
• York U Library
• York U Library (catalogue-web)
• Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada profile

[edit] References

[edit] Histories of the University

• Paul Axelrod 'Scholars and Dollars: Politics, Economics, and the Universities of Ontario 1945-1980' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, September 1, 1982)
• Dr. Michael Horn, History of York University@ 50 (York University Press © 2009) in progress
• Professor Brian McKillop, 'Matters of Mind: The University in Ontario, 1791-1951' (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press ©1951)
• Ross, Murray. "The Way Must be Tried: Memoirs of A University Man." Toronto: Stoddart Publishing Company, 1992.
• John T. Saywell 'Someone to Teach Them: York and the Great University Explosion, 1960?1973' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, May 24, 2008)
• York University. "York Campus Master Plan." IBI BIA Group, 1998.
• UPACE. "Master Plan for the York University Campus." Toronto: Howarth and Smith Monotype Limited, 1963.

Coordinates: 43°46′23.04″N, 79°30′13.07″W

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