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Coordinates: 49°15′41″N 123°15′14″W 49.2613354, -123.2538128

University of British Columbia

• Location & Contact Information
  • Address, Directions, & Map:
    • 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  • Telephone Numbers: 604.822.2211
  • Official Website: [1]
• History & Memorable Moments

A provincial university was first called into being by the British Columbia University Act of 1890. The Act constituted a twenty-one member senate with Dr. Israel W. Powell of Victoria as Chancellor. ^[1]

Attempts at establishing a degree-granting university with assistance from the Universities of Toronto and McGill saw varying degrees of success. McGill University College was set up by Henry Marshall Tory in an arrangement with McGill during 1906 to 1908, as a private institution granting McGill University degrees until 1915. ^[1]

In the meantime appeals were again made to the government to revive the earlier legislation for a provincial institution, leading to the University Endowment Act in 1907, and The University Act in 1908. In 1910 the Point Grey site was chosen, and the government appointed Dr. Frank Fairchild Wesbrook as President in 1913. The outbreak of war in August, 1914 compelled the University to postpone plans for building at Point Grey, and instead the former McGill University College site at Fairview became home to the University until 1925. The first day of lectures was September 30, 1915. ^[1]

World War I dominated campus life, and the student body was "decimated" by enlistments for active service, with three hundred UBC students in Company "D" alone. By the end of the war, 697 members of the University had enlisted. A total of 109 students graduated in the three war-time congregations, all but one in the Faculties of Arts and Science. ^[1]

By 1920, the university had only three faculties: Arts, Applied Science, and Agriculture (with Departments of Agronomy, Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Horticulture and Poultry). It only awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.). There were 1,189 male students and 341 female students, but only 64 academic staff, including 6 women. ^[1]

In 1922 the now twelve-hundred-strong student body embarked on a "Build the University" campaign. 56,000 signatures were presented at legislature in support, and on September 22, 1925, lectures began on the new Point Grey campus. ^[1]

Except for the Library, Science and Power House buildings, all the campus buildings were temporary constructions. Two playing fields were built by the students themselves, but the University had no dormitories and no social centre. Still, the University continued to grow by leaps and bounds. View of the north part of the Point Grey Campus, including Green College, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and the Museum of Anthropology. The Grand Campus Washout of 1935 carved a ravine from the area at the top left corner, diagonally through the wooded gully, to the beach. ^[1]

Soon, however, the effects of the depression began to be felt. In 1932-33 salaries were cut by up to 23%. Posts remained vacant, and many faculty lost their jobs. Most graduate courses were dropped. Just as things began to improve, World War II broke out. ^[1]

Canada declared war on September 10, 1939. Soon afterwards, University President Klinck wrote: ^[1]

   From the day of the declaration of war, the University has been prepared to put at the disposal of the Government all possible assistance by way of laboratories, equipment and trained personnel, insofar as such action is consistent with the maintenance of reasonably efficient instructional standards. To do less would be unthinkable. [1]

Military training on the campus became popular, and WWII marked the first provision of money from the federal government to the University. By the end of the war, it became clear that the facilities at Point Grey had become totally inadequate. The University needed new staff, new courses, new faculties, and new buildings for teaching and accommodation. The student population rose from 2,974 in 1944-45 to 9,374 in 1947-48. ^[1]

Surplus Army and Air Force camps were used for both classrooms and accommodation. Fifteen complete camps were taken over by the University in the course of the 1945-46 session alone, with a sixteenth camp, situated on Little Mountain in Vancouver, converted into suites for married students. ^[1]

Student numbers hit 9,374 in 1948; more than 53% of the students were war veterans in 1947-67. Between 1947 and 1951 twenty new permanent buildings were erected. ^[1]

Heavy rains and melting snowfall eroded a deep ravine across the north end of the campus, in the Grand Campus Washout of 1935. The campus did not yet have storm drains, and surface runoff went down a ravine to the beach. When the University carved a ditch to drain flooding on University Avenue, the rush of water steepened the ravine and eroded it back as fast as 10 feet per hour. The resulting gully eventually consumed 100,000 cubic yards, two bridges, and buildings near Graham House. The University was closed for 4½ days. Afterwards, the gully was filled with debris from a nearby landslide, and only traces are visible today. ^[1]

• Coat of arms

Coat of Arms, with the Latin motto Tuum est or "It Is Yours" ^[1]

The Coat of Arms of UBC has the second longest history of all the post secondary institutions of British Columbia, dating back to 1915. ^[1]

• The university today

Rose Garden

UBC's current president is Dr. Stephen Toope, appointed on July 1, 2006. He succeeds Dr. Martha Piper, who was the University's first female president and the first non-Canadian born president. ^[1]

The Vice-President (VP) Students is Brian Sullivan; VP External and Legal is Dennis Pavlich, VP Research is John Hepburn and VP Finance and Administration is Terry Sumner. The Provost pro tem and Vice-President Academic, is currently Dr. George A. Mackie, after the recent resignation of Dr. Lorne Whitehead. ^[1]

The UBC Okanagan campus is led by Dr. Doug Owram, Deputy Vice-Chancellor. ^[1]

In 2003, UBC had 3,167 full-time Faculty, and 4,612 non-faculty full-time employees. It had over forty thousand students (33,566 undergraduate students and 7,379 graduate students), and more than 180,000 alumni in 120 countries. Enrollment continues to grow. The founding of the new Okanagan campus will increase these numbers dramatically. The university is one of only two Canadian universities to have membership in Universitas 21, an international association of research-led institutions (McGill University is the other). ^[1]

Buildings on the Vancouver campus currently occupy 1,091,997 gross m², located on 1.7 km² of maintained land. ^[1]

The Vancouver campus' street plan is mostly in a grid of malls (for driving and pedestrian-only). Lower Mall and West Mall are in the southwestern part of the peninsula, with Main, East, and Wesbrook Malls northeast of them. ^[1]

Wireless internet access is available at no charge to students, faculty, and staff inside and outside of most buildings at both campuses. ^[1]

• Overview, Photographs, & Video Links

Prospective Students

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New & Current Students

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Alumni

• Benefits of Joining Alumni Association
• Mailing List Directory
• Chapters
• Teachers (Where are they now?)
  • Bhattacharya, Tithi (January 2001 - Present)
  • Hii, Augustine Khing Toh (January 1998 - Present)
  • Jalbuena-Gellar, Ellen Katie (December 1981 - March 2002)
  • Jones, Lawrence Donald (July 1976 - Present)
  • Lee, Changtian (September 2003 - September 2004)
  • Liu, Doug (February 1987 - Present)
  • Osh, Denis (September 1972 - August 1978)
  • Petrowski-Lewis, Suzanne Me (July 1991 - Present)
  • Rao, Ramesh Pathur (June 1968 - December 1970)
  • Steele, David (September 1998 - Present)
  • Tlacbaba, Rostislav (September 1992 - Present)
  • Tsang, Chui Fong Angela (September 1996 - Present)
• Alumni Directory
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References