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.

History

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 Wilfrid Laurier laid the cornerstone on July 29, 1910. The original buildings were built using native limestone - greystone - which was just north of campus. Over the years, the greystone was to become one of the most recognizable campus signatures. The first building on the new campus, the College Building, opened in 1913; in 2001, it was declared a National Historic Site of Canada.

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 graduates convoked 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.

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), Veternary 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 - 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.

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 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 opens Oct. 22, 2004 and will be the size of a football field.

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 2004). 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.

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, games area, lounge space, student group meeting areas, and a food court. These facilities were named after Louis Riel. In the late nineties, Place Riel Theater 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.

Alumni

Notable Faculty and Researchers

• Gerhard Herzberg, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1970 - Offered a position in 1935 to flee Nazi Germany, and remained at the university for ten years.
• Professor William Sarjeant, geologist and novelist.

Notable Students

• John Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada
  • Diefenbaker was also the university's chancellor. After he died, he was buried at the university, right beside his center.
• Henry Taube, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1983
• Dr John Hewson, Australian politician

University Administration

University Presidents

• Walter C. 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- )

University Chancellors

• Edward L. Wetmore (1909-1917)
• Frederick W.G. Haultain (1917-1940)
• P.E. MacKenzie (1940-1946)
• Donald Maclean (1946-1947)
• F.H. Auld (1947-1965)
• E.M. Culliton (1965-1969)
• John G. Diefenbaker (1969-1979)
• Emmett M. Hall (1979-1986)
• Sylvia O. Fedoruk (1986-1989)
• E.K. (Ted) Turner (1989-1995)
• M.L. (Peggy) McKercher (1995-2001)
• W. Thomas Molloy (2001- )

Partner Universities

• Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

External Links

• Official Site

See also University of Saskatchewan Students' Union