Elinor Ames was a charter member of the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University from 1965 until her retirement in 1997.
Elinor Ames was born October 1, 1931. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree at Tufts University in 1953 and a Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1960. Her research and teaching interests included developmental psychology, social psychology, personality and perception.
Ronald “Ron” James Baker was the first faculty member hired by President Patrick McTaggart-Cowan for the new Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 1964. Baker served as the university's Director of Academic Planning and as the first head of the English Department. He remained at SFU until 1969, when he was appointed to be the first president of the new University of Prince Edward Island.
Baker was born in London, England, on August 24, 1924, to James “Jim” Herbert Walter and Ethel Frances Baker (nee Miller). He served with the Royal Air Force (1943-1947), during which time he trained in Manitoba. After the war, in 1947, he immigrated to Canada.
Baker married Helen “Jo” Gillespie Elder [ca. 1947]; they would have 5 children (Sharon Ann, Lynn Frances, Ian James, Sarah Jane, and Katherine Jean). In 1975, he married Frances Marilyn Frazer (1932-2010), with whom he had one son, Ralph Edward “Ted.”
Baker graduated from the University of British Columbia (UBC) with a Bachelor of Arts in 1951 and a Master of Arts in 1953, both in English. He went on to do graduate work in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London (1954-1956). Baker had lectured in English during his undergraduate degree at UBC, and returned to the University to become an associate professor in 1962. While at UBC, Baker was involved in the production of John B. Macdonald’s report, Higher Education in British Columbia and a Plan for the Future (1962), which led directly to the development of a second university (SFU) in the Lower Mainland.
In 1964, Baker became the first faculty member hired by President Patrick McTaggart-Cowan for the newly created SFU. Baker served as the University's Director of Academic Planning and as the first head of the English Department. He remained at SFU until 1969, when he was appointed to be the first president of the new University of Prince Edward Island (1969-1978). He continued to teach there as a professor until 1991, when he retired.
Baker served on numerous councils and committees throughout his career, including the Canadian Association of University Teachers (1954-1969), the Royal Society of Arts (Fellow, 1971-1990), the Royal Commonwealth Society (1964-1966), the National Defence Strategic Studies Committee (Chairman, 1986-1998), the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO) (Volunteer Advisor to First Nations Groups, 1988-2004), and the Canadian Citizen Court (Presiding Officer, 1996-2004).
Baker was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (1978), and received numerous awards and honours, including the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal (1977), a Canada 125 Medal (1992), and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002). He also received honourary law degrees from the University of New Brunswick (1970), Mount Allison University (1977), University of Prince Edward Island (1989), and Simon Fraser University (1990).
W.A.C. (William Andrew Cecil) Bennett (1900-1979), also known as Cecil or Cece, was a businessman and politician. He was the Premier of British Columbia from 1952-1972.
The youngest of five children, Bennett was born on September 6, 1900 in Hastings, Albert County, New Brunswick to parents Andrew Havelock Bennett and Emma Burns Bennett. He was raised Presbyterian, and maintained a strong affiliation with the church throughout his life.
In 1901, the family moved to Hampton, New Brunswick, where Bennett received his early education. In 1915, the family moved to Saint John, where Bennett attended high school. While in school, Bennett worked part time for Robertson, Foster, and Smith’s, a local hardware firm. In grade 9, Bennett left school to work full time at the hardware store, working in most of the store’s departments.
At the age of 18, Bennett moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he worked for Marshall Wells, a large wholesale hardware firm (1919). He was quickly promoted up the ranks, eventually becoming assistant sales manager.
While in Edmonton, Bennett took correspondence courses in such subjects as accounting, business management, business law, economics, and commerce.
On February 19, 1927, Bennett, in partnership with Joe Renaud, purchased a hardware and furniture store in Westlock, Alberta. In 1928, they opened a second store in nearby Clyde, Alberta.
On July 11, 1927, Bennett married Annie “May” Elizabeth May Richards. Bennett and May had three children, Mary “Anita” (1928), Russell “R.J.” James (1929), and William “Bill” Richards (1932).
Bennett sold his share of the Westlock and Clyde stores to Renaud in 1930 and moved his family to Kelowna, British Columbia, where he bought Leckie Hardware. On January 15, 1932, he opened McEwan & Bennett Hardware in Vernon, BC. That same year, he also helped established Domestic Wine By-Products Ltd., now known as Calona Vineyards, with partners Pasquale Capozzi and Giuseppe Ghezzi.
Bennett was elected President of the Kelowna Board of Trade in 1937, and served until 1939. In 1937, he also ran, unsuccessfully, for nomination as South Okanagan candidate for the provincial Conservative Party. In 1941 he ran again, and was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for South Okanagan on October 21. Bennett was also a member of the Post-War Rehabilitation Council (1942-1946).
Bennett was active in local charities, including fundraising efforts for the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Home Front Appeal and as President of the Kelowna branch of the Red Cross Society.
In 1946, Bennett ran for leadership of the provincial Conservative Party, but was defeated by Herbert Anscomb. Bennett maintained his seat in South Okanagan until May 13, 1948, when he resigned to run as a federal Conservative candidate in the riding of Yale. He was defeated in the May 31 federal election, but was re-elected MLA for South Okanagan the following month. In 1950 he ran again for leadership of the provincial Conservative Party, but was defeated again by Anscomb.
During this time, Bennett was involved in two additional political endeavours: trying to create a Coalition Party in BC, and also attempting to reform the election system with the Transferable Voting system, in which voters could rank candidates into their first, second, third, and fourth choices.
On March 14, 1951, Bennett crossed the floor of the House to become an Independent Member. Later that year, he joined BC’s Social Credit League. He was re-elected in his riding as a Social Credit MLA on June 12, 1952, an election in which the Social Credit League of BC won a minority government. Bennett was then elected leader of the Social Credit League on July 15, and sworn in as Premier of British Columbia on August 1. This provincial election featured the Transferable Voting system which Bennett had championed. Later that year, Bennett was also made Freeman of the City of Kelowna (December 9, 1952).
On June 9, 1953, the Social Credit government was re-elected with a majority. The following year, Bennett was made Minister of Finance in conjunction with his position as Premier. In 1956, the Social Credit government was re-elected, and in 1959, Bennett and the government announced that British Columbia was free of debt.
The Social Credit government stayed in power, with Bennett at its helm, until 1972. Bennett’s government oversaw numerous infrastructure projects including road and bridge development and the expansion of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (now British Columbia Railway Company), 1956-1958; establishment of what would become Canada’s largest ferry fleet, the British Columbia Toll Authority Ferry System (now BC Ferries), 1958; formation of B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, 1962; creation of the Bank of British Columbia, 1966 (later acquired by the Hong Kong Bank of Canada); and construction of two large-scale hydroelectric dams on the Peace and Columbia Rivers (W.A.C. Bennett and Duncan dams), 1967.
Bennett also oversaw the development of post-secondary education institutions in BC, including the establishment of British Columbia Institute of Technology (1962), University of Victoria (1963), and Simon Fraser University (1965). He was awarded an honourary Doctorate of Laws at the opening ceremonies of Simon Fraser University on September 9, 1965. SFU also named its library after Bennett in 1982.
On September 15, 1972, the Social Credit government was defeated by Dave Barrett’s provincial New Democratic Party. Bennett, who had been the longest-serving premier in BC history, was re-elected in his riding, and became the leader of the Opposition. On June 5, 1973, he resigned as South Okanagan’s MLA; his son, William “Bill” R. Bennett, won the riding in a by-election on September 7. Bennett retired as leader of the Social Credit party on November 15, and Bill was elected leader of the party on November 24. In 1975, the Social Credit party was re-elected with a majority, making Bill Bennett premier.
In 1976, W.A.C. Bennett was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He died in Kelowna on February 23, 1979.
Kate Braid is a Vancouver poet, carpenter, trade unionist and educator. Born in Calgary, Alberta and raised in Montreal, Que, Braid received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and history from Mount Allison University in 1967.
In 1979 she earned her Master of Arts degree in the Communications Department at Simon Fraser University with a thesis entitled Invisible Women: Women in Non-Traditional Occupations in B.C. Meanwhile, she had begun working in the construction industry herself, and in 1983 received her Interprovincial Trades Qualification and Apprenticeship Certificate (Red Seal) for carpentry construction from the Pacific Vocational Institute (later renamed the British Columbia Institute of Technology or BCIT). She was the first woman member of the Vancouver local of the International Carpenters' Union (Local 452, later 1995). In 1997 she earned her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.
She continued to work in trades until 1989, forming her own company, Sisters Construction (1983-1987). Kate Braid was a founding member of the Vancouver Women in Trades Association, an advocacy and support organization that existed from 1979 to 1987.
Braid has written extensively on women and trades, including two booklets profiling Canadian tradeswomen for the Women's Bureau of Labour Canada. In addition, she prepared radio documentaries for the CBC's Ideas radio program. She has taught numerous courses and workshops since 1980, and in 1989 became the first full-time woman instructor in construction carpentry at BCIT. From 1991 to 1995, as Director of Labour Programs at SFU, she served as a liaison between academia and labour. Braid has also taught creative writing at Malaspina College (now Vancouver Island University), SFU and UBC.
Her poems and other writings have appeared in many journals and anthologies, and have been broadcast on radio and television. Her first collection of her poetry, Covering Rough Ground, won the Pat Lowther Memorial Prize in 1991. Her next collection, To this Cedar Fountain, was shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 1995. Her other publications include: Red Bait: Struggles of a Mine Local (1998), Inward to the Bones: Georgia O'Keeffe's Journey with Emily Carr (1998), Emily Carr: Rebel Artist (2000), In Fine Form: The Canadian Book of Form Poetry (2005), A Well-Mannered Storm: the Glenn Gould poems (2008), Turning Left to the Ladies (2009), and her prose memoir "Journeywoman: Swinging a Hammer in a Man's World" (2012).
She and her partner live in Vancouver, BC.
Thomas Brose came to SFU as a charter faculty member in the Political Science, Sociology and Anthropolgy Department in l965. He remained in the Department until 1970 when he left the University. During that period, Brose served on a committee to discuss the role and organization of Joint Faculty at SFU. He also served as the temporary acting chairman of the Committee on Food.
Peter Martinus Buitenhuis (1925-2004), English professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University (SFU), was a prolific scholarly writer and literary critic. His academic career—which included teaching positions at Yale University, University of Toronto, McGill University, and University of California at Berkeley—saw the production of numerous books, articles, and reviews, including works on Henry James, E.J. Pratt, and Hugh MacLennan. Buitenhuis also conducted research and wrote on various topics pertaining to propaganda and World Wars I and II.
Of Dutch ancestry, Buitenhuis was born in Ilford Essex, England on December 8, 1925. He married three times and had seven children. With his first wife, Patricia (nee White), he had three children, Paul, Penelope, and Pym; with his second wife, Elspeth Fisher (nee Cameron), he had two children, Beatrix and Hugo; and with his third wife, Ann Cowan (nee Stephenson), he had two children, Juliana and Adrian.
In December 1943, Buitenhuis left his job as a bank clerk and enlisted in the Royal Navy. From 1943-1946, he was commissioned to several different ships, including the H.M.S. Beehive, where he served as a Navigating Officer in Coastal Forces, conducting anti-submarine and minesweeping duties in the English Channel and North Sea (1944-1945). After his time on the Beehive, Buitenhuis spent a short period in the Admiralty. In 1946, he was appointed as a navigational officer on H.M.S. Starling, where he served until his release from the Navy later that year. Buitenhuis received the 1939-45 Star, the France and Germany Star, and the Victory Medal.
Buitenhuis left the Navy to attend Jesus College at Oxford University on a veteran’s grant (1946). There he earned a BA and an MA in English language and literature. In Buitenhuis’s last year of studies, a professor from the University of Oklahoma (U of O) recruited him to teach English, thus enticing Buitenhuis to immigrate to the United States.
Buitenhuis taught at the U of O until 1951, at which time he left his position in response to an investigation by an Oklahoma legislature committee. The committee was putting pressure on the university’s employees to sign a loyalty oath to the constitution of the United States and to the constitution of Oklahoma State. Buitenhuis, neither interested in staying in Oklahoma nor signing the oath, went on to Yale University to pursue a PhD in American Studies, where he wrote his thesis on Henry James. After completing his degree, Buitenhuis stayed on at Yale’s American Studies Department to teach (1955-1959).
In 1959, Buitenhuis left Yale and immigrated to Canada, after receiving an invitation from Northrop Frye—then the chairman of the English Department at Victoria College in the University of Toronto—to teach at the College. He became a Canadian citizen c.1960, while still retaining his British citizenship.
While at Victoria College, in 1963, Buitenhuis joined with fellow Americanists from other Canadian universities to form the first American Studies association in Canada, the Canadian Association of American Studies.
Buitenhuis worked at the College as an associate professor until 1966, when he took a year to teach at the University of California (Berkley) as a visiting professor. In 1967, Buitenhuis returned to Canada to take a position at McGill University in Montreal. After several years at McGill, in 1975, Buitenhuis accepted the position of Chairman of the Department of English at Simon Fraser University (1975-1981) and moved to Vancouver.
Buitenhuis remained at SFU until his retirement in 1992. In that time, he not only taught in the Department of English, but was also the Associate Director in SFU’s Centre for Canadian Studies (1987-1988). He continued to teach literature well after his retirement through SFU’s Continuing Studies Department, and was still teaching until shortly before his death. Buitenhuis passed away on November 28, 2004.
Buitenhuis remained an active scholar, book reviewer, and writer throughout his life. Included in his many literature reviews and scholarly articles are several books, including E.J. Pratt and His Works; Five American Moderns: Mary McCarthy, Stephen Crane, J.D. Salinger, Eugene O’Neill, and H.L. Mencken; The Grasping Imagination: The American Writings of Henry James; The Great War of Words: British, American, and Canadian Propaganda and Fiction, 1914-1933; and The House of Seven Gables: Severing Family and Colonial Ties. Buitenhuis also completed a manuscript just weeks before his death titled, Empires of the Mind: British Authors' Roles in World War II.
Buitenhuis’s literary and academic career brought him into contact with many well-known authors, including Margaret Atwood, Northrop Frye, Timothy Findley, Thomas Wolfe, and Scott Symons.
Dr. Douglas Cole was a Professor of History at Simon Fraser University from 1966 to 1997. His teaching and research interests centred on Canada: specifically, on the history of Canadian art, anthropology, and Indian-White relations. He was an active member of the university community, serving on a number of committees and as president of the Faculty Association from 1986 to 1988.
Douglas Lowell Cole was born in Mason City, Washington on December 9, 1938. In 1960, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.
Cole went on to complete his masters degree at George Washington University in Washington, DC in 1962 and then completed his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1968. Both his post-graduate degree theses focused on topics relevant to Canadian history. His MA thesis, "The United States and Canadian Diplomatic Independence, 1918-1926," and his Ph.D. thesis "John S. Ewart and the Canadian Nation," prepared him to accept a position teaching topics in Canadian history at Simon Fraser University.
During his career, Dr. Cole wrote numerous scholarly articles and books. In 1977, he co-wrote From Desolation to Splendour, a history of the changing perceptions of BC's landscape. Other books include Phillips in Print : The Selected Writing of Walter Phillips on Canadian Nature and Art (co-authored with M. Tippett), Captured Heritage, and An Iron Hand Upon the People (co-authored with Ira Chaikin). He has also contributed to BC Studies, Journal of Canadian Studies, Canadian Review of Nationalism, Canadian Historical Review, and others.
Dr. Cole was also the recipient of a number of awards, citations and honours. He was a finalist for the Harold Adams Innis Prize for best work in English in Social Sciences for An Iron Hand Upon the People. He was also awarded a Regional History Award from the Canadian Historical Association in 1987, the Molson Research Prize in 1986, and the Eaton Award for the best British Columbia book in 1978. Dr. Cole was also granted a University Research Professorship in 1990.
Dr. Cole passed away August 18, 1997.
Robert Dunham (1939-1990) was a professor of English at Simon Fraser University. His specialty was the literature of the Romantic Period. A graduate of Stanford University, Dunham joined SFU in 1966. He was a gifted teacher who won the University's excellence in teaching award in 1986 as well as the 3M Fellowship in 1988, a national award which recognized excellence in teaching and educational leadership.
John Ellis came to SFU as a charter faculty member in the Faculty of Education. He received his Ed.D degree from the University of California at Berkeley and had a twenty-year career in public education before joining the University to direct the Professional Foundations Program. He served as temporary acting president of SFU for four days following the resignation of Patrick McTaggart-Cowan in May 1968.
In November of that year, a series of protests against Simon Fraser University's admissions policies and inconsistent accreditation for courses taken at other institutions culminated in a 65 hour "sit-in" in the University Administration Offices. The University Senate responded by charging Professor Ellis with the responsibility of "the development of a definitive and comprehensive admissions and standings policy in consultation with an advisory committee..." (Simon Fraser University Senate. Minutes of Meeting held November 20, 1968. Although there was an "advisory committee" named by Senate, the final report is the product of Dr. Ellis' research, reflection and writing. Admissions and Standards: A Suggested Policy was released late March 1969. In June 1969, Senate adopted the recommendations of the report with only minor revisions. The admissions controversy was effectively defused.
The Ellis Report as it was re-titled by the university community, was widely applauded in post-secondary education circles in British Columbia, and played an important role in the development of Simon Fraser University.
Thelma Finlayson is a distinguished entomologist who served as a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University from 1967 until her retirement in 1979. Her research interests have centered on the classification of immature stages of insect parasites of forest and agricultural pests. Since 1979 she has been Professor Emerita and continues to be actively involved with the university, contributing time, counsel and private funds. The university established the Thelma Finlayson Society in 1989 in honour of her many contributions to SFU.
Iris Lillian Garland (1935-2002) taught dance from the University’s inception to her retirement as Professor Emeritus from the School for the Contemporary Arts (SCA) in 2000. As a charter member of SFU, Garland established and was involved in the growth of the contemporary dance program, which began as components of the Recreational Program in the Faculty of Education, and ultimately grew to become an academic degree program in the SCA.
Garland was born on June 23, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a BS in 1957 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she majored in physical education and graduated in the top three percent of her class. She went on to earn her MSc in 1960 at the University of California at Los Angeles. Garland spent the next five years as an instructor in physical education at the University of North Dakota and then the University of Washington, before joining SFU as an instructor in the Physical Development Centre of the Faculty of Education in September 1965. It was at SFU that Garland also met her husband, James Warren Felter, who served as the first Curator/Director of the Simon Fraser Gallery.
Early on, Garland was an outspoken supporter of the creation of an academic unit offering credit courses and programs in the fine and performing arts at SFU. Meanwhile, she grew the contemporary dance program from its humble beginnings within the Faculty of Education into workshops and intensives offered through Kinesiology and a fledgling Centre for Communications and the Arts, bolstered by guest performers and artists in residence as instructors. With the establishment of the Centre for the Arts in 1975, dance was ultimately elevated from non-credit workshops to credit courses alongside those in film, music, theatre, visual arts, and art history. Garland’s continued efforts helped to establish an academic dance minor program in 1976, and a dance major program by 1980. After the Centre became the School for the Contemporary Arts in 1989, dance became an academic BFA degree program and part of an interdisciplinary MFA offered by the SCA.
Throughout her career, Garland continued her dance education, pursuing studies in modern, dance notation, and a voice intensive in theatre. She also studied ballet under Mary Ann Wells in Seattle and Mara McBirney in Vancouver. In 1983, at the University of Washington, she became a Certified Movement Analyst, a program incorporating Laban Movement Analysis, which Garland went on to feature in her teaching. A significant contribution to her teaching was the creation of the unique telelearning course, “Dancing in Cyberspace: Creating with the Virtual Body,” which she co-developed in the 1990s with Lisa Marie Naugle, a PhD student from New York University. The course was offered through SFU's Centre for Distance Education and utilized Life Forms, a software program developed by Dr. Thomas W. Calvert in the SFU Computing Science Department. Life Forms allowed for the study and choreography of animated human figures in dance and movement. The course was popular with distant education SFU students, as well as national and international learners. In 1998, Garland was invited to present “New Technologies for Choreographers: Life Forms Workshop and Seminar” to professional choreographers in Sydney, Australia.
Garland was popular with her superiors, colleagues, and students alike, and commended often for her hard work and dedication not only to the University, but also to the dance community as a whole both locally and nationally. In 1991, she was awarded SFU Teacher of the Year. In addition to her teaching, Garland served on multiple departmental and university committees throughout her SFU career. Within the dance community, Garland participated as an independent choreographer and performer at various dance festivals and concerts, first in the 1970s through the Burnaby Mountain Dance Company, which was originally formed with SFU dancers in 1973. She later showcased her work through the Off-Centre Dance Company, which began in 1985 under the direction of various SFU dance faculty and later absorbed into the SFU dance program to provide advanced students an opportunity to be part of an ensemble and perform publicly. From the late 1980s into the 1990s, Garland featured her work at Vancouver’s Dancing on the Edge Festival of Contemporary Dance, an event which continues today. At the national level, Garland was heavily involved with the Dance in Canada Association as a member of the board in the 1970s and as a conference organizer into the 1980s. Her dedication to the Association earned her an Outstanding Service Award in 1985.
In addition to her main research interests in early modern dance history, dance and technology, and dance analysis and choreography, Garland developed an interest in Spanish dancer Tórtola Valencia (1882-1955). She began researching the life of this early modern dancer in earnest, travelling to Spain to conduct further study, and presenting several conference papers on the topic in the 1990s. Garland had begun writing a biography of Tórtola Valencia when she was diagnosed with cancer in early 2002. She passed away in North Vancouver, BC, on October 29, 2002.
Robert F. Harrison is one of the key contributors to the architecture of Simon Fraser University. His firm was responsible for designing and building the WAC Bennett library according to design specifications outlined by Erickson and Massey (the architects responsible for the overall design of the university). Harrison's firm also designed and built the Academic Services building, and made later alterations to it and to other buildings on campus.
Robert Harrison was born in Vancouver in 1925. He became a registered architect in 1954, and became the Registrar of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia in 1961. Later, Harrison was made Chair of the Institute's Examining Board (circa 1964). In 1963 Harrison submitted an entry to the contest to design the new university that would be built on top of Burnaby Mountain. His design finished 4th place. According to the contest parameters, the top five winners would each be given a contract to build a section of the campus according to the winner's overall design. Harrison took Erickson and Massey's basic outline for the library, and expanded it to reflect his own ideas. After the first phase of building, Harrison designed a new administration building in keeping with the architectural character of the university. He also made alterations to the Academic Quadrangle, designed later additions to the library, and made alterations to other buildings at Simon Fraser University.
F. Margaret Hayward was the founder and first director of the Reading and Study Centre at SFU.
She was born in Vancouver in 1919, received her BA and Social Work Diplomas from UBC in 1941 and 1943 respectively, and later earned an MA in psychology from Case Western Reserve University in 1951. Hayward worked as a social worker, counselor, and specialist in reading improvement
In 1963 Hayward wrote to Chancellor Gordon Shrum to suggest that the new university develop a Reading Service to improve the study skills of its students. Shrum and President Patrick McTaggart-Cowan agreed with her proposal and hired Hayward to be the Director of the Reading and Study Centre at SFU at the rank of Assistant Professor. The Centre was administratively placed in the Department of Psychology because Hayward believed that it was important to emphasize the academic nature of the program. Under Hayward's leadership, the Centre operated successfully for several years. When the Centre was moved to University Services in 1971, Hayward resigned her position and left the University.
Philip Hobler was a professor of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University (SFU), who was appointed from 1967 to 2001. For many years, he captained the SFU archaeological research vessel Sisiutil, which was launched in 1972 and used yearly for summer fieldwork until 1992. Hobler worked at various archaeological sites in Egypt, Fiji, the United States, the Northwest Territories, and on the west coast of British Columbia. His work primarily focused on archaeological sites within Nuxalk Nation territory; From 1987 to 1990, he directed the Bella Coola Villages Project, where excavations were conducted at the Nusqualst, Qwliuth, and Snxlhh village sites.
Other projects direct by Hobler took place along the Stikine River, around Moresby Island in Haida Gwaii, around northern Vancouver Island, on the Southern Gulf Islands, at Fort McLoughlin, at Barkerville’s Chinatown, and on the Snare River and Kakisa Lake in the North West Territories.
Dr. Hobler passed away on July 19, 2006.
Fred Hope was born in Lancaster, England in 1917. He was a police officer with the London Police Service and also served in the Second World War. Hope came to Canada in 1952 working as an investigator for the Canadian Pacific in Montreal. In 1965 he joined the establishment at Simon Fraser University as the Director of Traffic and Security. He died in Sechelt in 1991.
W. Randle Iredale is one of the contributors to the architecture of Simon Fraser University. He and his partner, William R. Rhone, were responsible for designing and building the Science Complex according to design specifications outlined by Erickson and Massey (the architects responsible for the overall design of the university). Rhone and Iredale built the Science Complex in three phases based on preliminary drawings by Erickson and Massey, but added their own ideas and innovations to the building.
Iredale was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1929. In 1955 he received a degree in architecture from the University of British Columbia, and went to work for McCarter and Nairne until Iredale was registered in 1957. He had his own practice from 1957 to 1959, and then formed a partnership with William R. Rhone. In 1963 Rhone and Iredale submitted an entry to the contest to design the new university that would be built on top of Burnaby Mountain. Their design finished in second place. According to the contest parameters, the top five winners would each be given a contract to build a section of the campus according to the winner's overall design. Originally, Rhone and Iredale chose the Academic Quadrangle, but changed their minds and picked the Science Complex, which Chancellor Gordon Shrum had assured them would be expanded on a regular basis. The Science Complex was built in three phases between 1964 and 1971: Phase I was substantially completed by August 1, 1965, Phase II was completed September 7, 1966 and Phase III was completed in 1971. Rhone and Iredale also designed and built the student pub, circa 1970.
Andre Isakov was a student at SFU who conducted two oral history interviews as part of an undergraduate project for the SFU Centre for Labour Studies.
Hugh Johnston is professor emeritus of history at Simon Fraser University, where he taught for 37 years. His book Radical Campus: Making Simon Fraser University was published to coincide with the university's 40th anniversary (2005). He joined SFU as a faculty member in 1968 and witnessed firsthand SFU's tumultuous beginnings. At various times in his career, Johnston led the History Department as chair.
Johnston grew up in south-western Ontario. He received a B.A. from the University of Toronto and attended the Ontario College of Education. Johnston went on to receive an M.A. from the University of Western Ontario and his PhD. from King's College at the University of London.
His teaching and research interests have centered on British and South Asian migration and settlement, eighteenth century exploration of the Pacific Northwest, the history of British Columbia, and higher education in Canada. Johnston is well known as an expert in Sikhism, Sikhs in Canada, and India-China relations. From 1992 to 2001 he also served on the board of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, a bi-national organization promoting scholarly exchange, and in 1995–1996 he was resident director of the institute's office in Delhi. In 2001 he was the institute's president.
During his career, Johnston wrote numerous scholarly articles and books. In 1995, with Tara Singh Bains he co-wrote The Four Quarters of the Night: The Life Journey of an Emmigrant Sikh. Other books include The Voyage of the Komagata Maru: The Sikh Challenge to Canada's Colour Bar; British Immigration Policy, 1815-1830: "Shovelling out Paupers"; and the History of Perth County to 1967 (co-authored with W. Stafford Johnston).
Zoltan S. Kiss is one of the contributors to the architecture of Simon Fraser University. He was responsible for designing and building the Academic Quadrangle according to design specifications outlined by Erickson and Massey, the architects responsible for the overall design of the university. Kiss built the Academic Quadrangle in two phases, starting the first phase in 1964 and finishing the second phase in 1967.
Zoltan S. Kiss was born in Menfocsanak, Hungary in 1924. He studied at the Technical University of Hungary in Budapest during the war, and then went to Denmark to continue his studies. He later moved to Canada and attended the University of British Columbia where he completed a degree in architecture in 1951. Kiss worked for Thompson Berwick Pratt from 1953 to 1962. In 1963 Kiss submitted an entry to the contest to design the new university that would be built on top of Burnaby Mountain. His design finished in third place. According to contest parameters, the top five winners would each be given a contract to build a section of the campus according to the winner's overall design. Kiss chose the Academic Quadrangle, and incorporated his own ideas and innovations with Erickson and Massey's concept. Kiss, upon winning third place in the competition, started his own practice. His other contributions to the architecture of Simon Fraser University include the President's house, student residences, and the pub.
Andrea Pinto Lebowitz came to Simon Fraser University in 1965 as a charter faculty member in the Department of English. Lebowitz participated in a number of feminist activities including the Women's Caucus. She became the first coordinator of the Women's Studies program and transferred her appointment to the Women's Studies Department in 1997.
Michael Lebowitz, B.S. (N.Y.), M.S. (Wis.) is an emeritus Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University. He joined SFU in 1965 as a charter faculty member in the Department of Economics and Commerce. Lebowitz was active in university affairs throughout his career.
Vivien Leong graduated from SFU in 1990 with a major in communication. During her time as a student, she was a member of the Recycling Group of the B.C. Public Interest Research Group, and the Communications Student Union. The B.C. PIRG recycling program was the first such effort on campus.
Richard Lester was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1928. He came to Vancouver in 1947, eventually attending law school at the University of British Columbia. After being called to the British Columbia Bar in 1953 he practiced in Maple Ridge (then Haney). He served on the schoool board and was president of the BC School Trustees Association from 1961 to 1963.
In 1963 he was appointed to the first Board of Governors for the newly formed Simon Fraser University, a position he held until he became Chairman of the Board in the fall of 1968. He resigned this position in 1971, returning to his law practice.
Lester lived in Maple Ridge and then West Vancouver. He married Lois Audrey Jensen in 1952 and has 4 children.
Cliff L. Lloyd was a professor in the Department of Economics and Commerce from 1973 until his sudden death on January 24, 1977. As an experimental economist, he is remembered for his proposed Northern Stores project, an attempt to investigate demand theory (would people buy less of a product if it cost more). For a fuller appreciation of Lloyd's research, see the introductory essays by his SFU colleagues in The Collected Works of Cliff L. Lloyd (F-143-2-0-11).
Thomas J. (Tom) Mallinson (191--1999) was a professor of Communication Studies at Simon Fraser University. Trained as a clinical psychologist, Mallinson came to the newly-founded SFU in 1965 to head the Centre for Commuications and the Arts within the Faculty of Education. The Centre later evolved into the School for Communication.
In the spring semester 1989, Kathryn McPherson was instructor for Women Studies 202, "History of Women in Canada." As part of the course work, McPherson assigned students to conduct a 2-3 hour interview with a British Columbia woman. Students were encouraged to select a woman over 60 years of age, and the interviewer was responsible for the themes covered. The interviews were recorded and deposited in the Archives.
David J. Mitchell is an author, historian, public policy analyst, former Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and Vice President, Chief Development Officer of Simon Fraser University. He is the author of W.A.C. Bennett and the Rise of British Columbia.
Born in Montreal in 1954, David J. Mitchell completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science at Simon Fraser University in 1975 and a Master of Arts degree in Canadian History, also at Simon Fraser University, in 1976. In addition, he has completed the Parliamentary Internship Program with the British Columbia Legislature in 1978, and attended the Banff School of Advanced Management in 1988. As of 1999, he is a Doctoral candidate in the Department of History at Simon Fraser University.
David Mitchell's diverse career path has included senior positions in both the public and private sectors. He has served as Deputy Clerk of the Saskatchewan Legislature, and as an Archivist and Editor at the Provincial Archives of British Columbia. In addition, he has held executive positions within the BC resource industries. From 1991 to 1996, David Mitchell served as an independent Member of the Legislative Assembly for West Vancouver – Garibaldi.
David Mitchell is an award-winning writer whose books are well known to British Columbians. He is the author of W.A.C. Bennett and the Rise of British Columbia (1983), considered by many to be the definitive text on W.A.C. Bennett. Bennett, the former premier of British Columbia whose Social Credit government held power between the years of 1952 and 1972, granted Mitchell a number of exclusive interviews between 1976 and 1979, forming the foundation for the subsequent book. David Mitchell is also the author of All Aboard! The Canadian Rockies by Train (1996) and Succession: The Political Reshaping of British Columbia (1987). He has also contributed various articles on public affairs and business to a number of journals, publications and newspapers including the Financial Post, The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, and Business in Vancouver. In addition, he serves as a frequent commentator on television and radio and has hosted a number of radio and television programs.
Evelyn T. and Leigh Hunt Palmer were active members of the Simon Fraser academic community from 1966 until their retirement in 2001. Leigh served as an associate professor of physics while Evelyn was a laboratory instructor in chemistry.
Both Palmers were active in university affairs and in scientific and cultural groups. They sponsored a number of seminars and lectures at SFU including the Albert Einstein Memorial Lecture Series, which they initiated on the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Albert Einstein.
For further details of the Palmers' careers and achievements, see the autobiographical sketch in the Appendix (available only in the Archives reading room).