Echoes in the Halls : an Unofficial History of the University of Alberta
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An Unofficial History of the University of Alberta ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSORS EMERITI OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA An Unofficial History of the University of Alberta ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSORS EMERITI OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA □OA LES EDITIONS DUVAL The University of Alberta Press Published jointly by Duval House Publishing 18120 - 102 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5S 1S7 Telephone: (780) 488-1390 Fax: (780) 482-7213 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.duvalhouse.com University of Alberta Press □OA Ring House 2 Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E2 Telephone: (780) 455-2200 Duval House Publishing and the University of Alberta Press gratefully Canada ac^now^e(^^e financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities. © 1999 Association of Professors Emeriti of the University of Alberta All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic or mechanical—without prior written permission from the publishers. Printed in Canada. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Echoes in the halls ISBN 1-55220-074-4 1. University of Alberta-History-Anecdotes. I. Spencer, Mary, 1923- II. Dier, Kay, 1922- III. McIntosh, Gordon. LE3.A619E33 1999 378.7123’3 C99-911163-9 Cover photos: Front: Dr. Mark Arnfield adjusting the Argon-driven dye laser with the sixteen fibreoptic cables for interstitially applied PDT in Dunning R3327 rat prostate cancers (photo courtesy of Malcolm McPhee) Back: The trunk esker at Exeter Lake with its black and red beach concentrate of diamond indicator minerals (photo courtesy of Robert Follinsbee) Contents vi FOREWORD vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix EDITOR’S REMARKS 1 STUDENT DAYS 2 ‘Call Me Tubby’ and Other Free-Wheeling Ramblings 8 The Chancellor Drops In 11 University of Alberta, 1953: A Taste for Learning 15 A Not-So-Nostalgic Look at University Life 23 ARRIVALS 24 Braving the Frontier: Remembrance of My Arrival in Edmonton 28 The Throne Room 31 How I Met “The President” 35 Learning to Love Muddington 45 CAMPUS LIFE 46 Life and Times on Rabbit Row 50 Memories of an Opening Nighter 53 An Old Time Skating Party 58 It’s Been Good to Know You 69 INNOVATION 70 The Northern Nurse Practitioner Program 77 Home Economics: One Size Does Not Fit All 83 The IBM 1500: 1968-1980 90 Launching a Computer Course in Nursing 93 A Dream, a Hot Tub and an Institute 97 ON TEACHING 98 Lecture Theatres of the Absurd 101 Learn by Teaching 107 Earl Buxton: Exemplary Teacher 113 THE JOYS OF ACADEME 114 Teaching, Scholarship and Service: Fusing the Pillars 125 Service to Agriculture, at Home and Abroad 132 A Brush with Billions in the Barrens 140 Peeling a Polyhedron 149 LEADERSHIP 150 A Decade to Remember 161 Looking at Ourselves: The President’s Advisory Committee on Campus Reviews 175 On Being a Head, and Staying a Head 180 The Department of Surgery: Taking the Chair 187 BEHIND THE SCENES 188 The Great U of A Heist 194 On Becoming Too Close to Grad Students 196 Simpler Times 198 Memories and Misadventures 203 BUILDING THE UNIVERSITY 204 Emerging from the Hinterland 209 Portraits of Change: The Builders 224 Faculty Club Memories 229 The Foundation 235 Building a Department 245 PERSONAL REFLECTIONS 246 Humanity in the Sciences 250 Reminiscences of an Alumnus 257 Why? 267 THE PEOPLE 268 Big Art 273 Working with the Great Man 276 The Man from Riga 281 ACADEMIC JOURNEYS 282 The Boy from Lac La Biche 298 Reflections on Edmonton Urology Through a Personal Retrospectoscope 317 Dancing with Time 321 COMPLETE LIST OF SUBMISSIONS 330 INDEX OF CONTRIBUTORS vi Echoes In The Halls Foreword AS WE APPROACH THE Millennium, we pause to look at the University of Alberta—its roots, the forces that shaped its development and will certainly influence its future. Many people were involved—the public, governments, university governing bodies, and staff at every level. And so, perhaps appropriately, this book is one of apersonal recollections. The Association of Professors Emeriti saw both the usefulness and interest in recording these times, and initiated this collection. These are accounts of events by people who experienced, and sometimes guided them. They are inside chronicles about the University, about how it works, the people who made it what it is today and how they did it. Who better to tell these stories than the people who lived them? Authors had complete freedom to choose their own subjects or events. A fascinating picture of the University, its wide interests, diversity and accomplishments, emerges. Equally interesting and entertaining are the people—their ideas and contributions, personalities and ideals. The response to our invitation to participate was excellent, but too large to include completely in this book. All contributions as originally submitted are available through the University of Alberta Archives. (See the complete list of submissions at the end of the book.) We did our best to solicit articles from all retired professors and senior university personnel. Unfortunately, we could not reach everyone. We regret this most sincerely. Herewith—as a gift from the Old Millennium to the New—we invite you to enjoy Echoes in the Halls. VII Acknowledgements WE HAVE MANY PEOPLE TO THANK for their assistance in bringing this millennium project of the Association of Professors Emeriti to a successful conclusion. First and foremost, we say a special thanks to the nearly 100 retired members of the academic and administrative staff, Board of Governors and Senate who responded to our invitation to write about the University. In reading their papers, we became happily aware that their years at the U of A were a time of great satisfaction and considerable accomplishment. Our publishers, Jean Poulin of Duval House Publishing and Glenn Rollans of the University of Alberta Press, played a major part in helping us reach the finish line. We set out in heedless innocence on a great adventure to prepare an informal history of the University, and in due course we discovered that we needed the discipline and know-how that only experts in the publishing business could provide. Jean and Glenn were our disciplinarians—gentle always, but firm when necessary, and generous with their time. Scott Rollans, as editor of the manuscript, was the good-humoured and tough-minded artist who drew from the bounty of papers—the number both delighted and dismayed us—and created an interesting and beautiful book that we have called Echoes in the Halls. For the title of the book, we acknowledge the creative enterprise of Hank Spencer. He provided us with a mittful of suggestions, but Echoes was so obviously the right one that little discussion was necessary in making the choice. viii Echoes In The Halls It was our happy lot to have been immersed in the creative side of this project, but many people asserted their own creativity and did the hard work on the business and production side. This project may have been lost in a quagmire of financial uncertainty were it not for the timely intervention of our fundraising committee, Don Bellow and Brian McDonald, the financial stewardship of John Young and the leadership shown by Roger Smith in providing bridge funding for production costs. Jim Malone took on the responsibility of marketing Echoes. The executive of the Association of Professors Emeriti offered moral support and practical assistance throughout the course of the project. Many members of the Association, too many to name individually, assisted us in contacting retired members of the academic and administrative staff to inform them of the project and to enlist their participation as writers. Our secretaries, Nancy Smiley and Julia Mamolo, played key roles in managing the flow of information that sometimes threatened to inundate us. Lynda Vivier provided yeoman service in transcribing one of our balky interview tapes. Various University offices and individuals helped us with specific tasks: Public Affairs, Alumni Affairs, University Archives, and the office of the Senate. In addition, the Edmonton Public School Board Archives helped us to locate an elusive photograph. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you. This was a labour of love for us, and we think it likely was for you as well. Mary Spencer, Chair Kay Dier Gordon McIntosh Organizing Committee and Volume Editors IX Editors Remarks W’HEN MARY SPENCER first presented me with my personal copy of all of the submitted articles, about 1000 pages stuffed into a binder with a six-inch spine (okay, it was only four inches, but it looked bigger), I wondered how we could possibly turn this deluge into one coherent (and portable) book. As I began reading, I found myself in the company of dozens of lively and engaging minds, each with an important story to tell. The collection as a whole represents a valuable addition to the University of Alberta Archives. It paints a collective portrait of University life that cannot be found in more conventional, less personal accounts. Everyone who invested the time (and the considerable effort) to contribute deserves our thanks and our congratulations. When you read the excerpts printed throughout the book, you will get a sense of the wealth of material that lies beyond these two covers. I hope you will be inspired to delve into the archival materials and (this is my greatest hope) to sit down and record some stories of your own. In compiling this book, every effort has been made to secure copyright. If we have failed in any instance, please contact the publishers and we will do our best to remedy the situation. I thank Mary, Gordon and Kay for the countless hours they devoted to this project (since they wrote the acknowledgements, they couldn’t very well thank themselves).