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January 1, 1988: Smoking is banned inside UW buildings.
January 2, 1975: As the university comes back to work after Christmas vacation, the Dana Porter and Engineering, Math and Science libraries close at midnight, rather than being open all night as in the past.
January 3, 1979: The Gazette publishes the draft
"Third Decade" planning report
for discussion across campus.
January 4, 1976: Saying it can't hold the line any longer, food services increases the price of coffee to 20 cents a cup.
January 5, 1976: The Federation of Students takes over
management of the Campus
Centre pub, which was previously operated directly by the university.
January 6, 1986: Ira G. Needles, first
chairman of the board of governors, dies at 92.
January 7, 1980: The shuttle bus between UW and
Wilfrid Laurier University collides with a car on Columbia Street on the first
morning of winter term classes.
January 8, 1993: A memorial service is held in
the Theatre of the Arts for graduate student David Zaharchuk, murdered
in a corridor of Engineering I on New Year's Day.
January 9, 1964: UW leaders meet with the Advisory Committee
on University Affairs and ask for 1964-65 grants from the
Ontario government of $2,775,620 for operations and $9,641,796
for capital projects.
January 10, 1995: An advisory committee tells the provost
that a link between UW and the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College "could
be of value to the work of both".
January 11, 1993: Matt Erickson starts work as UW's first
"coordinator of ethical behaviour and human rights".
January 12, 1959: Affiliation agreements are signed linking the
Associate Faculties, later to be UW, with Waterloo College and St.
Jerome's College. January 12,
1975: Mike Moser, star centre of the basketball Warriors, dies
suddenly at St. Petersburg, Florida.
January 13, 1980: Donald M'Timkulu, retired professor of
sociology, is formally made a Professor Emeritus by Renison College.
January 14, 1959: Renison College receives a charter from the
Ontario government. Its first home is a house on Albert Street. January
14, 1964: With a ceremony in the Theatre of the Arts, Wyn Rees
is installed as principal of Renison.
January 15, 1955: Elsie Fischer (later Dodds) joins the staff of
Waterloo College as manager of its little bookstore; when UW is
created, she'll move to the new institution and manage its store for
more than 25 years.
January 16, 1964: The board of governors approves changing
UW's name from "The University of Waterloo" to just "University of
Waterloo". January 16, 1989: Provost Alan George announces
"interim administrative procedures" designed to get more women hired
for faculty posts.
January 17, 1988: UW president Doug Wright is among educational
and scientific leaders present in Ottawa when prime minister Brian
Mulroney announces a $1.3 billion five-year
plan to promote science and technology.
January 18, 1962: The board of governors agrees to consider a
change to UW's name, to end the confusion with Waterloo Lutheran University.
January 19, 1967: The board of governors appoints new faculty members
to arrive
September 1, including David Burns (mechanical engineering) and
Jack Kalbfleisch (statistics).
January 20, 1975: The UW senate votes 25-24 not to change the
name of the faculty of mathematics to "mathematical sciences".
January 21, 1985: The Centre for the New Oxford English Dictionary
opens on the first floor of the Dana Porter Library.
January 22, 1995: Helga Kutz-Harder (soon to change her name to
Mills) is installed as principal of St. Paul's United College.
January 23, 1970: The Faculty Club (later renamed the University
Club) opens for business.
January 24, 1992: Provost Alan George asks staff and faculty members to
agree to a one-year pay freeze because of a government squeeze on
university funding.
January 25, 1958: UW announces the purchase of 200 acres of
land for a new campus.
January 25, 1973: The first issue of mathNEWS hits the stands.
January 25, 1977: Stress researcher
Hans Selye gives the second of two addresses in the Humanities Theatre
as the year's Hagey Lecturer.
January 26, 1978: A major storm hits Kitchener-Waterloo; policy
says that the university never officially closes, but staff are
allowed to go home, and some make it, while others have to sleep
overnight in the Villages. On the same day, Bill Lobban is
fired as UW's director of physical resources.
January 27, 1971: The Gazette publishes a double-page map
showing the "development plan" for the campus. It includes
Optometry and Environmental Studies buildings north of Columbia
Street, and an audio-visual centre and engineering, math and science
library building between Chemistry II and the ring road.
January 28, 1994: UW is closed because of an overnight ice storm.
January 29, 1993: Physics professor Ian Dagg dies suddenly.
January 30, 1970: Biologist George Wald of Harvard University
gives the first Hagey Lecture.
January 31, 1996: The central UW gopher is closed down -- from
now on, UWinfo is World Wide Web all the way.
February 1, 1961: Jack Adams becomes UW's first
public relations officer. February 1, 1980: Jon Dellandrea
comes to UW as director of development.
February 2, 1979: The Adolescence of P-1, by Thomas Ryan,
is selling well at the UW bookstore in spite of its $6 price tag,
apparently because it's a science fiction novel set at
the University of Waterloo.
February 3, 1976: The board of governors approves
establishment of a UW department of religious studies.
February 4, 1971: Philip A. Lapp visits campus to talk about his
controversial report on engineering education in Ontario, which
recommends that the faculty of engineering separate from UW to
become an independent institution.
February 5, 1968: Students' council approves a $5 per term fee
as a contribution to the Tenth Anniversary Fund.
February 6, 1979: The name of "Engineering IV" is officially
changed to Carl Pollock Hall in honour of the second chair of
UW's board of governors, and later chancellor, who died recently.
February 6, 1990: Undergraduate engineering students vote to pay
a voluntary fee each term to create a Waterloo Engineering Endowment Fund.
February 7, 1974: Undergraduates elect Andrew Telegdi to be
president of the Federation of Students. February 7, 1978: The board
of governors approves rent increases of 12.8 to 13.2 per cent in the
Married Student Apartments, despite pleas from picketers outside Needles Hall.
February 8, 1969: The Physical Activities Complex is
formally opened.
February 8, 1988: Tuffy Knight is introduced as the new head
coach of the football Warriors.
February 9, 1982: Margaret Atwood gives the first of two
Hagey Lectures in the Humanities Theatre. Her topic: "The Writing of Novels".
February 10, 1960: The Physics and Mathematics building (later
just "Physics") is officially opened by E. W. R. Steacie, president of the
National Research Council.
February 11, 1982: The campus centre board is "suspended" amid
personality clashes, politics and disruption; student and university
leaders discuss how a new, more effective board might be organized.
February 12, 1969: The faculty association holds a tribute
for recently retired president Gerry Hagey, and it is announced
that the Hagey Lectures will be established in his honour.
February 13, 1971: FASS winds up its four-night run with what
the Gazette calls "the slickest show ever", but without the traditional
in-jokes because "the campus is too big -- people no longer
know each other that well."
February 14, 1963: The first lecture in the new Theatre
of the Arts is given by George Grant of McMaster University.
February 14, 1975: The staff association announces that it has
enrolled more than 50 per cent of eligible staff as members -- enough to
give it official recognition by the university.
February 15, 1971: The Humanities building is named in honour
of founding president J. G. Hagey. February 15, 1993: The senate
approves a 1993-94 budget that involves closing the department of
dance, as recommended by the dean of applied health sciences.
February 16, 1976: In a marathon session held in the
Theatre of the Arts, UW's senate votes to close the department of
human relations and counselling studies.
February 17, 1995: The community campaign sponsors a
Mardi Gras night for staff, faculty and friends, in the north
campus recreation complex.
February 18, 1980: Frank H. Epp, history professor and former
president of Conrad Grebel College, is the unsuccessful Liberal
candidate for Parliament from Waterloo, in an election in which
Pierre Trudeau unseats Joe Clark as prime minister.
February 19, 1976: A jazz-rock production of Euripides' "Medea"
finishes a four-night run in the Humanities Theatre.
February 20, 1969: The UW senate approves creation of a
"division", later to become a faculty, of environmental studies.
February 21, 1994: The university closes on Monday of reading week,
giving faculty and staff an unpaid day off as part of the Social Contract.
February 22, 1969: Fire destroys the optometry clinic in
old Waterloo post office.
February 23, 1966: Security officers go on duty to inspect
briefcases at the exit from the Arts Library.
February 24, 1975: After construction delays, a bar opens in the
Festival Room of South Campus Hall under UW's new "blanket" liquor licence.
February 25, 1984: The basketball Warriors lose to Western 93-88
in triple overtime, but still advance to the preliminary round of
the national championships.
February 26, 1971: Presidents of UW and the faculty association
sign the "Matthews-Dubinski" agreement, defining salary procedures
and the relationship between the university and its professors.
February 27, 1980: The IBM 360/75 computer is unplugged after 13 years.
February 28, 1990: Pat Robertson ends his UW career, in which he's
held titles ranging from "assistant to the dean of arts" to "director
of academic services" and eventually vice-president.
February 29, 1984: UW adopts a new version of the bookings
policy, Policy 15.
March 1, 1969: The first annual Hagey Bonspiel is held at the
Glenbriar Curling Club.
March 2, 1990: A walk-home "escort service", later to be
called Walksafe, begins operation.
March 3, 1989: About 50 students picket Needles Hall during
employer interviews, protesting that some four dozen companies that
hire co-op students are involved in military work.
March 4, 1974: Students in Village 2 West E take their clothes
off and hold the first mass voluntary streak in Canada. March 4, 1982:
The Engineering Society's Ridgid Tool, stolen two months ago, is returned
inside a 45-gallon drum of concrete and with the letters "U of T" engraved
on it. March 4, 1987: Prime minister Brian Mulroney visits campus.
March 5, 1970: The north quadrant council in Village I sponsors
Discotheque Pubnite in the Village great hall -- admission, 25 cents.
March 6, 1969: The senate and board of governors hold a
joint meeting in South Campus Hall and approve a unicameral form of
government for UW. March 6, 1976: In a meet held at Waterloo,
the Athena swim team wins the Canadian championship.
March 7, 1977: Opening ceremonies are held for the Sandford Fleming
Foundation in UW's faculty of engineering.
March 8, 1994: Noting International Women's Day, the Daily Bulletin
reports that 15.8 per cent of UW's 829 full-time faculty members are women.
March 9, 1975: The basketball Warriors win their only
national championship, defeating Manitoba 80-79 in the Physical
Activities Complex when Phil Goggins hits a 12-foot shot
with four seconds left on the clock.
March 9, 1994: The senate finance committee discusses a draft budget
for 1994-95 and is told that a possible source of new revenue is the
parking service, which until now has run on a break-even basis.
March 10, 1975: Protesters from Renison College occupy the
office of UW's dean of arts demanding "free arbitration" over the
college's decision not to renew the contracts of three faculty members.
March 11, 1957: Accountant Bruce Gellatly -- later to be
vice-president (finance and administration) of UW -- joins the
staff of Waterloo College Associate Faculties. March 11, 1971: The UW
senate approves a "compromise" grading system for
use across campus, listing numerical equivalents for letter grades.
March 12, 1969: Members of the Radical Student Movement conduct a
"study-in" at the Arts Library to draw attention to inadequate
library budgets. March 12, 1986:
UW president Doug Wright leads a protest march from campus to
city hall to draw attention to the state of university financing.
March 13, 1985: Astronauts Marc Garneau and Roberta Bondar visit campus.
March 14, 1977: Gerry Meek is named to the new position of
orientation librarian in UW's libraries.
March 15, 1963: Ernie Lucy becomes UW's personnel director and
assistant to the director of coordination and placement.
March 16, 1995: Member of Parliament Svend Robinson, recently
charged in the "assisted suicide" of Sue Rodriguez, speaks in the
Arts Lecture Hall on "Living and Dying with Dignity".
March 17, 1972: The UW senate resumes a meeting that began
yesterday, and spends another two hours discussing the report of
the Commission on Post-Secondary Education in Ontario, headed by
former UW dean Doug Wright. March 17, 1982: "Technology Futures
Day" launches the Institute for Computer Research and the Watfund
money-raising campaign.
March 18, 1965: The Chemistry and Biology Building
(later to be Biology I and Earth Sciences and Chemistry)
is officially opened by William G. Davis, minister of university affairs.
March 19, 1980: Jim Leslie and Ted Dixon of the physics department,
who founded UW's correspondence program, resign from heading it in a
dispute over the appointment of a registrar's office official.
March 20, 1970: The Creative Arts Board finishes a two-day run of the
play "Lysistrata", by Aristophanes, in the Theatre of the Arts.
March 21, 1988: The university senate rejects the provost's
1988-89 budget by a 25-22 vote after objections to the proposed increase
in the student co-op fee.
March 22, 1996: St. Paul's College hosts "a Lenten forum on the
social safety net", as controversy builds over cuts to public
spending in Ontario.
March 23, 1991: Two UW students attending a hockey game at
Toronto's Varsity Arena are photographed holding up a sign that makes
fun of the current campaign against date rape. Disciplinary measures
quickly follow.
March 24, 1993: A department heads' meeting about staff training
is evacuated when a small fire breaks out in the Needles Hall
parking garage. One small car is destroyed.
March 25, 1970: The Gazette publishes a full-page interview with
faculty member Philip H. Smith, Jr., about "Bringing together the
computer and the arts".
March 26, 1969: The Gazette appears in newspaper
format for the first time.
March 27, 1973: About 150 students attend an open meeting with the
dean of mathematics to support a faculty member whose contract
is not being renewed.
March 27, 1995: A week of celebrations begins as the Campus Centre
(not yet renamed the Student Life Centre) opens its expanded space, including
Brubakers cafeteria.
March 28, 1987: A black-tie dinner marks the founding of
a chapter of Sigma Chi,
UW's first fraternity since a chapter of Phi Kappa Pi closed in 1975.
March 29, 1967: The Gazette reports that 11 buildings are under
construction or in the design process.
March 30, 1989: The second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary,
produced with software developed at UW, is launched.
March 31, 1981: Calling itself "Canada's distinctive university", UW
publishes a "report to the community" as an insert to the
Kitchener-Waterloo Record.
April 1, 1985: The new parking lot B off Phillip Street opens for
business, replacing a lot that's to become the site of the Davis
Centre. It's so muddy that authorities give everyone who
parks there a one-month refund of their fee.
April 2, 1981: UW holds "Computers in Education Day", as it is
estimated that there are "more than 120" microcomputers in the
faculty of engineering alone.
April 3, 1984: President Doug Wright announces that in
future professors on sabbatical leave will receive three-quarters
of their normal salary rather than the previous two-thirds.
April 4, 1956: Waterloo College Associate Faculties becomes a legal entity.
April 5, 1977: Banker Page Wadsworth is elected chair of UW's
board of governors. April 5, 1993: Leaders of universities
and other public agencies are called to
a meeting in Toronto to hear about the imposition of the Social Contract.
April 6, 1979: A freak exam-time blizzard shuts down UW
-- the first time the university has closed because of a storm.
April 7, 1991: A draft "master plan" for the UW campus is
unveiled at an open house in Federation Hall.
April 8, 1968: The observatory atop the Physics building is
dedicated, as a national gathering of astronomers is held at UW.
April 9, 1996: St. Jerome's College breaks ground for its
new "community centre".
April 10, 1974: A special meeting of the Graduate Club is held
to discuss the possibility of voting on unionization for graduate
teaching assistants.
April 11, 1996: The library holds a luncheon to honour
20 staff members who are leaving through early retirement.
April 12, 1962: Engineering II is officially opened by Ontario
premier John Robarts.
April 13, 1967: The board of governors appoints J. S. Minas to be
dean of arts, effective July 1.
April 14, 1994: University librarian Murray Shepherd announces
that 150,000 books will be removed to storage because the
Dana Porter Library is overcrowded.
April 15, 1993: James Downey becomes president of UW.
April 16, 1970: Tenders are due for UW's next building, Chemistry II.
April 17, 1996: Voting begins on union certification for
faculty members and librarians.
April 18, 1985: A fire hits the basement of Chemistry II about
5:30 a.m., doing extensive damage to laser chemistry laboratories.
April 19, 1976: John Wainwright, David Davies and Horst
Leipholz are announced as the first winners of UW's Distinguished
Teacher Awards.
April 20, 1939: James Downey is born in Winterton, Newfoundland.
April 20, 1961: A charter is granted to Conrad Grebel College.
April 21, 1988: Local Croatian leaders present the first
half of a million-dollar gift to UW to support courses in the Croatian language.
April 22, 1965: The board of governors meets, and appoints new
faculty members including Ted Cadell (psychology), Hildegard
Marsden (German and Russian), Warren Ober (English), Hari Sharma
(chemistry), and Ted Appleyard (earth sciences).
April 23, 1992: Watbun, the 20-year-old Honeywell computer in the
Math Faculty Computing Facility, is turned off forever.
April 24, 1996: The senate finance committee meets, and hears that
for the first time the parking department will be expected to make a
profit for UW.
April 25, 1956: The board of governors of Waterloo College
Associate Faculties approves approaching St. Jerome's College of
Kitchener about a possible affiliation.
April 26, 1969: After debate, students' council agrees that
students will take part in the search for a UW president to succeed Gerry Hagey.
April 27, 1971: The Waterloo Chamber of Commerce submits a brief
to the government complaining that the $125,000 cost of the University
Avenue overpass is "improper use of the wealth of Ontario".
April 28, 1966: A joint committee is set up to study possible
affiliation between the Ontario College of Optometry and the University
of Waterloo. April 28, 1977: A draw for the new "Wintario" lottery
is held in the Humanities Theatre.
April 29, 1993: In response to the Ontario government's Social
Contract, May 1 pay increases for staff and faculty members are cancelled.
April 30, 1977: The staff association holds its spring dance in
South Campus Hall, with music by "Sound Vibrations".
May 1, 1980: Irwin Rodin moves into the new position
of "coordinator of computer-assisted reference service" in the UW library.
May 2, 1983: Maclean's magazine describes UW as "destined to
become the darling of both government and industry"; U of T computer
scientists are outraged.
May 3, 1995: Tony Urquhart of the fine arts department, recently
named to the Order of Canada, speaks at noon in the Theatre of the
Arts in the annual Friends of the Library lecture.
May 4, 1966: UW's board of governors holds a special meeting
with the premier and the minister of university affairs to ask for
"immediate interim capital assistance to enable the University's building
program to continue".
May 5, 1994: In the Year of the Family, the psychology department
hosts the eighth biennial UW Conference on Child Development.
May 6, 1976: A concrete building is under construction at 415
Phillip Street that UW will rent as a home for the school of architecture.
May 7, 1958: Seagram Stadium and gymnasium, UW's first building,
is formally opened
May 8, 1979: The arts faculty council approves the "principle"
of a new kind of co-op program, later to be dubbed "applied studies".
May 9, 1960: Bruce Kelley, dean of science and acting dean of arts,
dies suddenly.
May 10, 1954: Carl Totzke is hired as athletics director of
Waterloo College; he'll later move to UW and serve until 1989.
May 10, 1972: After many delays, the new University of Waterloo
Act is approved by the private bills committee of the Ontario legislature.
May 11, 1993: The first Daily Bulletin is issued, announcing a
noon-hour talk by new president James Downey on "A Humanist Meets His Waterloo".
May 12, 1978: The Engineering Society, saying the Federation of
Students has improved its record of mismanagement, drops a campaign to
have engineering students take back their Federation fees.
May 13, 1987: The "Fourth Decade" planning report for UW is published.
May 14, 1996: The Ontario Labour Relations Board announces that a
proposal for unionization of UW faculty has been defeated, by 361 votes to 287.
May 15, 1965: A dinner-dance is held to celebrate the 100th
birthday of St. Jerome's College.
May 16, 1979: The Gazette presents a double-page feature article on
Canada's antiquated copyright law and the need for modernization to take
account of the invention of photocopying machines.
May 17, 1990: The first Midnight Sun solar car is unveiled; its
cost is reported as $116,000.
May 18, 1993: The manager of telephone services announces that UW
is acquiring a voice-mail system.
May 19, 1984: Ken Fryer, an associate dean of mathematics and
one of the most popular professors since UW's earliest days, dies at 59.
He would receive a Distinguished Teacher Award posthumously the following week.
May 20, 1993: A reception is held in Federation Hall to honour
Alan George as he ends his term as vice-president (academic) and provost.
May 21, 1996: Computer animation genius (and Waterloo graduate)
William Reeves speaks in the Theatre of the Arts, three days before
receiving the J. W. Graham Medal in Computing and Innovation from UW.
May 22, 1975: UW gives an honorary degree to Ira G. Needles as he
retires as the university's chancellor. He is succeeded by Carl A. Pollock.
May 23, 1968: Senate approves offering four physics courses by
correspondence. The Math and Computer building is officially opened.
May 24, 1989: For the first time, spring convocation stretches
over four days to accommodate all the graduates.
May 25, 1996: With early retirements pending, today's
convocation ceremonies are the last for registrar Trevor Boyes,
mace-bearer Ron Eydt, and chief marshal Bruce Pinder.
May 26, 1962: Astronomer Helen Sawyer Hogg is among three
honorary graduates at UW's third convocation.
May 27, 1961: UW awards its first bachelor's degrees, eleven in
arts and five in science. May 27, 1964: A Toronto branch of the
UW alumni association is organized.
May 28, 1963: UW hosts the annual meeting of the Institute of
Professional Librarians of Ontario.
May 29, 1984: Jon Dellandrea, director of development, is
promoted to vice-president (development). May 29, 1987: Spring
convocation ceremonies include presentation of diplomas in the name of
UW to almost 300 people who graduated from the Ontario College of
Optometry before it became part of UW in 1967.
May 30, 1970: "Science and technology are no longer neutral," says
Doug Wright, former dean of engineering, as he addresses a UW
convocation and draws attention to the new public demand for environmental
protection.
May 31, 1980: A lab refrigerator explodes on the third
floor of Engineering I; it is a Saturday morning and no one is injured.
June 1, 1975: The price of photocopying in the UW libraries goes
up to 10 cents a page.
June 2, 1971: The Gazette publishes several pictures of
participants in spring convocation wearing hot pants, this year's fashion
for women. June 2, 1981: The board of governors approves
introduction of a dental insurance plan for staff and faculty.
June 3, 1980: Tenders close for the construction of Environmental
Studies II, and Ball Brothers Ltd. gets the contract. June 3, 1987:.
The vice-president (academic), Tom Brzustowski, gets the new title of
"provost".
June 4, 1991: A picnic -- quickly to become an annual event --
launches the Community Campaign to raise money for UW from staff,
faculty and retirees.
June 5, 1990: The university's ethical behaviour policy, Policy 33,
becomes effective.
June 6, 1989: A $2.5 million microelectronics research lab opens in
the new Davis Centre, replacing the old lab in Carl Pollock Hall.
June 7, 1967: The school of physical and health education
holds a "sports celebrity citation dinner" at the Walper Hotel.
June 8, 1961: UW becomes a member of the National Conference of
Canadian Universities and Colleges (later to be the Association of
Universities and Colleges of Canada).
June 9, 1971: The sculpture "Joy" is installed outside South
Campus Hall. June 9, 1993: The proprietor of the "Black Orchid
Escort Service" is evicted from the Married Student Apartments.
June 10, 1976: "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg", produced by Waterloo
Summer Theatre, begins a four-day run.
June 11, 1976: Vera Leavoy, who was one of UW's first
administrative staff members, leaves for a year facing a new challenge
in Paraiba as administrator of the Brazil-Waterloo Program in Engineering.
June 12, 1994: UW's faculty of mathematics is featured on the
CBC television business program "Venture". "Somebody in this country
is doing something very, very well," says host Robert Scully.
June 13, 1995: The Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research
hosts the first annual get-together for its corporate and government partners.
June 14, 1982: Provincial sales tax is charged for the first
time on meals eaten in the UW residences.
June 15, 1989: A UW alumni get-together is the first private
party in Toronto's brand-new SkyDome.
June 16, 1966: Carl Pollock becomes chairman of the board of
governors, succeeding Ira G. Needles, who becomes UW's chancellor.
June 17, 1983:A first-year math student dies after falling from
the roof of the PAC about 1:30 a.m.
June 18, 1960: At UW's first convocation ceremony, held in
Seagram Gymnasium, Dana Porter is installed as the university's first
chancellor, and eight master's degrees are presented.
June 19, 1956: President Gerry Hagey reports to the board of governors
that the Evangelical Lutheran Synod has approved affiliating the new
"associate faculties", soon to become UW, to the existing Waterloo College.
June 19, 1989: In the wake of the Tienanmen Square killings, the
UW senate considers, then rejects, a motion to "re-evaluate" Waterloo's
academic links with China.
June 20, 1972: A ground-breaking ceremony is held for a new
Optometry building north of Columbia Street.
June 21, 1974: Staff in the food services department vote to be
represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which already
represents plant operations staff.
June 22, 1966: Ellis-Don Limited files a low bid of $5,437,056
for construction of the Math and Computer building. June 22, 1980: The
Federation of Students cancels plans for a September "strike" protesting a
7.5 per cent increase in tuition fees.
June 23, 1976: The Gazette publishes an angry letter purporting to
be from the Karl Friedrich Gauss Foundation, maintaining that the
great mathematician (1777) is still living and is "the spiritual leader
of humankind".
June 24, 1993: "Mathematicians are atwitter this morning," the
Daily Bulletin begins, "at the report that Fermat's Last Theorem has
been proven."
June 25, 1969: The annual congress of the Canadian Association of
Physicists opens at UW.
June 26, 1991: An emotional goodbye party is held to honour Robin
Banks as he ends twelve years of service as dean of arts.
June 27, 1988: Rod Sawatsky is named to be president of Conrad Grebel
College, succeeding Ralph Lebold.
June 28, 1979: Long closed because of a fire, the Brubacher
farmhouse on the north campus is reopened as a museum.
June 29, 1985: The Toronto Star labels UW "a university for Yuppies".
June 29, 1988: Len Guelke, president of the faculty association,
charges in a letter to the Gazette that UW president Doug Wright "is
doing a double disservice" to the university and to faculty members by
overemphasizing the income they earn from consulting and outside businesses.
June 30, 1964: UW ends the 1963-64 fiscal year with an $8,500
deficit on total spending of $4,033,000.
July 1, 1960: The UW pension plan is registered with the department
of national revenue.
July 2, 1953: Gerry Hagey becomes president of Waterloo College. July
2, 1975: The failure rate in first-year engineering has reached
23 per cent, the Gazette reports -- up from not quite 6 per cent in 1968.
July 3, 1957: Waterloo College Associate Faculties offers its
first classes, to 75 engineering students.
July 4, 1996: Just days after leaving through the Special Early
Retirement Program, psychology professor Ken Bowers dies.
July 5, 1977: Mathematicians from around the world, including the
legendary Paul Erdos, meet at Waterloo for a five-day conference on graph
theory honouring UW's Bill Tutte. July 5, 1984: The first computers
donated to UW under a "partnership" with Digital Equipment Corporation
arrive on campus.
July 6, 1974: The Math Society and Engineering Society sponsor a
Saturday afternoon beach party at Columbia Field, with a three-legged
race, frisbee throwing, and a large-scale tug-of-war.
July 7, 1962: UW's first engineering graduates receive their degrees.
July 8, 1970: In a front-page story, the Gazette announces some
new technology in the computing centre: an "optical mark reader", a
device that reads pencil marks on cards.
July 9, 1964: "A display of rocks and minerals selected from the private
collections of Messrs. M. S. Stevens and H. D. Ball of the Department of
Co-ordination and Placement" is on display in the engineering lobby.
July 10, 1991: Peter Hopkins is appointed to the new position of
associate provost (student affairs).
July 11, 1974: The UW Summer Choir presents "Music for a Summer's
Day" at noontime in the Humanities quadrangle.
July 12, 1994: Construction work in South Campus Hall, as the
bookstore is renovated and the concourse area is enclosed, sets off the
fire alarms.
July 13, 1966: The Gazette announces that "Professor A. N. Sherbourne
has resigned as Warden of the Student Village as a result of his appointment
as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering."
July 14, 1995: A red flag is flying at the main entrance to campus,
representing the International Mathematics Olympiad, whose 170-member
jury is meeting at UW to prepare the question paper for the contest.
July 15, 1968: A branch of the
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce opens in the Campus Centre.
July 16, 1994: The physics department observatory is opened to let
visitors observe fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy smashing into the
planet Jupiter.
July 17, 1996: UW, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council,
and Research in Motion Ltd. announce a four-year project aimed at "developing
the next generation of microchips for wireless communications".
July 18, 1970: Cricket teams from UW and the London Cricket Club
play to a 131-131 tie.
July 19, 1971: A computerized circulation system is introduced in
the library, with yellow punched cards in some 60,000 books.
July 20, 1963: A group from the physics department travels to
Moosonee to observe a total eclipse of the sun. July 20, 1994: The
Electronic Library is introduced.
July 21, 1976: The staff association holds the first of two
open meetings to answer questions and discuss plans after the federal
Anti-Inflation Board rolls back staff salary increases -- from 14 per
cent to 9.1 per cent in the case of secretarial-clerical staff.
July 22, 1977: The Bank of Montreal branch at University Avenue and
Phillip Street, which was opened in 1962, is closed.
July 23, 1986: A group of staff from the registrar's office hold a
pre-breakfast television party to watch the wedding of Prince Andrew and
Sarah Ferguson.
July 24, 1995: Elaine Koolstra moves into the long-vacant position
of manager of UW's parking services.
July 25, 1994: UW and the Bank of Montreal announce a "partnership"
for research and training in software technology.
July 26, 1993: The board of governors approves wage freezes and
unpaid days for staff members under the Ontario Social Contract.
July 27, 1976: Christopher Knapper of the University of Regina is
approved to take office as UW's first teaching resource person.
July 28, 1965: The lead item in the Gazette is from the biology
department: "Dr. Hynes gave a seminar on July 7th at the Summer School in
Limnology at the Kellogg Gull Lake Biological Station of Michigan State
University."
July 29, 1996: Part of parking lot H is blocked off for construction
of a new visitor parking area and information kiosk.
July 30, 1993: The Gender and Science and Technology Association
holds its biennial conference at UW.
July 31, 1961: President Gerry Hagey strikes a committee to look into
"the academic and operational problems involved" in changing from four
terms a year to three.
August 1, 1965: Alfred Kunz is named director of music at UW.
August 1, 1978: UW adopts a "records management policy", Policy 12,
defining how long different kinds of paperwork must be kept on file.
August 2, 1995: A meeting is held in the president's office to
launch plans for UW's 40th anniversary celebrations.
August 3, 1976: The Dana Porter Library becomes a "full
depository library" receiving copies of all federal government publications.
August 4, 1964: Bill Lobban becomes director of physical plant and
planning.
August 5, 1966: Walter Fenz of the psychology department is in Moscow to
take part in a symposium of the International Congress of Psychology,
"Psychological Problems of Man in Space".
August 6, 1978: A two-week International Solar
Energy School begins at UW.
August 7, 1963: President Gerry Hagey announces creation of the
President's Committee on University Discipline.
August 8, 1994: The bookstore closes for two weeks to allow major
renovations, part of the conversion of the South Campus Hall
concourse to a mini-mall.
August 9, 1967: The Gazette announces that Of Mud and Dreams, a
history of UW's first ten years, is on sale at the bookstore for $3.75.
August 10, 1962: UW registers a copyright on its shield or "crest".
August 10, 1993: UW and the faculty association reach agreement on
Social Contract salary reductions.
August 11, 1971: Mavor Moore is the speaker at an Arts Lecture
Series session in the faculty lounge of the Social Sciences Building
(later Environmental Studies I).
August 12, 1974: UW agrees to sell Seagram Stadium to the city of
Waterloo for $1. (It will later be sold again, to Wilfrid Laurier
University, and renamed "University Stadium".)
August 13, 1962: Bob Mudie joins UW's staff as manager of food
services.
August 14, 1981: The application deadline for UW correspondence
courses is postponed because of a 45-day national postal strike.
August 15, 1995: Ring road crosswalks are being removed, and the
walkway between the Earth Sciences and chemistry building and Biology
I is being ripped up and replaced.
August 16, 1993: Prime minister Kim Campbell visits campus.
August 17, 1994: The ring road is closed on the east side for
replacement of a water main; on the west side, a backhoe breaks a
cable providing power to the Health Services building.
August 18, 1991: François Gérard, former principal of
St. Paul's United College, dies as the result of an accident in India.
August 19, 1962: Bill Tutte of the mathematics department is in
Stockholm to give a talk on "The Enumeration of Planar Maps" at the
International Mathematical Congress.
August 20, 1974: The campus learns that Howard Petch,
vice-president (academic), is leaving to become president of the
University of Victoria.
August 21, 1995: The Canadian Academic Round Table, sponsored by
UW's Federation of Students and drawing student leaders from across
Canada, wraps up today.
August 22, 1977: Frank Epp, president of Conrad Grebel College,
chairs the first meeting of an "investigation commission" into the
controversy over the student newspaper, The Chevron.
August 23, 1994: Federal science minister Jon Gerrard visits
campus to lead a "local consultation" that's part of the federal science and
technology review.
August 24, 1994: The bookstore reopens following renovations to
create the South Campus Hall concourse.
August 25, 1972: A very young man moves to Waterloo to begin
work on an MA in the English department, little imagining that
25 years later he will be editor of the Daily Bulletin.
August 26, 1985: Bruce Springsteen plays Exhibition Stadium in
Toronto, and some of his audience are people who slept overnight in the
Humanities building lobby to make sure of getting tickets through the
UW box office the first morning they went on sale.
August 27, 1956: Ira G. Needles, president of B. F. Goodrich
Canada, speaks to the Kitchener-Waterloo Rotary Club about "The Waterloo
Plan", announcing the creation of an engineering and science college to
be associated with Waterloo College.
August 28, 1965: Homer Cox of the department of English is
killed in a highway accident near London.
August 29, 1994: Leo Jabs completes his last shift after 28 years as a
stationary engineer in UW's central plant.
August 30, 1961: An agreement is signed to transfer 23 acres of
UW's land to St. Jerome's, Renison, Conrad Grebel and St.
Paul's United Colleges.
August 31, 1984: UW takes ownership of the Waterloo
Manufacturing property at 263 Phillip Street, soon to be renamed East
Campus Hall.
September 1, 1967: Howard Petch arrives from McMaster University to
become vice-president (academic).
September 2, 1993: Food services offers free muffins at Pastry Plus in
the Davis Centre (it's not yet a Tim Horton's outlet) and Needles Hall.
September 3, 1969: President pro tem Howard Petch issues a statement
responding to charges by Robin Mathews, of Carleton University, about the
"Americanization" of UW and other Canadian universities.
September 4, 1986: Thursday night of orientation week presents,
for the first time, an alternative to the traditional pub crawl: an
alcohol-free "fun crawl" at Bingeman Park.
September 5, 1984: Kitchener Transit introduces its route 12 bus
to connect the campus to the south end of Kitchener.
September 6, 1977: The library's new Geac computerized circulation
system becomes fully operational. September 6, 1979: Rev. C. L.
Siegfried, president of St. Jerome's College, is taken to hospital in
Toronto; within a few weeks he announces that he will officially leave office.
September 7, 1996: The football Warriors defeat Windsor 33-1,
giving coach Dave "Tuffy" Knight his 138th victory, a record for a Canadian
university football coach.
September 8, 1980: Novelist Harold Horwood arrives at UW as the
year's writer-in-residence.
September 9, 1971: A joint meeting of the senate and board of
governors votes to kill off proposals for a "unicameral" system of government
as work on revising the University of Waterloo Act continues.
September 10, 1972: Ike and Tina Turner play the Physical Activities
Complex. September 10, 1975: An all-candidates meeting is held in the
Theatre of the Arts,
eight days before a scheduled provincial election. Among the candidates is
Jack Kersell of the political science department, the NDP candidate in
Waterloo North.
September 11, 1970: The Canadian flag is raised for the first time
on a new flagpole at the University Avenue entrance to campus. September
11, 1985: Some 1,334 people set a Guinness record by doing the bird
dance together on the Village green.
September 12, 1975: Classes are cancelled for first-year students
taking a set of experimental achievement tests designed to find out the
relationship between high school marks and readiness for university study.
September 13, 1994: The morning after the Québec election
returns the Parti Québecois to power, the Daily Bulletin comes
out in French.
September 14, 1991: Campus and community admirers attend a dinner
in the PAC main gymnasium in honour of business leader Walter Bean.
September 15, 1987: Staff start moving books from the "Engineering,
Mathematics and Science Library" from
the Math and Computer building to the library's new home in the Davis Centre.
September 16, 1968: New in their league, the football Warriors play
an exhibition game against the Alberta Golden Bears at Seagram Stadium.
September 17, 1992: Instruction sessions begin to show staff,
faculty and students how to use the new UWinfo gopher.
September 18, 1962: Some 500 volunteers from the business world
begin collecting for the Canadian Fund to Expand the University of
Waterloo, with a goal of $3 million. On the same day, a charter is granted
to Camp 15 Waterloo by the Corporation of the Seven Wardens, responsible
for the engineers' Iron Ring ritual.
September 19, 1994: President James Downey makes public the
"O'Sullivan report" on reorganization of UW's senior administrative structure.
September 20, 1953: The cornerstone is laid for a new teaching
building at Waterloo College, soon to become the parent of the "Associate
Faculties". September 20, 1991: Mathematics professor Jack Edmonds
loses his request for an injunction preventing UW from terminating his
employment, and is told to clear out his office immediately. It's the
beginning of the long-running "Edmonds case", which will end with a
negotiated reinstatement.
September 21, 1966: "The Black and White and Gold" is introduced as
UW's school song. September 21, 1975: The sculpture "Convolution",
better known on campus as "the worm", is removed by vandals from its site
between Physics and the Dana Porter Library. September 21, 1988: Former
cabinet minister (and future prime minister) Jean Chrétien speaks
in the Physical Activities Complex.
September 22, 1972: The library adds its 500,000th book, The Stature
of Dickens by English professor Joseph Gold. September 22, 1982:
History professor Leo Johnson appears in court on charges of indecent
assault and related offences.
September 23, 1963: UW gets a new phone number, 744-6111.
September 24, 1973: The price of milk and juice in UW vending
machines is increased to 15 cents.
September 25, 1969: Members of the Radical Student Movement confront
interim president Howard Petch, demanding that he repudiate an Ontario
working paper about "Order on the Campus".
September 26, 1976: An emergency meeting of students' council is
held after the editor of the student newspaper The Chevron resigns,
Federation of Students executives close the paper, and
staff members start an occupation of the Chevron office.
September 27, 1967: B. F. Goodrich Ltd. donates $30,000 to UW to
establish a library collection in polymer science as its centennial project.
September 28, 1977: Celebrating its new automated circulation system,
the library launches a three-day amnesty on the return of overdue books.
September 29, 1987: The Engineering, Math and Science library
reopens as the Davis Centre library.
September 29, 1992: A ceremony launches the Walter Bean Visiting
Professorship in the Environment with a $1 million gift from Canada Trust.
September 30, 1987: Tom Brzustowski suddenly leaves the position of
vice-president (academic) and provost to become deputy minister of
colleges and universities; Robin Banks becomes acting provost. September
30, 1989: The football Warriors end a 33-game losing streak by
beating York 32-9.
October 1, 1968: The monthly rate rises to $3 in central parking lots,
$1.75 in others. October 1, 1988: The Robert Starbird Dorney
Ecology Garden, outside Environmental Studies I, is dedicated. October
1, 1990: The WatGreen program is announced.
October 2, 1961: UW agrees to buy 18 acres of land between
Seagram Drive and Dearborn Street (now University Avenue) from Bauers
Ltd. October 2, 1984: The board of governors approves plans for
construction of a "computer research centre" along with a name for it:
the Davis Centre.
October 3, 1963: UW's first traffic and parking regulations are issued.
October 4, 1968: The band "Major Hoople's Boarding House" plays for a
dance as the four-day festival "The Arts in the Pepsi Generation" gets into
high gear.
October 5, 1968: The Ridgid Tool makes its first public appearance
(at a semi-formal dance) as mascot of the Engineering Society.
October 6, 1995: The undergraduate calendar is made available on the
World Wide Web for the first time.
October 7, 1976: First-year English student Mary Pat Hannon is
voted Miss Oktoberfest.
October 8, 1968: Prominent mathematician Paul Erdos begins a week of
visiting UW, giving a general interest lecture in Math and Computer room 2066.
October 9, 1971: Folksinger Melanie appears in concert in the
Physical Activities building.
October 10, 1961: The university calls tenders for construction of
the Arts building (later to be called Modern Languages).
October 11, 1968: President Gerry Hagey issues a statement denying
that the university has given in to the demands of student "activists" who
have occupied the Campus Centre and ejected manager Paul Gerster.
October 12, 1978: Malcolm Muggeridge fills the Humanities Theatre
as he delivers the first Pascal Lecture.
October 13, 1994: Ontario premier Bob Rae visits campus and announces
funding for construction of a Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering.
October 14, 1965: The annual report of the UW pension plan reveals
that its book value now exceeds $1 million for the first time.
October 15, 1977: The student group "Radio Waterloo" goes on the
air for the first time as CKMS-FM.
October 16, 1980: The Industrial Advisory Council, formed in UW's early
days to support the co-op program, meets for the last time; it's to be
succeeded by a more broadly defined Waterloo Advisory Council.
October 17, 1972: With the new University of Waterloo Act about to
come into force, the old UW board of governors holds its last meeting.
October 18, 1981: Jim McKegney of the Spanish department, who was
the first professor in UW's faculty of arts, dies suddenly in Mexico, aged 60.
October 19, 1962: Ralph Stanton, chair of the department of
mathematics, gives the commencement address at the Bracebridge High School.
October 20, 1975: A Canada-wide postal strike begins, and
UW's central stores makes arrangements for foreign mail to the
university to be handled by a customs broker at Niagara Falls, New York.
October 21, 1961: A team of 22 Waterloo students make a relay run
from Waterloo to Hamilton, carrying a black-and-gold football, to promote a
UW-McMaster football game.
October 21, 1969: The board of governors approves a mortgage
guarantee program to help new faculty and staff members buy houses in
Kitchener-Waterloo.
October 22, 1970: UW's senate refuses a request to cancel
classes for a day for a program of workshops and talks about the Vietnam war.
October 23, 1965: A special convocation ceremony marks
the opening of the seven-storey Dana Porter Library.
October 24, 1964: A student-created program is aired on CKKW radio
for the first time, in a project that would eventually lead the founding
of CKMS. October 24, 1968: The UW senate becomes the first
governing body of an Ontario university to open its meetings to the public.
October 24, 1982: UW holds the second day of a 25th anniversary
open house.
October 25, 1964: A dedication service is held for Conrad Grebel
College. October 25, 1973: Paul Dirksen is named director of the
computing centre, succeeding Wes Graham. October 25, 1990: A bomb
scare closes the campus for the afternoon. October 25, 1993:
History professor John English is elected to Parliament.
October 26, 1967: The Isaiah Bowman Building of the Social Sciences
is officially dedicated. October 26, 1988: Gerry Hagey, founding
president of UW, dies at 84.
October 27, 1967: The Dana Porter Library, open for some two years
already, is formally dedicated, and portraits of UW's first two
chancellors are unveiled.
October 28, 1994: The visitor centre moves from the Optometry
building to South Campus Hall.
October 29, 1992: University librarian Murray Shepherd tells his
staff there will be "eight to ten" jobs eliminated by next year, with
some layoffs likely. The library becomes the first department to say
clearly that staff will be let go.
October 30, 1911: The Evangelical Lutheran Seminary is founded
in Waterloo; it will later become Waterloo College, the parent of
both UW and Wilfrid Laurier University.