The University of British Columbia is of about
40000 students over
402 hectares, and is located at the western tip of the peninsula of
West Point Grey in
Vancouver,
British Columbia,
Canada. UBC's president is currently, and since
1997, Dr.
Martha C. Piper.
UBC's history dates back to 1877, with its proposal. In 1899, Vancouver High School established Vancouver College, which was affiliated with McGill University and in fact taken over in 1906, and renamed McGill University College of British Columbia.
UBC as such was established by British Columbia's 1908 University Act, but UBC first opened and held classes in 1915, at the Fairview campus. The Point Grey campus was opened in 1925. After World War II, UBC begins to expand both its land base, and the variety of programs offered; the student enrolment grows significantly. In 1968, the current Student Union Building was built. In 1971, UBC is the first Canadian university to offer a credited Women's Studies program. Throughout the 1980s, students faced large tuition fee increases. It's not really been much different since.
Some of UBC's attractions include the clothing-optional Wreck Beach, the Museum of Anthropology, the TRIUMF sub-atomic physics laboratory, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, the UBC Botanical Garden, and the 763 hectare Pacific Spirit Regional Park, good for biking and jogging.
UBC's student newspaper is called the Ubyssey, because of the word's written resemblance to "Odyssey" and homophony with "UBC". The radio station is CiTR 101.9 FM in the Vancouver area, or at http://www.citr.ca/live.rm with RealPlayer.
Significant UBC Alumni include:
Nobel laureate, economist Robert Mundell;
Supreme Court Justice Beverley McLachlin;
former BC premiers Ujjal Dosanjh and Mike Harcourt;
author and historian Pierre Berton;
opera singers Ben Heppner and Judith Forst;
composer Michael Conway Baker;
educator Rick Hansen;
writer William Gibson;
filmmaker Bruce Sweeney;
actor Nicola Cavendish;
astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason;
senator Pat Carney;
former Canadian prime ministers Kim Campbell and John Turner;
University of Victoria president Dr. David Turpin;
journalists Allan Fotheringham and Stevie Cameron;
academic and politician Rosemary Brown.
The University of British Columbia
2329 West Mall
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6T 1Z4
Phone 604.822.2211
Web www.ubc.ca
See also: British Columbia's Universities