The University of Alberta's 100th birthday celebration promises to be an extraordinary and exciting year.
The U of A's ambitious plans for becoming recognized as one of the world's top research universities by 2020 involve a couple of deep breaths and a fond look back before grabbing hold of the momentum built up during the school's first 100 years. With that, the university today announced its Centenary 2008 celebrations at a press conference that featured a pat on the back reaching across the last century.
"The university's first president Henry Marshall Tory believed a great university could be built out in the wilderness, right here on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River," said U of A President Indira Samarasekera, honorary co-chair of Centenary 2008, relating the tale of Tory's first fabled recruits, which included professors from Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley and McGill universities.
"There is no question in my mind that Tory launched this institution on an extraordinary course," said Samarasekera. "As we stand on the threshold of our second century and survey the accomplishments of this institution and its graduates, Tory, I think, would be very proud."
The wide range of celebratory activity planned for 2008 include centrally organized signature events, centenary award projects and dozens of faculty and department events.
A highlight will be the much-anticipated Prime Ministers' Conversations series, which will see the U of A host each of the six living former prime ministers throughout the year, where they will reflect on the topic Advancing Canada - Changing the World.
Another big event will be the Festival of Ideas, considered the capstone of the centenary celebrations and a legacy for the City of Edmonton, which features big ideas and bold visions from some of the world's most acclaimed artists, writers, scholars and performers, headlined by author Salman Rushdie.
Having a research and education institution of the U of A's magnitude has enriched the lives of every Edmontonian, all of whom Mayor Stephen Mandel invited to join the festivities.
"Marvels are going to come out of this year," Mandel said, adding the university has taken on a new vision, far surpassing anything the school's founding father could have dreamed of. "The city had its centennial and the province had theirs, but the university's is going to be about ideas, about people, about knowledge, about art, about creativity, about everything we are in this city, this province and this wonderful university."
Also among the signature centenary events are Centenary Road Trips planned for 11 cities throughout the province. This event is designed to pay homage to the original 'Tory Tour,' named after the whirlwind trips the U of A's famed first president made to Alberta towns, trying to drum up support for his vision.
"Indeed, the University of Alberta would not exist without the generations of faculty, students, staff, alumni, friends and donors who have come through its doors and made up its community over the years," said Samarasekera, who was joined by fellow Centenary 2008 honorary chair Jim Hole in unveiling the centenary's logo.
"The discoveries and the breakthroughs of our people have changed how we think and improved lives around the world."
While the atmosphere will be jubilant, the legacy of the centenary will forever entrench the U of A's original vision.
"Henry Marshall Tory and our founder Alexander Cameron Rutherford, our first premier, did not set out to build a mediocre little college on the prairies," said Samarasekera. "We are well on our way to getting there, but we owe it to them and to all those that have come since, to continue to strive towards our vision of becoming one of the world's top public research facilities."
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2:42Votre avenir en marche -- Catherine Lachapelleby UniversityofAlberta3 views
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