Category:University of Manitoba History

[edit] General Information

The University of Manitoba is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the province’s largest, most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It is Western Canada’s first university and was founded in 1877. In a typical year, the university has an enrolment of 24,542 undergraduate students and 3,021 graduate students. The university offers 82 degrees, 51 at the undergraduate level. Most academic units offer graduate studies programs leading to master’s or doctoral degrees.

In 2004-05, the university acquired more than $110.9 million in research income. The university currently holds 33 Canada Research Chairs, is the network leader of one of Canada’s 21 networks of excellence (ISIS Canada) and a participant in 14 others. It is also home to a wide range of research centers and institutes. Within the past decade, Smartpark was established with the assistance of provincial and national governments and is maturing as an environment where collaborations between university and industry enhance the commercialization of new technologies..

[edit] History

The University of Manitoba was established in 1877 to confer degrees on students graduating from its three founding colleges - St. Boniface College, St. John's College, and Manitoba College. The University was the first to be established in western Canada.

In 1900 the Manitoba legislature changed the University Act so that the university could do its own teaching, and in 1904 a building in downtown Winnipeg became the first teaching facility with a staff of six professors, all of whom were scientists. By 1929, following the addition of more programs, schools, and faculties, the University had moved to its permanent home in Fort Garry.

From its founding until the present time, the University has added a number of colleges to its corporate and associative body. In 1882 the Manitoba Medical College, which had originally been founded by some practising physicians and surgeons, became a part of the University. Other affiliations followed:

   * Methodist Church's Wesley College in 1888
   * Manitoba College of Pharmacy in 1902
   * Manitoba Agriculture College in 1906
   * St. Paul's College in 1931
   * Brandon College in 1938
   * St. Andrew's College, established to train the ministry for the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church, became an affiliated College in 1981.

Both the Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Tuxedo, and the Canadian Nazarene College in Fort Garry have been designated by the University as approved teaching centres.

In 1967 two of the colleges that had been part of the University of Manitoba were given university status by the provincial government. United College, which had been formed by the merging of Wesley College and Manitoba College, became the University of Winnipeg, and Brandon College became Brandon University.

First Faculty 1904 St. Boniface College and St. John's College, two of the founding colleges of the University, are still part of the University of Manitoba. St. Boniface College, the Roman Catholic institution which traces its beginnings back to 1818 and the earliest days of the Red River settlement, is the University's only French-speaking college; it offers instruction in French and facilities for the training of teachers who expect to teach in the French language. St. John's College, which dates back to 1820, offers instruction in Arts and Science and among other special programs prepares men and women for the ordained ministry of the Anglican Church.

Thirty-three of the many buildings on the Fort Garry campus of the University of Manitoba are directly used for teaching. Four of these are the homes of colleges: St. John's College, St. Paul's College, St. Andrew`s College, and University College. The remaining buildings contain special laboratories, administrative and service offices, residences, or they belong to research agencies.

The second campus of the University comprises a complex of nine buildings located west of the Health Sciences Centre between McDermot Avenue and Bannatyne Avenue in Central Winnipeg. This complex houses the medical and dental instructional units of the University. The Faculty of Dentistry, the Faculty of Medicine, the School of Medical Rehabilitation, and the School of Dental Hygiene are the major health sciences units located on this campus.