The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

located in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by

Alexander Cameron Rutherford Alexander Cameron Rutherford (February 2, 1857 – June 11, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the first premier of Alberta from 1905 to 1910. Born in Ormond, Canada West, he studied and practiced law in Ottawa before h ...

,"A Gentleman of Strathcona –

", Douglas R. Babcock, 1989, The

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

Press, 2500 University Drive NW,

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, Alberta, Canada, the first premier of Alberta, and

Henry Marshall Tory Henry Marshall Tory (January 11, 1864 – February 6, 1947) was the first president of the University of Alberta (1908–1928), the first president of the Khaki University, the first president of the National Research Council (1928–1935), and t ...

, A Biography", originally published 1954, current edition January 1992, E.A. Corbett, Toronto: Ryerson Press, the university's first president. It was enabled through the Post-secondary Learning Act''.'' The university is considered a "comprehensive academic and research university" (CARU), which means that it offers a range of academic and professional programs that generally lead to undergraduate and graduate level credentials. The university comprises four campuses in Edmonton, an Augustana Campus in Camrose, and a staff centre in downtown

. The original north campus consists of 150 buildings covering 50 city blocks on the south rim of the North Saskatchewan River valley, directly across from

downtown Edmonton Downtown Edmonton is the central business district of Edmonton, Alberta. Located at the geographical centre of the city, the downtown area is bounded by 109 Street to the west, 105 Avenue to the north, 97 Street to the east, 97 Avenue and Rossdale ...

. 39,000 students from Canada and 150 other countries participate in 400 programs in 18 faculties. The university is a major economic driver in Alberta. Its impact on Alberta's economy is estimated at $12.3 billion annually, or five per cent of the province's gross domestic product.

History

Convocation Hall University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada 02

Rutherford House University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada 03

The university was chartered in 1906 in

as a single, public provincial university through the University Act, passed during the first session of the then-new Legislative Assembly, with

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Alexander C. Rutherford as the legislation's sponsor. The university was modelled on the American state university, with an emphasis on extension work and applied research. The governance was modelled on Ontario's University of Toronto Act of 1906, with a bicameral system consisting of a senate (faculty) responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens) controlling financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to provide a link between the two bodies and perform institutional leadership.

Establishment in Edmonton

Heated wrangling took place between the cities of algaryand Edmonton over the location of the provincial capital and of the university. It was stated that the capital would be north of the North Saskatchewan River and that the university would be in a city south of it. The city of Edmonton became the capital and the then-separate city of Strathcona on the south bank of the river, where Premier Alexander Rutherford lived, was granted the university. When the two cities were

amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

in 1912, Edmonton became both the political and academic capital. With

as its first president, the University of Alberta started operation in 1908. Forty-five students attended classes in English, mathematics and modern languages, on the top floor of the Queen Alexandra Elementary School in Strathcona, while the first campus building, Athabasca Hall, was under construction."All True Things: A History of the University of Alberta, 1908–2008", Rod Macleod, The University of Alberta Press, 2008, In a letter to

in early 1906, while he was in the process of setting up McGill University College in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, Tory wrote, ''"If you take any steps in the direction of a working University and wish to avoid the mistakes of the past, mistakes which have fearfully handicapped other institutions, you should start on a teaching basis."''Tory to Rutherford, March 6, 1906. University of Alberta Archives (UAA), Rutherford Fonds, 2/3/6-8 Of the 45 students in the university's first cohort in 1908, seven were women. These original seven formed a type of sorority, called Seven Independent Spinsters, or S.I.S., with the intention of supporting the women's social and academic needs. In 1909, the group changed its name to the Wuaneita Club, and then to the Wuaneita Society in 1910. All female students at the university were initiated into the Society every fall. The group heavily appropriated from

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations. In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree o ...

culture: the name Wuaneita is a rough equivalent to the

word meaning "kind-hearted"; their initiation ceremonies featured costumes with feathers and headdresses; the society president was called the "Big Chief": and the motto of the group was "payuk uche kukeyow, mena kukeyow uche payuk,” a rough translation into Cree of "all for one, one for all" that is still engraved above the outer doors of Pembina Hall on main campus. For much of the Wuaneita Society's existence, as they were coopting First Nations traditions and ceremonies, the

Potlatch ban The potlatch ban was legislation forbidding the practice of the potlatch passed by the Government of Canada, begun in 1885 and lasting until 1951. First Nations saw the law as an instrument of intolerance and injustice. "Second only to the taking ...

was in effect in Canada. The group wound down in 1973 once the population of female students on campus had outgrown the need for a supportive society. Under Tory's guidance, the early years were marked by recruitment of professors and construction of the first campus buildings. Today, he has a building named after him that houses classes of all types. Percy Erskine Nobbs & Frank Darling designed the master plan for the University of Alberta in 1909–10. Nobbs designed the Arts Building (1914–15), laboratories and Power House (1914). With Cecil S. Burgess, Nobbs designed the Provincial College of Medicine (1920–21). Architect Herbert Alton Magoon designed several buildings on campus, including St. Stephen's Methodist College (1910) and the residence for professor Rupert C. Lodge (1913). The University of Alberta awarded its first degrees in 1912, the same year it established the Department of Extension. The Faculty of Medicine was established the following year and the Faculty of Agriculture began in 1915. But along with these early milestones came the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and the global influenza pandemic of 1918, whose toll on the university resulted in a two-month suspension of classes in the fall of 1918. The university organized the recruitment of staff and students for XI Canadian Field Ambulance (Western Universities) in early 1916, and soon afterward it raised 'C' Company of the 196th (Western Universities) Battalion. Both of these units were organized by a committee composed of representatives from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...

, University of Alberta,

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

, and

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba. The University of Alberta's recruits for XI Canadian Field Ambulance were billeted in Athabasca Hall before departing for Winnipeg in March 1916, while the men of C Company stayed in Assiniboia Hall until June of that same year. Between 1914-1918, the number of students and staff serving overseas (in a number of different units) was greater than the number of students registered in each academic year. Roughly half of the university's staff and students were serving overseas by 1916. 82 staff and students from the University of Alberta died during their service in the First World War, and hundreds more were wounded. Despite these setbacks, the university continued to grow. By 1920, it had six faculties (Arts and Sciences, Applied Science, Agriculture, Medicine, Dentistry, and Law) and two schools (Pharmacy and Accountancy). It awarded a range of degrees: Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc),

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture The Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSAg) or the Bachelor of Agriculture (BAg) is the undergraduate academic degree awarded by tertiary faculty of agriculture. The program is typically four years of study at postsecondary level. In Canada, th ...

(BSA),

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

(LLB),

Bachelor of Pharmacy A Bachelor of Pharmacy (abbreviated B Pharm or PharmB or BS Pharm) is a graduate academic degree in the field of pharmacy. In many countries, this degree is a prerequisite for registration to practice as a pharmacist. Since both PharmB and Phar ...

(PhmB),

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theolog ...

(BD),

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA),

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

(MSc), and

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

(LLD). There were 851 male students and 251 female students, and 171 academic staff, including 14 women.

Campus expansion

University of Alberta Biology Building Pano

The Breton Soil Plots were established at the faculty of agriculture from 1929 – present to provide agricultural research on fertilization, usage, crop rotations and farming practices on Gray-Luvisolic soils (Gray-Wooded), which cover many regions in western Canada. The University of Alberta spearheaded an extraordinary rate of volunteerism in the Province of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

to the

, especially from its medical faculty. Experience gained was used by returning veterans to rapidly mature the young

Faculty of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

. The War Memorial Committee commissioned a War Memorial Pipe Organ to be erected by the

Casavant Frères Casavant Frères is a Canadian organ building company in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, which has been building pipe organs since 1879. As of 2014, the company has produced more than 3,900 organs. Company history Brothers Joseph-Claver (1855–1933 ...

in U of A Convocation Hall in 1925 in memory of 80 University of Alberta comrades who gave up their lives during the Great War. In the early part of the 20th century, professional education expanded beyond the traditional fields of theology, law and medicine. Graduate training based on the German-inspired American model of specialized course work and the completion of a research thesis was introduced. In 1929, the university established a College of Education. This period of growth was to be short-lived, though, as the Great Depression and the Second World War curtailed enrolment and expansion until 1945. The university also gained new public powers. In 1928, the university's senate was granted the power to oversee and appoint half of the

Alberta Eugenics Board The Alberta Eugenics Board was an agency created by the Alberta government in 1928 that attempted to impose sterilization on a disabled subset of its population, in accordance with the principles of eugenics. It remained active until 1972, when it ...

, charged with recommending individuals for sterilization. Spurred by postwar growth in the student population and the discovery of oil in Leduc in 1947, the University of Alberta underwent expansion through the 1950s that continued through the 1960s as the baby-boom generation swelled the enrolment ranks. These two decades also saw expansion of campus buildings, including new buildings for the faculties of physical education and education, and the Cameron Library. The

University of Alberta Press University of Alberta Press (UAlberta Press) is a publishing house and a division of the University of Alberta that engages in academic publishing. Overview UAlberta Press is situated in the Rutherford Library on the University of Alberta campu ...

, concentrating on western Canadian history, general science and ecology, was founded in 1969. The policy of university education initiated in the 1960s responded to population pressure and the belief that higher education was a key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and for society. In addition, the single-university policy in the West was changed as existing colleges of the provincial universities gained autonomy as universities. On September 19, 1960, the university opened a new 130-hectare campus in Calgary. By 1966, the

had been established as an autonomous institution. From the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, the university enjoyed sustained growth. In 1970, the Collège Saint-Jean began offering French-language instruction in arts, science and education. In 1984, the School of Native Studies was established. Buildings that had been started in the 1960s, such as Biological Sciences, its biotron facility, and the Central Academic Building, were completed in the early 1970s. Extensive renovations restored the venerable Arts Building, as well as the Athabasca and Pembina halls. New buildings completed in the early 1980s included the Business Building and the first phase of the Walter C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre. Another new building, the distinctive Universiade Pavilion (nicknamed the "Butterdome"), was completed as part of the university's preparations to host the World University Games in 1983, the first time the event was held in North America.

Modern challenges

The 1990s were a time of financial constraint as the Alberta government made budgetary cutbacks. However, there was a time in which the university benefited from philanthropic support. The $11 million Timms Centre for the Arts, which began construction in 1993, was made possible by a large donation from its namesake, Albert Timms. In 1998, Gladys Young's $3.5-million donation to the university undergraduate scholarship fund in memory of Roland Young, who graduated from the U of A in 1928, was the largest private donation for undergraduate scholarships in the university's history. The early 2000s brought substantial funding increases. High energy prices drove Alberta's energy boom resulting in multibillion-dollar government surpluses and the subsequent creation of a $4.5 billion provincial post-secondary educational endowment. In 2005, the university hired Indira Samarasekera as its 12th president, embarking on an ambitious plan to establish itself as one of the world's top public research universities. These plans were hampered by the

2008 economic downturn The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

, and by late March 2008, the university's endowment had shrunk by more than $100 million, almost 14 per cent of its value. The university predicted a $59-million budget shortfall in 2009 before provincial cuts brought that figure to $79 million. To close the budgetary gap, the university increased non-instructional fees by $290 per year laid off teaching and support staff, and even eliminated phones in some departments (such as English and Film Studies). The 2013 Alberta Budget cut provincial post-secondary grants by $147 million, including a 7.2 per cent cut to the university's base operating grant. The university is covering its resulting shortfall by reducing total spending in 2013 by $28 million, then cutting an additional $56 million to balance its budget by the spring of 2015. The 2015 Alberta Budget released in October 2015 restored a 1.4 per cent cut to the U of A's operational funding, and provided for an additional two per cent increase in the 2015-16 fiscal year. The budget also included a two-year tuition freeze. October also saw the launch of an institutional strategic planning process intended to prompt discussion and gather feedback on the university's strategic priorities, with the goal of assuming a national leadership role in post-secondary education. The 2019 Alberta Budget released in October 2019 reduced grants to the provincial post-secondary sector, including a $44-million reduction for the U of A and an additional freeze of $35 million allocated for infrastructure. In early 2020, amid the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

, the

United Conservative Party The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party ...

announced an additional $110-million cut to funding for the U of A. While outgoing University President David Turpin announced that the cuts would necessitate 400 job losses by March 31 and more than 600 additional positions would need to be eliminated in 2020–2021, incoming University President Bill Flanagan began campus discussions about how to manage the cuts, including reducing the number of faculties and departments, and streamlining administration staffing.

Academics

Humanities-Centre-University-of-Alberta-Edmonton-Alberta-Canada-01A

The U of A has about 39,300 students, including 7,700 graduate students and 7,800 international students representing 151 countries. The university has 3,620 academic staff along with 15,380 support and trust staff. University professors have won more 3M Teaching Fellowships (Canada's top award for undergraduate teaching excellence) than any other Canadian university, 41 awards since 1986. The university offers

post-secondary Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

education in about 388 undergraduate and 500 graduate programs. Tuition and fees for both fall and winter semesters are slightly more than $5,000 for a typical undergraduate arts student, although they vary widely by program. The University of Alberta switched from a 9-point grading scale to the more common 4-point

grading scale Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

in September 2003. Seventy-two Rhodes Scholars have come from the University of Alberta. The University of Alberta also holds 2,599 Academic All-Canadians, the most of any University in Canada.

Faculties and colleges

Mechanical Engineering Building University Of Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada 01A

Earth Sciences Building University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada 01

Saint Josephs College University Of Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada 06A

The university has 18 faculties: * Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences focuses on

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

, biological, and

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms includ ...

. The faculty is home to the Devonian Botanic Garden in

Devon, Alberta Devon is a town in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately southwest of Edmonton, the provincial capital, along the southern bank of the North Saskatchewan River. History Devon owes its existence to one of t ...

. The garden runs a series of winter hardiness trials on trees, shrubs, herbs, annuals and bulbs. The garden collection consists of Primula, Meconopsis, Allium Rosa (shrub), alpines, and herbs and plants traditionally used by Aboriginal Peoples. There is a microfungus collection and a herbarium that contains more than 4,800 livery genotypic filamentous fungi. * Alberta School of Business offers

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

BCom A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa ...

, PhD, ExecEd, Exec MBA, and Master of Financial Management degrees. *

Faculty of Arts A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

is home to a spectrum of arts programs and departments, from

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and Community Service Learning to History and

Women's Studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

. * Augustana Campus is located in a satellite campus in

Camrose, Alberta Camrose ( ) is a city in central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Camrose County. Located along Highway 13 it had its beginnings as a railroad hub. History The area around Camrose was first settled by Europeans around 1900. At that time t ...

. It comprises the departments of Fine Arts, Humanities, Physical Education, Science, and Social Sciences. * Campus Saint-Jean is a francophone faculty with programs in Sciences, Fine Arts and Languages, Social Sciences, and Education. * Faculty of Education offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in elementary and secondary education, or a combined program. The School of Library and Information Studies is also a part of this Faculty. * Faculty of Engineering offers undergraduate degrees in five engineering departments. Students can choose to specialize in the following disciplines:

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

Computer Engineering Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers n ...

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Engineering Physics Engineering physics, or engineering science, refers to the study of the combined disciplines of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, particularly computer, nuclear, electrical, electronic, aerospace, materials or mechanical en ...

, Materials Engineering,

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

Mining Engineering Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, a ...

and Petroleum Engineering. * Faculty of Extension offers more than 300 courses in over 30 programs focusing on lifelong

Continuing Education Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United States and Canada. ...

and

Professional Development Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensive ...

. Among the faculty's contributions to Alberta's educational and cultural life are the creation of the

CKUA The CKUA Radio Network is a Canadian donor-funded community radio network based in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally located on the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton (hence the UA of the call letters), it was the first public broadcaste ...

public radio station in 1927 and the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1933. * Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research maintains more than 170 programs in

graduate studies Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

. *

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

is the oldest law school in Western Canada. It is home to interdisciplinary institutes of constitutional studies, health law, science policy and law reform in Alberta. * Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry has 20 departments, seven divisions, eight research groups, and 31 centres and institutes. The faculty is internationally known for research in diabetes, obesity, virology, cardiology, cancer and spinal injury rehabilitation. * Faculty of Native Studies is Canada's only stand-alone faculty of native studies. The faculty began offering a master's program in the 2012–13 academic year. * Faculty of Nursing is one of Canada's largest nursing faculties, and was the first in Canada to offer a fully funded PhD program. * Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is one of Canada's largest and finest pharmacy faculties. Its students excel nationally, achieving the highest combined score on the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada exam in 2009, 2010 and 2012. * Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation focuses on the studies of human movement through sport science,

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human heal ...

, physical education, physical activity and health, and tourism studies. The Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation offers four undergraduate programs: Bachelor of Arts in Recreation, Sport and Tourism; Bachelor of Physical Education; Bachelor of Physical Education/Bachelor of Education (five-year combined degree offered in conjunction with the Faculty of Education); and Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. * Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine is North America's only stand-alone faculty dedicated to rehabilitation science, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology. The faculty is a research leader in musculoskeletal health, spinal cord injuries, seniors' health, and use of communication technologies to support local community care. * School of Public Health was established in March 2006 as Canada's first stand-alone faculty with a sole focus on public health. In October 2012, it became the only school in Canada and only the second outside the United States to be accredited by the U.S. Council on Education for Public Health. * Faculty of Science is made up of seven departments (Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Computing Science, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Physics, and Psychology.) The faculty includes 6 E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship winners, 16 winners of Rutherford Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 26 Canada Research Chairs, 5 iCORE Chairs, 3 NSERC Chairs, 2 Alberta Ingenuity Centres of Excellence, and 10 members of the Royal Society of Canada. It has more than 70 Bachelor of Science (BSc) programs in 39 subject areas. The university has two affiliated colleges: * St. Joseph's College offers undergraduate courses in applied ethics, philosophy, religious education and theology, for credit in degree programs with arts options. The college also offers specific courses for education students intending to teach within Alberta's Catholic school system. * St. Stephen's College offers graduate degree, diploma and certificate programs in theological studies, with courses designed to allow distance learning. It was originally a training center for Protestant ministers.

Academic Restructuring Model

The University of Alberta made the decision to academically restructure its faculties in response to a reduction in its provincial operating grant, which would require the university to reduce expenses by $120 million in the next three years. Three restructuring models were proposed before the university's Board of Governors approved the academic restructuring plans on December 11, 2020. This restructuring model will be effective as of July 1, 2021. The approved restructuring model will allocate 13 previous stand-alone faculties into three colleges that center around shared disciplinaries: The remaining faculties (Augustana, Campus Saint-Jean, and Faculty of Native Studies) will remain as stand-alone faculties

Libraries

Business Building University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada 02

The University of Alberta library system received a tremendous boost with the opening of the

Rutherford Library Rutherford Library is the first free-standing University of Alberta library, opened May 15, 1951, and named after the founder of the university, and long-time chancellor, Alexander Cameron Rutherford. Overview Rutherford Library was official ...

in May 1951. , according to the

Association of Research Libraries The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 127 research libraries at comprehensive, research institutions in Canada and the United States. ARL member libraries make up a large portion of the academic and resea ...

, the library system is rated 11th in North America and is the second-largest, by number of volumes held, among all Canadian universities, after the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Library. With over 10.6 million items combined with online access to more than one million electronic books and more than 1,500 electronic databases, the library system ranks first in Canada in terms of the number of volumes per student. The library system comprises the following specialty libraries: * Augustana Campus Library * Bibliothèque Saint-Jean * Research & Collections Resource Facility (RCRF) **incorporating the University of Alberta Archives and the former Book and Record Depository (BARD) * Cameron Library (Science & Technology) ** Data Library **Digital Scholarship Centre (DSC) * Herbert T. Coutts Library (Education & Physical Education - closed in 2020 ) * John A. Weir Memorial Law Library * John W. Scott Health Sciences Library *

(Humanities & Social Sciences) ** Bruce Peel Special Collections * St. Joseph's College Library * Winspear Business Reference Library (closed in 2020 ) The university is home to an

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

-accredited School of Library and Information Studies, which offers a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) program. The school was housed in Rutherford South, the original four-storey brick, marble and oak main campus library, which opened in 1951. As of 2018, the school has since moved into the Education North building.

Research

The university is a member of the U15 universities and the Worldwide Universities Network, an organization of 19 universities on six continents. In 2018, Research Infosource named the University of Alberta the fifth best research university, with a sponsored research income (external sources of funding) of $513.313 million in 2017. In the same year, the university's faculty averaged a sponsored research income of $242,100, while its graduate students averaged a sponsored research income of $69,400. The university receives nearly $500 million each year for research from external sources. The university houses over 400 distinct research laboratories. The university's research performance has been noted in several bibliometric university rankings, which uses

citation analysis Citation analysis is the examination of the frequency, patterns, and graphs of citations in documents. It uses the directed graph of citations — links from one document to another document — to reveal properties of the documents. A t ...

to evaluates the

impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...

a university has on academic publications. In 2019, the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities ranked the university 81st in the world, and fourth in Canada, whereas the University Ranking by Academic Performance 2018–19 rankings placed the university 78th in the world, and fourth in Canada. The University of Alberta is the national scientific and administrative headquarters for: * Sustainable Forest Management Network *

Canadian Obesity Network Obesity Canada - Obésité Canada (OC), formerly known as the Canadian Obesity Network - Réseau canadien en obésité (CON-RCO), is a Canadian charitable organization. It connects members of the public affected by obesity, researchers, health p ...

* Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology *

Antarctic Institute of Canada The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

Researchers at the University of Alberta have made discoveries in a number of fields.

Arts and humanities research

The Faculty of Arts includes eight Canada Research Chairs in fields as diverse as English and Film Studies, Sociology, Philosophy, Art and Design, and History and Classics. In 2014 the Department of English and Film Studies ranked #22 in the World QS University Rankings by subject. In 2018, the Faculty of Arts launched several Signature Areas of Research and Creative Collaboration: Digital Synergies; Language, Communication and Culture; Mediating Science and Technology; Shifting Praxis in Artistic Research/Research-Creation; and Stories of Change. The Faculty houses several research centres and institutes, including: * Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI) * Canadian Institute for Research Computing in the Arts (CIRCA) * Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) * Canadian Literature Centre/Centre de literature canadienne Institute for Public Economics * Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology * Kule Folklore Centre * Kule Institute for Advanced Studies (KIAS) *

Parkland Institute The Parkland Institute is an Alberta-wide, non-partisan research institute, situated within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta. The Institute studies economic, social, cultural, and political issues using the intellectual approach of ...

* Prince Takamado Japan Centre for Teaching and Research * Sound Studies Institute * Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies

Scientific and medical research

* In 1917, physics professor Robert Boyle developed

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

. * Biochemistry professor and alumnus James Collip played a key role in discovering insulin by refining the pancreatic extract obtained by

Frederick Banting Sir Frederick Grant Banting (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941) was a Canadian medical scientist, physician, painter, and Nobel laureate noted as the co-discoverer of insulin and its therapeutic potential. In 1923, Banting and Joh ...

, Charles Best and John Macleod so it could be used in humans. * Chemistry professor Raymond Lemieux was the first to synthesize sucrose. The breakthrough laid the groundwork for new antibiotics and blood reagents, anti-rejection drugs for organ transplants, and better treatments for leukemia and hemophilia. * In 1956, surgeon John Callaghan performed the first successful open-heart surgery. * Canada's first organ transplant research group was established at the University of Alberta on April 2, 1970, by the Medical Research Council. * In 1982, the University of Alberta introduced the Centre for Gerontology, which was renamed the Alberta Centre on Aging in the early 1990s. * In 1995, engineer Robert Burrell used nanotechnology to develop a form of silver that could be made into a bandage for burns and other wounds. The dressings are used worldwide. * Medical researchers James Shapiro, Jonathan Lakey and Edmond Ryan developed the Edmonton Protocol, a revolutionary treatment for Type 1

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

that enables people with the disease to break their

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism ...

dependence. The first patient was treated in 1999. , the project is developed through the Clinical Islet Transplant Program. * In 2008, medical researcher David Bundle and his colleagues Glen Armstrong and Pavel Kitov made a breakthrough in treating ''E. coli'' infection by creating a drug that prevents the ''E. coli'' bacterium from making contact with kidney cells. * In 2013, Michael Houghton, Canada Excellence Research Chair and Li Ka Shing Chair in Virology, showed that a vaccine created from one strain of the hepatitis C virus can be effective against all known strains of the virus. Houghton was also the researcher who originally identified the hepatitis C virus. The discovery paves the way for developing a vaccine to prevent future hepatitis C infections. NINT

Nanotechnology research

In June 2006, a $120-million building for the

National Institute for Nanotechnology The National Research Council of Canada Nanotechnology Research Centre (formerly National Institute for Nanotechnology) is a research institution located on the University of Alberta main campus, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Its primary pu ...

(NINT) was opened on campus. NINT occupies five floors of the new building, with the top two floors being reserved by the university for

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal ...

-related research. Some staff members have been jointly recruited by the NRC and the University of Alberta.

Arctic research

The University of Alberta is home to the Canadian Circumpolar Institute, which supports research into social and environmental issues including climate change, cultural identity and natural resource development. In 2011, researchers at the University of Alberta linked the reproductive ecology of polar bears in Canada's

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

with decreasing litter sizes and loss of

sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice, which has an even lower density). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's o ...

Agriculture

Cattle researcher Roy Berg revolutionized the world's beef industry with his innovations in crossbreeding, which led to a 30 to 40 per cent increase in production and contributed to Alberta's world leadership in beef production.

Energy, oilsands and environment

In the 1920s, engineering professor Karl Clark developed a hot-water extraction process to separate bitumen from oilsands. Geology professor Charlie Stelck's idea to search for oil and gas deposits near ancient coral reefs led to the discovery of oil in Leduc, Alberta, in 1947 and in the Pembina Oil Field in 1953. Today, more than 1,000 researchers at the University of Alberta are working together on oilsands issues and their environmental effects, including

carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia. Usually th ...

, tailings-pond reclamation and water preservation. University of Alberta's SLOWPOKE-2 non-power (reactor power 20 kW thermal) reactor operating licence was renewed and was valid from July 1, 2013, until June 30, 2023. However, the University of Alberta applied for, and was issued a Licence to Decommission its SLOWPOKE-2 Nuclear Research Reactor Facility in 2017. The University of Alberta's SLOWPOKE reactor operated from April 22, 1977 until being dismantled on August 5, 2017 and was used for research and education.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence

The University of Alberta hosts the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII), an institute dedicated to

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

and

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech ...

, formerly known as Alberta Innovates Centre for Machine Learning (AICML). AMII is home to world-renowned computer scientists including Professors Rich Sutton (

Reinforcement Learning Reinforcement learning (RL) is an area of machine learning concerned with how intelligent agents ought to take actions in an environment in order to maximize the notion of cumulative reward. Reinforcement learning is one of three basic machine ...

), Osmar R. Zaiane ( Data Mining),

Russell Greiner Russell Greiner is a Professor of Computing Science at the University of Alberta. He is a Fellow of the AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) and well known for his work in Machine Learning and Bioinformatics. Professor ...

(

Health Informatics Health informatics is the field of science and engineering that aims at developing methods and technologies for the acquisition, processing, and study of patient data, which can come from different sources and modalities, such as electronic hea ...

), Michael Bowling (

Game Theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...

), Dale Schuurmans (

Machine Learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

), Csaba Szepesvari (Reinforcement Learning), Martha White (Machine Learning), among others. The computing science department at University of Alberta is ranked #1 in Canada and averaged #2 in the world in terms of number of publications at top

Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech ...

and

venues in the last 10 years. In 2017, the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...

Budget included an investment of $125 million into a Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, which features a major investment in research at the University of Alberta.

Other

* The university participated in the initial development of the Mizar system. * The

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

99906 Uofalberta 99906 Uofalberta, provisional designation , is a dark background asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered by Canadian amateur astronomer Andrew Lowe on 17 August 2002, from digitized ph ...

is named in the university's honour, in part because the initials of its motto ''Quaecumque Vera'' ("Whatsoever things are true") appeared in the object's

provisional designation Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calc ...

. *The university is also a leading institution for the study of Ukraine and is home to the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.

Reputation

The University of Alberta has ranked in a number of post-secondary rankings. In the 2022 ''

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

'' rankings, the university ranked 92nd in the world and fifth in Canada. The 2023 ''

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...

'' ranked the university 110th in the world, and fourth in Canada. The 2023 ''

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarel ...

'' ranked the university 118th in the world, and sixth in Canada. In the 2022–23 '' U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking'', the university ranked 136th in the world, and fourth in Canada. The Canadian-based ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian pers ...

'' magazine ranked the University of Alberta fifth in their 2023 Canadian Medical Doctoral university category. The university was ranked in spite of having opted out — along with several other universities in Canada — of participating in ''Maclean's'' graduate survey since 2006. Along with academic and teaching rankings, the university has also been ranked by publications that evaluate the employment prospects of its graduates. In the ''Times Higher Education's'' 2022 global employability ranking, the university ranked 172nd in the world, and sixth in Canada. In ''QS's'' 2022 graduate employability ranking, the university ranked 99th in the world, and fifth in Canada.

Campuses

The university has five distributed campuses including, in addition to the North Campus, two auxiliary satellites: Campus Saint-Jean in southeast Edmonton, and Augustana Campus in Camrose, 90 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. An extensively renovated and refurbished historic Hudson's Bay department store in downtown Edmonton, renamed Enterprise Square, serves as a campus for adult students belonging to the Faculty of Extension. The university owns a set of large parcels of mostly undeveloped land (used as an experimental farm and the site of several agricultural and sports facilities) slightly south of the main campus, called South Campus (previously the University Farm), in which an entire new university complex of similar magnitude to the North Campus will be constructed. Detailed Google Maps views and 360-degree interactive panoramas of the campus can be seen on the University of Alberta website.

North Campus

The North Campus is the original location of the University of Alberta. Located on the southern banks of the

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...

, it has 150 buildings on of land. Architect Barton Myers completed the long-range campus plan in 1969 and continued as a planner for the university until 1978. The distinctive cupola of the Dentistry/Pharmacy Centre on North Campus was featured in a commemorative stamp issued by Canada Post in 2008, the year of the university's centenary.

South Campus

Located two kilometres south of the North Campus, the South Campus is much larger in terms of land area. The two campuses are linked by Light Rail Transit. South Campus station is near

Foote Field Foote Field is a multi-purpose sports facility on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, built as a legacy facility for the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. It was named for University of Alberta alumnus, former varsi ...

and the

Saville Community Sports Centre The Saville Community Sports Centre is a sports facility run by the University of Alberta's Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, where it is located in Edmonton, Alberta. It features a curling rink, tennis courts and a gymnasium. Open ...

, forming a natural gateway to the new campus architectural model, since 2009. Along with

Health Sciences The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences are those sciences which focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple a ...

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, and Enterprise Square stations, the LRT connects the U of A through four stations. In addition to educational facilities, the university is closely affiliated with six non-profit day care centres, many of which run partnered initiatives such as the Physical Literacy for Active Youth (PLAY) Program as an educational practical learning experience for University of Alberta students. Much of the university's agricultural research in food safety and crop use for food and industrial products happens at the Edmonton Research Station Experimental Farms on South Campus. This campus is also home to the Saville Community Sports Centre, a 32,500-square-metre, multi-use recreation facility that hosts 14 varsity teams and several community sports clubs. In 2013, the Saville Centre became the new training centre for the Canadian senior women's basketball team.

Campus Saint-Jean

The Campus Saint-Jean is a

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

campus located five kilometres east of the main campus, in Bonnie Doon, formerly named "Faculté Saint-Jean". It is the only French-language university campus west of

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. Due to increasing enrolment, the Campus Saint-Jean is undergoing expansion, acquiring new laboratory and classroom spaces. Students at Campus Saint-Jean pursue bachelor's degrees in the sciences or arts, or complete their first year of Engineering, after which they often transfer to the University of Alberta's main campus. Bilingual Nursing and Business programs are also available.

Augustana Campus

The Augustana Campus is located in Camrose, a small city in rural Alberta about 100 km southeast of Edmonton. In 2004, the former

Augustana University College Augustana University College was a Lutheran college in Camrose, Alberta, Canada, from 1910 until it merged in 2004 with the University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public re ...

in Camrose merged with the University of Alberta, thus creating the new satellite Augustana Campus. Students enrolled at the Augustana Campus currently pursue four-year bachelor's degrees in arts, sciences, or music.

Enterprise Square

Enterprise Square opened for business January 15, 2008 on the north side of the

North Saskatchewan The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventual ...

river in downtown

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

. It is located in the historical building previously occupied by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

. The building underwent major renovations. Enterprise Square houses the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension, the professional development activities of the Alberta School of Business, the Alberta Business Family Institute, and the Design Gallery. It is the home of the University of Alberta Alumni Association.

Investment in health and science

$1.6 billion in construction has been undertaken at the university related to fields in health and science. The projects expand the University of Alberta's research capacity in the field of health. Over the past five years, the University of Alberta has averaged nearly $500 million in external research funding a year. The funding is expected to increase due to added research and teaching capacity.

Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science

A major project, completed in the spring of 2011 with a grand opening on September 23, 2011, was the $400-million, Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS), a facility for interdisciplinary research groups, as well as the Department of Physics, the Faculty of Science offices and the Interdepartmental Science Students' Society's office. Three buildings – V-Wing (a large one-floor building composed of 10 lecture halls, of which two will remain), the Avadh Bhatia Physics Building (a six-storey building formerly housing the Department of Physics offices and laboratories), and the old Centre for Subatomic Research – were demolished to make way for CCIS.

Edmonton Clinic Health Academy

The Edmonton Clinic (formerly the Health Science Ambulatory Learning Centre) is a joint project with Alberta Health Services, and consists of two separate buildings. Construction started in 2008 on the multidisciplinary health science facilities totalling $909 million and 170,000 square metres surrounding the Health Sciences LRT Station. Edmonton Clinic South (now known as Kaye Edmonton Clinic), a nine-storey building, will focus on patient care and house most of the medical and dental clinics, while the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA) is a six-storey building that is the home of interdisciplinary health research and education currently held at the university. The Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, owned and operated by the University of Alberta, officially opened in January 2012. The Kaye Edmonton Clinic, owned and operated by Alberta Health Services, opened in December 2012.

Health research innovation facilities

Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research University Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada 01A

Two new $300-million buildings adjacent to the Heritage Medical Research Centre building on the main campus, along with existing health-care and health research facilities and the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, form a health precinct of two city blocks dedicated to health research, education and patient care. The newest facilities form a translational research centre designed to create an environment for "bench-to-bedside" health research by increasing interaction between researchers and clinicians focused on common medical issues. A total of 65,000 square metres (699,700 square feet) gross area constructed on two sites contribute to research by allowing the university to hire over 100 additional biomedical and health researchers. This is projected to result in a doubling of research funding by 2014. Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research The hub of the complex is the Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research (formerly HRIF West), an eight-storey building that provides the main entrance to the complex and becomes the critical link between Medical Sciences Building and Heritage Medical Research Centre. The Katz Group Centre is a teaching and research facility. It is home to the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology, led by scientific director Lorne Tyrrell, MD, PhD, and includes some of the world's top virologists, including Michael Houghton, PhD, Canada Excellence Research Chair and Li Ka Shing Chair in Virology, who co-led the team that discovered the

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, ...

virus during his previous career in private industry. The facility is located on the corner of 89 Avenue and 114 Street in Edmonton, Alberta. Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Research Innovation The Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Research Innovation (formerly HRIF East) anchors the southeast corner of the health precinct and is also home to the Alberta Diabetes Institute (ADI). Both the east and west buildings of HRIF are linked at every floor to the Heritage Medical Research Centre with the exception of Level 1 of HRIF West. The facility is dedicated to health research. The facility is named in honour of a gift in 2010 of $28 million from the Li Ka Shing (Canada) Foundation that helped establish the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology ($25M) and a joint PhD program ($3M) between the university's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and Shantou University Medical College in China. As of fall 2012, this remains the largest single cash gift to the University of Alberta. The facility is located on the corner of 89 Avenue and 112 Street in Edmonton, Alberta.

Student life

Students Union Building University Of Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada 01A

The student body of the University of Alberta is represented by two students' unions, the University of Alberta Students' Union for all undergraduate students, and the Graduate Student Association for all graduate students. In addition, a number of the university's academic programs also manage their own student representative body. Students within the residences are represented by a number of associations, primarily the University of Alberta Residence Halls Association. As of 2014, there are more than 450 student organizations and clubs, covering a wide range of interests such as academics, culture, religion, social issues, and recreation. The student unions, as well as many of the student organizations, are centred in the university's student activity centre, the Students' Union Building. The building was opened in 1967, and hosts the majority of the Students' Union services and business operations. The two primary media outlets amongst the student population is the

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also rep ...

, The Gateway, and

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

, CJSR-FM.

Greek life

From 1909 to 1929, the university held a ban against fraternities and sororities, since

, the first president of the university, ordered all secret societies, including Upsilon Upsilon and Pi Sigma Phi, to be disbanded. The drive to remove the ban begun in 1927, when students had formed the Athenian Club to lobby the university. During the same year, several men had formed the Rocky Mountain Goat Club, which was only official sanctioned due to the lack of any secret rituals or a written constitution. The ban on fraternities and sororities would end in 1929, with the departure of President Tory. Members of the Rocky Mountain Goat Club had later formed the nucleus of the university's first fraternities.

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. ...

was the first fraternity officially recognized and chartered on September 2, 1930. Fraternities and sororities are recognized as student groups by the university and Students' Union through Student Group Services. They are supported by local alumni advisors, their international headquarters, and a fraternity and sorority advisor. In addition, the fraternities are also governed by the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council. There are eleven fraternity chapters recognized as a student group by the university, and the Students' Union:

Delta Chi Delta Chi () is an international Greek letter collegiate social fraternity formed on October 13, 1890, at Cornell University, initially as a professional fraternity for law students. On April 30, 1922, Delta Chi became a general membership soc ...

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fiftee ...

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek-letter organization founded in North Americ ...

FarmHouse FarmHouse (FH) is a social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate chapters (formerly colonies) in the United State ...

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and col ...

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

, Phi Delta Theta,

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Washington & Jefferson College, Jefferson C ...

Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 3 ...

Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international Fraternities and sororities, college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 c ...

, and

Zeta Psi Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a ...

. There are currently six sorority chapters recognized as a student group by the university, and the Students' Union: Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Psi, Ceres,

Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a women's fraternity in the United States and Canada with over 250,000 initiated members. It has 150 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's executive office is in Columbus ...

Kappa Alpha Theta Kappa Alpha Theta (), also known simply as Theta, is an international women’s fraternity founded on January 27, 1870, at DePauw University, formerly Indiana Asbury. It was the first Greek-letter fraternity established for women. The main arc ...

, and

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...

Athletics

The Athletics program at the university is managed by the Athletics Department, a service unit under the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation. The university's male varsity teams are known as the

University of Alberta Golden Bears The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas are the sports teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alberta athletics teams have won a total of 93 national championships, including 79 U Sports sanctioned sports, making ...

, while the female varsity team is known as the University of Alberta Pandas. The university's varsity teams compete in the

Canada West Universities Athletic Association Canada West is a regional membership association for universities in Western Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, and releases abo ...

conference of

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the ...

. The university's varsity sports programs include basketball, cross-country, curling, football, golf, hockey, rugby, soccer, swimming, track and field, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling. The university athletic's department manages more than 500 students in over 24 teams. Bears-vs-Huskies

The Golden Bears and Pandas have won 68 national championships since 1961. The men's ice hockey team has won the Canada West Conference Championships championship 25 times, and the national championship 15 times, making it the Golden Bears' most successful team at the regional and national level. The Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation also operate a number of intramural, sport club and group fitness programs, available to any undergraduate and graduate student that pays the Athletic and Recreation fee through the Campus & Community Recreation service unit. Sports offered include traditional sports like volleyball, basketball, soccer and cricket, as well as less traditional events like dodgeball, inner tube water polo, and

wallyball Wallyball (known in some places as rebound volleyball) is a fast-paced sport that is similar to volleyball played in a racquetball court, where it is legal to hit the ball off of the walls. The word "wallyball" is a portmanteau of the words "wal ...

. The university has athletic facilities open to both their varsity teams as well as to their students. Opened in 2015, the Physical Activity and Wellness (PAW) Centre opened as a partnership between the Students' Union, Graduate Students Association, the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, the Government of Alberta and the Hanson and Wilson Family. The PAW Centre encourages healthy lifestyles choices by offering a variety of activities related to wellness. Components include a new student fitness centre, sports-related research and lab facilities, a variety of student service spaces as well as the new home of the Steadward Centre, a high-caliber research and program delivery centre for people with disabilities. Foote Field is a multi-sport facility named after its benefactor, Eldon Foote. The sports facility is home to the varsity Golden Bears and Pandas track and field, football, soccer and rugby. Depending on the sporting event, the field's seating capacity ranges from 1,500 to 3,500. Foote Field also hosts the Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre, and had previously hosted events in international athletics competitions, such as the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...

. Other facilities include the Van Vliet Complex, named after Maury Van Vliet, the first director of the Faculty of Physical Education (Now the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation). The facility holds physical activity spaces including; the Clare Drake Arena several gymnasium, an aquatic centre, fitness centres, and courts for racquetball and squash. The Saville Community Sports Centre is another multi-sport complex located on the university's campus. The centre is also home of the Golden Bears and Pandas basketball, curling, tennis and volleyball teams, and houses the Canadian Curling Association National Training Centre, Tennis Canada High Performance Tennis Development Centre, and Team Ortona Gymnastics. The university also operates the Universiade Pavilion, a multi-sport facility constructed for the 1983 Summer Universiade.

History of Queer life

In 1984, students formed "Gays and Lesbians On Campus" (GALOC). In 1985, a "Pink Triangle" supplement first appeared in '' The Gateway'' student newspaper. That same year, GALOC organized U of A's first pride event, GALA Week, which became an annual event. In 1990, GALOC held "Blue Jean Day", when gays, lesbians, and supporters wore denim jeans for a day; incidences of

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, ...

were reported. Since 2013, the university has held a Pride Week each mid-March, which includes a

pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events som ...

across North Campus. In 2021, events were held virtually.

Insignias and other representations

Coat of arms

The university coat of arms was adopted in 1909, following the recommendations of the university's senate to adopt the coat of arms of the province of Alberta as its emblem, with the addition of an open book superimposed upon the cross and a new motto. The coat of arms had undergone a number of changes, with the arms changing in the 1950s in keeping with the graphic style of the time, and in the early 1990s, in the university's efforts to have their arms gain official heraldic authority. The latest design was completed in 1994, being registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on 31 May 1994, and was presented to the university on 13 June 1994. The coat of arms consists of a shield displaying the topography of Alberta rendered in the colours of the university. At the base is a prairie wheat field symbolizing Alberta's agricultural industry. The wavy gold line above represent the hills and rivers of Alberta. The top of the shield is in gold and separated from the rest of the shield by a line suggesting the Rocky Mountains. The book of learning dominates the design. A

great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extre ...

, the provincial bird and an accepted symbol of knowledge is used as the crest of the coat of arms. The arm's supporters is the

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

, taken from the provincial coat of arms, and the golden bear, the mascot of the university.

Motto and song

The motto of the university, ''Quaecumque vera'', translates to "whatsoever things are true." The original motto ''lux et lex'', was first adopted in 1907, and was translated as "light and law" in Latin. The motto was substituted with the present motto in 1909. The motto was adopted from the Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

version of the Bible, the

Epistle to the Philippians The Epistle to the Philippians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and Timothy is named with him as co-author or co-sender. The letter is addressed to the Christia ...

, where it states that, Notable among a number of songs commonly played and sung at events such as commencement and

convocation A convocation (from the Latin '' convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Greek ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose, mostly ecclesiastical or academic. In a ...

, and athletic games are: ''Alberta'', with words and music by Emma Newton; ''Alberta Cheer Song'', with words by R.K. Michael, and music by Charleston Lamberston; ''The Evergreen and Gold'', with words by William H. Alexander, and the music taken from the

National Anthem of Russia The "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" is the national anthem of Russia. It uses the same melody as the "State Anthem of the Soviet Union", composed by Alexander Alexandrov, and new lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov, who had collaborated with ...

; and ''Quaecumque vera'', with words and music by Ewart W. Stutchbury.

Symbols

The official colours of the university are green and gold. The green represents the wide stretches of prairie land flanked by deep spruce forests and is symbolic of hope and optimism; the gold represents the golden harvest fields and is symbolic of the light of knowledge. The original suggestion for green and gold colours came from Marion Kirby Alexander, drawing inspiration from the autumn colours of the river valley below the campus. Her husband, William Hardy Alexander, a professor at the university, relayed the suggestion to a faculty meeting on 5 October 1908 and would later gain the approval of the senate. The university colours are present throughout the institution. These colours are also displayed on the university flag. The university flag consists of the shield of the coat of arms on a gold background.

Notable people

File:JoeClark.jpg,

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

, 16th

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

. File:Beverley McLachlin (crop).jpg,

Beverley McLachlin Beverley Marian McLachlin (born September 7, 1943) is a Canadian jurist and author who served as the 17th chief justice of Canada from 2000 to 2017. She is the longest-serving chief justice in Canadian history and the first woman to hold the p ...

, 17th

Chief Justice of Canada The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court s ...

. File:Prof Michael Houghton.jpg, Michael Houghton,

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

, virologist and co-discoverer of

. File:RayLemieux.jpg,

Raymond Lemieux Raymond Urgel Lemieux, CC, AOE, FRS (June 16, 1920 – July 22, 2000) was a Canadian organic chemist, who pioneered many discoveries in the field of chemistry, his first and most famous being the synthesis of sucrose. His contributions inclu ...

organic chemist Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J. ...

and discoverer of the

anomeric effect In organic chemistry, the anomeric effect or Edward-Lemieux effect is a stereoelectronic effect that describes the tendency of heteroatomic substituents adjacent to a heteroatom within a cyclohexane ring to prefer the ''axial'' orientation instea ...

. File:Richard E. Taylor.jpg, Richard Taylor,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

for his contributions in

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

. File:Derek Walcott.jpg,

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem '' Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

, Nobel laureate in

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

for his work with postcolonial poetry File:Margaret Atwood 2015.jpg,

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, ...

, poet, novelist, essayist and literary critic. File:Clarence Campbell Stanley Cup 1957.jpg,

Clarence Campbell Clarence Sutherland Campbell, (July 9, 1905 – June 24, 1984) was a Canadian ice hockey executive, referee, and soldier. He refereed in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1930s, served in the Canadian Army during World War II, th ...

, 3rd President of the National Hockey League. The University of Alberta has 260,000 living graduates, 93 per cent of whom reside in Canada. Outside of Canada, the United States holds the greatest amount of alumni, nearly four per cent of all living graduates. Alumni and former students have won awards, including 68

Rhodes Scholarships The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is con ...

. Distinguished alumni include

, awarded the Albert Einstein World Award of Science in 1992, and former faculty member Malcolm Forsyth, three-time award winner of the Juno Award for Classical Composition In the literary arts there are writers Aritha Van Herk, Caterina Edwards, and Joseph Pivato. The university is also associated with three Nobel laureates: alumnus

Richard E. Taylor Richard Edward Taylor, (2 November 1929 – 22 February 2018), was a Canadian physicist and Stanford University professor. He shared the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physics with Jerome Friedman and Henry Kendall "for their pioneering investigations ...

, who was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

in 1990, and faculty members

, who was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

in 1992, and Michael Houghton, who was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...

in 2020. A number of graduates have achievements in business, including

Daryl Katz Daryl Allan Katz (born May 31, 1961) is a Canadian billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Katz is founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Companies, one of Canada's largest privately-owned enterprises, with pharmacy, sports & entertainmen ...

, chair of the

Katz Group of Companies The Katz Group of Companies is a Canadian privately-owned enterprise, with Samantha operations. In sports and entertainment and real estate development. Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), a subsidiary of the Katz Group, owns the National Hockey Le ...

and owner of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

Bernard Ebbers Bernard John Ebbers (August 27, 1941 – February 2, 2020) was a Canadian businessman, the co-founder and CEO of WorldCom and a convicted fraudster. Under his management, WorldCom grew rapidly but collapsed in 2002 amid revelations of accounting ...

, former CEO of

WorldCom MCI, Inc. (subsequently Worldcom and MCI WorldCom) was a telecommunications company. For a time, it was the second largest long-distance telephone company in the United States, after AT&T. Worldcom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunic ...

, and Greg Zeschuk, and Ray Muzyka, co-founders of

BioWare BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zeschuk. Since 2007, ...

. In academia, a number of faculty members and graduates also gained prominence including faculty member

Ludwig von Bertalanffy Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy (19 September 1901 – 12 June 1972) was an Austrian biologist known as one of the founders of general systems theory (GST). This is an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, app ...

, for his work

systems theory Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...

, and alumni

Tak Wah Mak Tak Wah Mak, (; born October 4, 1946, in China) is a Canadian medical researcher, geneticist, oncologist, and biochemist. He first became widely known for his discovery of the T-cell receptor in 1983 and pioneering work in the genetics of immun ...

, discoverer of the

T-cell receptor The T-cell receptor (TCR) is a protein complex found on the surface of T cells, or T lymphocytes, that is responsible for recognizing fragments of antigen as peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. The binding b ...

Eric Allan Kramer Eric Allan Kramer (born March 26, 1962) is an American actor and fight choreographer. Kramer has appeared in numerous feature films and television programs including ''True Romance'' and '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' and is also known for his ...

graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor in Fine Arts. He is most notable in the role of Bob Duncan in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

sitcom "

Good Luck Charlie ''Good Luck Charlie'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on Disney Channel from April 4, 2010, to February 16, 2014. The series' creators, Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, wanted to create a program that would appeal to entire families, no ...

". The author of the bestseller 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos,

Jordan Peterson Jordan Bernt Peterson (born 12 June 1962) is a Canadian media personality, clinical psychologist, author, and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. He began to receive widespread attention as a public intellectual in the late 201 ...

, graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (1982) and Psychology (1984). Many former students have gained local and national prominence for serving in government. Alumnus

Roland Michener Daniel Roland Michener (April 19, 1900 – August 6, 1991) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 20th since Canadian Confederation. Michener was born and educated in Alberta. In 1917 he se ...

served as the 20th

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm ...

. The 16th

, also graduated from Alberta. A number of graduates have served at the provincial level, as

premiers Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

and lieutenant governors, including George Stanley, the 25th

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the viceregal representative in New Brunswick of the , who operates distinctly wi ...

and designer of the Canadian flag.

Lois Hole Lois Elsa Hole, CM, AOE DStJ (née Veregin; 30 January 1929 – 6 January 2005) was a Canadian politician, businesswoman, academician, professional gardener and best-selling author. She was the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta from 10 Feb ...

, the former chancellor of the university, served as the 15th

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the . The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the m ...

. Graduates who served as provincial premiers include Pat Binns, the 30th Premier of Prince Edward Island,

Peter Lougheed Edgar Peter Lougheed ( ; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding over a period of reform and economic growth. Bo ...

, the 10th

Premier of Alberta The premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta, and the province's head of government. The current premier is Danielle Smith, leader of the United Conservative Party, who was sworn in on October 11, 2022. The ...

, Dave Hancock, the 15th Premier of Alberta,

Jim Prentice Peter Eric James Prentice (July 20, 1956 – October 13, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 16th premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a candida ...

, the 16th Premier of Alberta, and

Rachel Notley Rachel Anne Notley (born April 17, 1964) is a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Alberta from 2015 to 2019, and has been the leader of the Opposition since 2019. She sits as the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for ...

, the 17th Premier of Alberta.

Ed Stelmach Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently speak ...

, the 13th Premier of Alberta, attended the university but did not finish. The third chancellor of the university,

, also served as the first premier of Alberta. A number of graduates also held office in the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, ...

, including Rona Ambrose, who served as the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, and David Emerson, who served as the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

. In Nigeria Olawale Sulaiman is the special adviser to the Governor of

Kwara State Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the interna ...

on health matters. The 17th

, the first female chief justice, is a graduate from the university. Other faculty and alumni who have served on Canada's highest court include Justice Henry Grattan Nolan, who served for a year before dying in 1957; Justice Ronald Martland, who served on the court for 24 years beginning in 1958; Justice Gérard Vincent La Forest, a former dean of law at the U of A who was elevated to the court in 1985 and served for 12 years; former law professor and alumnus Justice William Stevenson, who served two years on the court beginning in 1990; and former law professor Justice Russell Brown, who was named to the court in 2015.

Violet King Henry Violet Pauline King Henry (October 18, 1929 – March 30, 1982) was the first black woman lawyer in Canada, the first black person to graduate law in Alberta and the first black person to be admitted to the Alberta Bar. She was also the first wom ...

was the first black woman lawyer in Canada, the first black person to graduate law in Alberta and the first black person to be admitted to the Alberta Bar. She was also the first woman named to a senior management position with the American national YMCA.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alberta, University of Universities and colleges in Edmonton Forestry education Universities in Alberta Educational institutions established in 1906 1906 establishments in Alberta Commonwealth Games wrestling venues

History

Establishment in Edmonton

Campus expansion

Modern challenges

Academics

Faculties and colleges

Academic Restructuring Model

Libraries

Research

Arts and humanities research

Scientific and medical research

Nanotechnology research

Arctic research

Agriculture

Energy, oilsands and environment

Machine learning and artificial intelligence

Other

Reputation

Campuses

North Campus

South Campus

Campus Saint-Jean

Augustana Campus

Enterprise Square

Investment in health and science

Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science

Edmonton Clinic Health Academy

Health research innovation facilities

Student life

Greek life

Athletics

History of Queer life

Insignias and other representations

Coat of arms

Motto and song

Symbols

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading

External links