{Just a few} Institutional Highlights

“There are great people on this campus who have a vision for the evolution of the University. The things we have accomplished are because of the collective.”

- Dr. Mike Mahon

2010

• On October 15, 2010, Dr. Mike Mahon is officially installed as the sixth president and vice-chancellor of the University of Lethbridge.

• Official opening of Markin Hall, the new home for the Faculties of Health Sciences and Management.

2010 5

Spring 2011

• Dr. Jim Coutts (LLD ’12) donates his homestead property and a significant portion of his art collection to ULethbridge. The Coutts Centre for Western Canadian Heritage is launched.

• More than 700 students at the ULethbridge Calgary campus start their term at Bow Valley College’s newly renovated downtown North Campus.

• Dr. Shirley McClellan is installed as ULethbridge’s 12th chancellor.

2012

• ULethbridge is named Canada’s Research University of the Year (undergraduate category), by RE$EARCH Infosource.

• Planning for the Destination Project begins with the support of the Government of Alberta, which pledges an initial $2.8 million to the project.

• With a renewed commitment to liberal education, ULethbridge reimagines what the institutional hallmark means in the future.

• ULethbridge celebrates 45 years of bright minds and ideas during this anniversary year. The Fiat Lux Ring is introduced.

• The University invites the community to campus with the debut of Play Day. Over the years, this annual event has brought thousands of community members to the 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness for a fun and free day of play.

2013

• ULethbridge’s downtown presence grows with the opening of the Dr. Foster James Penny Building and the Music Conservatory’s new home in Casa.

• In Calgary, ULethbridge celebrates the new location of the Calgary Campus as Bow Valley College officially opens its South Campus.

• ULethbridge is entrusted with an important part of Canadian history as BMO Financial group donates 37 original pastel portraits by renowned Canadian artist Nicholas de Grandmaison.

• A new student residence, Mt. Blakiston House, opens its doors on the south end of campus providing a new home-away-from-home for 259 students.

• The Student Success Centre opens.

• Development of the new quad, a vibrant outdoor green space outside of Markin Hall, is complete.

• The Government of Alberta pledges $200 million toward the Destination Project.

2014

• Destination 2020, ULethbridge’s 2014/19 Strategic Plan, is released. Building on its predecessor, this plan, which evolves to Destination 2022, outlines five priorities: excel as a comprehensive university; continue to enhance the student experience; promote access to quality postsecondary education; build internal community while enhancing relationships with external communities; and enhance the sustainability of the University.

• Momentum for the Destination Project –construction of a new academic building, the revitalization of University Hall and construction of a central energy plant for the University gains speed. The Destination Project moves forward with site and architecture firm selection.

- Destination 2022

2015

• The 2007, 2008 and 2009 CIS champion Pronghorn’s women’s rugby team is inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

• ULethbridge announces two new doctoral degree programs. The PhD in Population Studies in Health and the master’s and PhD in Cultural, Social and Political Thought are the first of their kind in the institution’s history and represent a significant achievement for the University.

• Dr. Janice Varzari (BN ’90, MEd ’02, LLD ’21) is installed as ULethbridge’s 13th chancellor. This is the first time in the University’s history for an alumna/alumnus to serve in this role.

2017

• The University embarks on a year-long celebration in recognition of its 50th anniversary. To commemorate the golden anniversary, alumnus and songwriter John Wort Hannam (BA/BEd ‘96) debuts the ULethbridge song, Let it Shine On, and the University tartan, designed by alumna Sarah Hilliard (BA ‘10), is introduced.

• ULethbridge establishes the School of Liberal Education, led by its first dean, Dr. Shelly Wismath.

2015 2017 2016

2016

• Budget 2016 includes a $248 million investment to the Destination Project over five years. In total, the Alberta Government invests $260 million to this project.

• The community comes together for the official sod turning for the Destination Project. Construction begins. At 38,500 sq. metres, it is the largest development on the campus since the original construction of University Hall began in 1969.

• ULethbridge, in partnership with local radiologists, opens the U3T MRI Centre, a world-class research and diagnostic imaging facility, providing southern Alberta with the most powerful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the region.

2018

• A transformational gift of $10 million by Dr. Navjeet (Bob) Dhillon (LLD ’19), president and CEO of Mainstreet Equity Corporation, initiates the Dhillon School of Business.

• The ULethbridge Art Gallery unveils an unparalleled bequest of more than 1,000 works of art valued between $4 and $5 million from the estate of Dr. Margaret (Marmie) Perkins Hess (DFA ’04), and renames the main gallery space the Dr. Margaret (Marmie) Perkins Hess Gallery.

• The University proudly, and permanently, raises the Blackfoot Confederacy Flag.

• ULethbridge publicly launches the most ambitious campaign in its 51-year history, SHINE: The Campaign for the University of Lethbridge.

2019

• Taatsiikiipoyii Charles Weaselhead becomes the University’s 14th chancellor. This is the first time in the institution’s 52-year history that the chancellor position will be held by an Indigenous person.

• With a big bang, ULethbridge celebrates the grand opening of the $280-million Science Commons. The spectacular facility, which brings together the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Neuroscience and Physics & Astronomy and Psychology, is designed to foster transdisciplinary research by providing exceptional opportunities for collaboration and discovery.

• ULethbridge hosts the U SPORTS Men’s Hockey championship.

2020

• The ULethbridge community pulls together in the face of COVID-19, moving classes and operations online, and displays extraordinary efforts over the next two-plus years as the global pandemic ensues.

• Career Bridge: Centre for Work-Integrated Learning and Career Development opens, providing work-integrated learning, experiential learning and career services opportunities. ULethbridge becomes the only post-secondary institution in Alberta where 100 per cent of students can participate in work-integrated learning experiences.

• ULethbridge achieves its highest-ever position in the annual Maclean’s University Rankings Report, placing second overall in the primarily undergraduate classification.

2021

• The Dhillon School of Business becomes the first business school in Canada to include an Indigenous course requirement as part of a student’s core business degree.

• With health and safety as the top priorities, ULethbridge welcomes students back to campus for the Fall 2021 term after nearly 18 months of largely remote class delivery.

• The Evelyn Hamilton Chair in Liberal Education is established and the Crooks Work-Integrated Learning Program in Liberal Education is announced soon after.

• SHINE: The Campaign for the University of Lethbridge comes to a close, having realized its broad goals of raising greater than $100 million and engaging more than 20,000 ULethbridge alumni. Overall, the campaign raises $103 million through the support of 11,000 unique donors, 6,500 of which are new donors to ULethbridge. The campaign not only advances the University, but all of southern Alberta.

2019 (Continued)

• A unique and innovative $15-million partnership between the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Mastercard Foundation and ULethbridge launches EleV to support and enable Indigenous youth to achieve their goals and become leaders in their communities.

2022

• ULethbridge joins a national network through the inaugural Jarislowsky Chair in Trust and Political Leadership.

• ULethbridge joins more than 40 universities and colleges from across Canada in signing the Scarborough Charter, a commitment to eliminating anti-Black racism and advancing Black inclusion in Canadian higher education.

• ULethbridge ranks first for Medical and Science Grants (primarily undergraduate category, Maclean’s University Rankings, 2023)

• Science Commons becomes the first ULethbridge building to earn LEED Gold status for environmental standards.

• At Spring 2022 Convocation, ULethbridge celebrates the first inclusive education graduates and a record number of Indigenous students graduate. The ULethbridge alumni family grows to more than 50,000.

• It’s a record setting year for the Pronghorns swim team (Apollo Hess, Raine Arden, Chris Alexander, Parker Brown, Eric Louie, Hunter Stewardson and Emilia Hesterma) with a men’s relay gold, a new Canadian record and two provincial records, four All-Canadian awards and five total national medals, the program’s first national medals since 2005.

• The Iikaisskini (Low Horn) Gathering Centre opens at the heart of campus. This integral space for Indigenous students and the campus community to come together in ceremony, celebration and learning is named after Dr. Leroy Little Bear (BASc (BA) ’72, DASc ’04).

2022

2022 (Continued)

• ULethbridge welcomes the community to campus to enjoy the new (and free) Disc Golf Course.

• After two long years, the Fall 2022 term offers a true in-person experience for the entire University community.

• The ULethbridge Board of Governors pledges $10 million in match funds for the establishment of new endowed student scholarships. A distinguished group of alumni and community leaders, including Chancellor Emerita Dr. Janice Varzari (BN ’90, MEd ’02, LLD ’19), Chancellor Terry Whitehead (BA ’94), Bernadine Boulet (BEd ’88) and Roland Labuhn (BMgt ’90), will champion this new initiative and help build a plan for it moving forward.

2023

• The R.E.C. Room (an acronym for refresh, energize, connect) is launched in the University Centre for the Arts Atrium. This is a joint initiative funded by ULethbridge and created in consultation with the University of Lethbridge Students’ Union, Student Affairs and in collaboration with Agility, Horns Recreation and the University Library.

• The Pronghorns swim team sent its largestever contingent of swimmers to U SPORTS nationals, with 14 men’s and women’s swimmers qualifying out of the Canada West championships. The team earned three national medals, led by Chris Alexander’s gold in the men’s 50-metre backstroke.

• ULethridge becomes the first post-secondary institution to sign on as a supporter of the historic Buffalo Treaty.

2023 (Continued)

• Alumnus Terry Whitehead (BA ’94) is named the University of Lethbridge’s 15th chancellor.

2023 2023

• Dr. Mike Mahon will conclude his time as ULethbridge’s sixth president and vice-chancellor. Dr. Mahon and the late President and ViceChancellor Emeritus Dr. Howard Tennant both led the University for 13 years and are the longest to serve the institution in this role.

• Dr. Digvir S. Jayas, an internationally renowned agricultural engineering researcher, decorated professor and experienced academic leader, is chosen as the University of Lethbridge’s seventh president and vice-chancellor and will begin his first term on July 1, 2023.