McMaster University
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McMaster University is a medium-sized research-intensive university located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with an enrollment of 18,238 full-time and 3,836 part-time students (as of 2006).
McMaster has pioneered a number of programs that have changed how professors teach and students learn. Problem-based-learning (PBL), pioneered at McMaster, has now spread across North America as a preferred method of instructing undergraduate students. Through its continued dedication to innovative education and ground-breaking research, the University has earned its reputation as one of the leading post-secondary institutions in the world. [About McMaster]
McMaster, or Mac, comprises six faculties: science, health sciences, engineering, humanities, social sciences, and business. The campus is located on 300 acres (1.2 km²) of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens. McMaster has a large number of well known comedian graduates including Martin Short, John Candy, Eugene Levy and Ivan Reitman.
McMaster ranks as among the top 100 universities worldwide in the Times Higher Education Supplement rankings. It placed 3rd in Canada in the 2005 Shanghai Jiao Tong University world rankings of universities.
History
Senator William McMaster, the first president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, founded the university bearing his name in 1887. It was sponsored by the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec as a sectarian undergraduate institution for its clergy and adherents. It began operating three years later, and graduated its first students in 1894.
The university was originally located in Toronto and nearly became federated with the University of Toronto as Trinity College and Victoria College were (Victoria moved from Cobourg in the process).
Local boosters in Hamilton offered large donations of money and land to McMaster to relocate rather than federate, and the move was accomplished in 1930. University Hall, one of the original campus buildings, includes a statue of Senator McMaster and his contribution to the university. The Toronto Building, located at the northern part of the University of Toronto St. George campus on Bloor Street West, now houses the Royal Conservatory of Music.
During and immediately after the Second World War, McMaster experienced an explosion of growth in scientific research and student enrollment under H.G. Thode. This placed a strain on the finances of what was still a denominational Baptist institution. Consequently, in 1957, the McMaster Divinity College was incorporated to continue the university's religious traditions, while the university itself became a secular public institution.
Campus
McMaster's main campus is bordered to the north by Cootes Paradise, an extensive natural marshland, to the east and west by residential neighbourhoods and to its south by Main Street West, a major artery of Hamilton. Its northern boundaries are a popular destination for hikers and joggers who make use of the many trails that connect the campus to the RBG's lands. Its geographical coordinates are .
The buildings and facilities represent the ongoing development that has been happening on McMaster grounds since it purchased the property from the city of Hamilton in 1928. Its six original gothic-style buildings are now flanked by over 50 structures built predominantly during booms in the early 1970s and the late 1990s to present.
Perhaps the most distinctive component of the campus skyline is that of the McMaster University Medical Centre, a multi-use research hospital that ranks among the largest public buildings in Canada. It is connected to the Life Sciences building and the recently completed (2004) Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery which houses many well-funded research groups in areas of genetics, infectious diseases and several specific conditions.
The McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR) completed in 1959 was the first university-based research reactor in the Commonwealth of Nations and today is the only Canadian medium flux reactor in a university environment. It is a "pool-type" reactor with a core of enriched uranium fuel moderated and cooled by light water. The MNR, provides wide range of irradiation, laboratory and holding facilities which include: A cyclotron, an accelerator, a small-angle neutron-scattering detector and wide-angle neutron scattering facilities.
Satellite Campuses
Recently, McMaster has begun spreading physically beyond its inflexible West Hamilton borders into other areas in the region.
Downtown Hamilton
In 2002 the McMaster's Centre for Continuing Education was relocated to the former Hamilton-Wentworth courthouse building on Main Street East. The CCE offers a variety of certificate/diploma programs as well as personal/professional development programs and strives to uphold McMaster's tradition of inspiring leadership and discovery.
Burlington
In 2004 McMaster University announced that in partnership with the neighbouring city of Burlington, it would be constructing a new arts & technology intensive campus in that city. Plans call for a small initial cohort to be admitted in 2007 in leased space and the University hopes to have an enrolment at the Burlington campus of nearly 5000 students by 2020. The Burlington campus concept is contingent on provincial government approval, not yet sought, of the academic programmes and the necessary funding.
The proposed campus has proven controversial and the plan has been opposed by many deans and other faculty members. The McMaster Students Union has serious reservations with the project and may openly oppose the project dependent upon either a fall vote in the student representative assembly or a general referendum.
Research Park
Announced in 2005, McMaster has purchased a large industrial park three kilometres east of its main Hamilton campus that will be redeveloped to contain an array of research facilities for the development of advanced manufacturing and materials, biotechnology, automotive and nanotechnology. The park is expected to produce thousands of jobs and millions of dollars for the local and provincial economies. In July 2005 it was announced that CANMET, a federal government materials research laboratory, would be relocated from its Ottawa centre to Hamilton, helping spear-head the development of the McMaster research park.
A predicted $60 million in partner funding is expected to establish the new laboratory by 2008.
Academics
McMaster has been particularly renowned for its academic strengths, most notably in the fields of health sciences and engineering. The university has been named Canada's most innovative medical-doctoral university eight times in the past 11 years by Maclean's in its annual ranking of Canadian universities. McMaster has earned the designation of Research University of the Year in 2004 based on its ability to attract and capitalize on its research income. Its research activities exceed those of universities twice its size. As a matter of fact, no Canadian University receives a higher proportion of research funding relative to its operating budget than McMaster.[McMaster Nuclear Reactor] In 2005, Research InfoSource ranked McMaster as one of the top three research universities in Canada.[Research Infosource 2005]
McMaster launched Canada's first school of computational engineering and science in 2005 dedicated in developing expertise in the third wave of scientific research involving stimulation, modeling and optimization. The new school brings together 50 faculty from engineering, science, business and health science to collaboratively conduct research and advance education. Study in this area is helping to advance understanding of a wide range of issues and opportunities from pandemics, to weather patterns, to improving automobile safety, to the design of computer chips. [Canada's first school of Computational Engineering and Science]
In addition, on the rise is McMaster's thriving DeGroote School of Business. The DeGroote School of Business also houses the [Allen H. Gould Trading Floor]. The Allen H. Gould Trading Floor is a state-of-the-art educational tool that enables students to experience the relationships and interactions of the financial markets. It is one of the first such facilities in North America, and one of only 30 in the world.[Allen H. Gould Trading Floor]
The [McMaster Museum of Art] houses six thousand works of art, including those bequeathed by Herman Levy. The McMaster University Library system consists of four libraries. The Mills Memorial Library for humanities and social sciences. It houses the papers of Bertrand Russell and other major collections. Innis Library, located in Kenneth Taylor Hall for Business. H.G. Thode Library of Science & Engineering and Health Sciences Library. The University Library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries. The collection contains more than 1.9 million volumes, 1,423,102 microform items, 174,956 non-print items and 11,041 linear feet of archival material. Current periodical titles number about 11,880. (1997)
McMaster's Art History program was the first Art History program to be started in North American universities.
McMaster has had a nuclear reactor (MNR) since 1959 for nuclear science and engineering research. Separately, the natural sciences has had a planetarium since 1949 and engineering boasts the Communications Research Laboratory.
The strength of nuclear science at McMaster, with nuclear reactor under the presidency of Dr.H.G. Thode, was augmented in 1968 by the construction of a 10MV Model FN Tandem particle accelerator. Along with this was added the 3MV Model KN single-ended accelerator in the same year. Being primarily, in the early days, a nuclear structure laboratory, the academic direction of the laboratory fell to the Physics Department. During the next 28 years, the nuclear research effort was tremendous with hundreds of graduate students trained and many publications generated.[Nuclear Research Publications]
The department of Chemistry at McMaster houses three research instruments facilities including the McMaster regional centre for mass spectrometry, analytical x-ray diffraction facility and the nuclear magnetic resonance facility. Together, these facilities offer unparalleled service to both internal and external research clients.
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility was established in 1985 with funding provided by NSERC and McMaster University. The facility is equipped with seven NMR spectrometers, funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). This facility is highly regarded in the Canadian chemical community for its versatility in the types of samples (organic, inorganic, biochemical, geological, industrial, forestry, agricultural and biomedical materials) that can be analyzed. A wide range of nuclei can be studied in solution or in solid state.[Nuclear Magnetic Reasonance Facilities]
The university's health sciences reputation started with the foundation of its medical school -- with non-traditional small-group problem-based learning tutorials since adopted by other programs -- in the 1960s. However, it quickly grew with programs in occupational therapy, physical therapy, midwifery, and other allied fields.
When Albert Einstein died in 1955, his brain was preserved for medical research. A portion of it is held at the McMaster brain bank. Researchers there have identified differences in his brain that may relate to his genius for spatial and mathematical thinking.
A recent $105 million CAD donation was given to McMaster's medical program from billionaire Michael G. DeGroote. The money will be used to upgrade the current medical school, which will be called the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. He is also a benefactor to McMaster's business school (which also bears his name), the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery (MDCL), and the Student Centre.
The McMaster Arts and Science is an exclusive program at McMaster and is the smallest programme in the university, admitting only 60 first year students per year, with a total size of about 250.
Nobel Laureates
- Dr. Bertram Brockhouse, co-winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize for Physics
- Dr. Myron Scholes, recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Economics
- Dr. James Orbinski, recipient of the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Doctors Without Borders
Hospitals
McMaster University is affiliated with eight teaching hospitals. Five of them compose the Hamilton Health Sciences.
- [Hamilton Health Sciences]:
- *[Chedoke Hospital]
- *[Children's Hospital]
- *[Hamilton General Hospital]
- *[Henderson Hospital]
- *[McMaster Medical Centre]
- [Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre]
- [St. Joseph's Healthcare]
- [St. Peter's Health System]
Sports
Most of its sports teams in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, including football, basketball and soccer are named the McMaster Marauders. The university's colours have been maroon and grey since 1912. Various teams are frequent Ontario champions in collegiate sports.
Intramural sports are encouraged and widely participated in at Ivor Wynne Centre. Unorganized sports include ad hoc cricket games in front of the science and engineering buildings and formerly cafeteria tray tobogganing.
In 2004, McMaster Kinesiology student Adam van Koeverden captured a bronze medal in the Mens K1, 1000 metre single kayak and gold medal in the kayak singles 500 metre at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. He also won a silver medal in K1, 1000 metre at the World Championships in Gainesville, U.S in September of 2003.
Football
Men's football at McMaster is one of the school's most popular spectator sports, supported extensively by students, faculty and McMaster president Peter J. George. The team formerly played its home games on Les Prince Field, located on campus. However, this field was recently torn up to make way for a new extension to the Ivor Wynne sports complex. Home games will now be played at Ivor Wynne Stadium (home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats), where Playoff games were sometimes held in the past. The Mauraders have an extensive track-record in both the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) leagues spanning several decades. More recently, the team has shown itself as one of the strongest in Canada, earning four consecutive Yates Cup victories (2000-2003), led by Greg Marshall. Several athletes have been scouted from the McMaster fields to play for the Canadian Football League (CFL). Alumnus Jesse Lumsden was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Seattle Seahawks in 2005 but was released shortly after and is now the starting running back for the Tiger-Cats.Greg Marshall left in 2004 and is now earning success directing the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. A partnership between the two football clubs was announced in 2005 to strengthen the link between university and professional sports in Hamilton. In January 2006 Stefan Ptaszek was named as the new head coach, replacing Marcello Campanaro.
Theatre
McMaster is also home to two of the semi-professional acting companies in Ontario at the university level. [The McMaster Thespian Club], started in 2003, and [McMaster Musical Theatre], started in the 1960's, present productions annually involving student volunteer actors, musicians and crew. Their information can be found at their respective websites.
These groups, as well as the students in McMaster's Theatre and Film program, usually perform in the Robinson Memorial Theatre in Chester New Hall.
Since 1990, McMaster has also hosted the [McMaster Summer Drama Festival], a collection of plays directed and performed by students during July.
Student life
Full-time undergraduate students belong to the McMaster Students Union, which operates a pub and publishes a broadsheet newspaper called The Silhouette. It also funds scores of other clubs, associations and societies organized by academic department, ethnic origin or extracurricular interest. Part of a larger body of environmental groups on campus, McMaster is one of only two universities in Canada that has a bicycle cooperative.Other student groups on campus include the McMaster Association of Part-time Students and the Graduate Students Association.
The university's campus radio station is CFMU, broadcasting at 93.3 FM.
Welcome Week (Frosh Week) is something special to look forward at McMaster. It is an important aspect of student life that it is highly regarded as a showcase of school-spirit. First-year students are in for a funfilled week, that will definitely give students a lifetime of good memories.
McMaster students have a history of being innovators. In 1991, during the first Gulf War, hundreds of students created a tent city in the middle of winter in the central commons in support of peace.
McMaster is the home to the McMaster Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (Canada), one of the fastest growing chapters in Canada.
McMaster's Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada chapter gained recognition through the 1990's when they pioneered rock and roll church services in the campus bars (i.e. Church in the John - named for the Downstairs John bar in Wentworth House) moving to larger and larger bars as the popularity of these events grew. In the mid 1990's, these monthly events were attracting thousands of students from all over Ontario and parts of New York, eventually spawning similar events at universities throughout the province.
McMaster's Student Centre proudly displays the innovative Iron Ring Clock, designed and built by four Mechanical Engineering students as their final-year thesis project in 2003. Money for the clock was donated from a variety of local citizens and businesses. The clock contains what is believed to be the largest iron ring in the world as in integral part of the mechanism. The clock is located over the North entrance to the Student Centre, against a bank of windows which provide backlighting to the stained-glass University crest, the centrepiece of the clock.
During weekends, many students enjoy going to local pubs in the surrounding Westdale Village area or enjoy a party in the student housing on one of the many streets near the campus.
Residence Life
Currently McMaster has 11 smoke-free residence buildings totalling approximately 3,366 bedspaces. In response to increasing number of students enrolling at MAC, new residences are being constructed. The newest residence to be built is Les Prince Hall, just north of Hedden Hall. It is a large co-ed building completed in 2006. Prince was a long-serving hall master in the residence system, living with his family on campus until after his retirement in 1980.Building choices include the traditional room and board style, furnished apartment style and suite-style.
- [Bates Residence] - Furnished Apartments
- * Built in 1973, 504 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Large
- [Brandon Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 1970, 558 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Large
- [Edwards Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 1930, 107 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Small
- [Hedden Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 1991, 425 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Large
- [Les Prince Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 2006, 390 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Medium
- [Mary E. Keyes] - Suite-Style
- * Built in 2003, 280 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Medium
- [Matthews Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 1965, 278 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Medium
- [McKay Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 1965, 280 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Medium
- [Moulton Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 1961, 234 bedspaces, Co-ed/Female based on demand - Size: Medium
- [Wallingford Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 1930, 74 bedspaces, Female only - Size: Small
- [Whidden Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 1961, 333 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Medium
- [Woodstock Hall] - Traditional
- * Built in 1970, 293 bedspaces, Co-ed - Size: Medium
Notable Alumni and Faculty
Chancellors and Presidents
Chancellors
From 1888 to 1949, the head of McMaster was given the title Chancellor.In 1949, George P. Gilmour became both President and Chancellor, and in 1950 his title changed to President and Vice-Chancellor. From that time onward, the University had both a Chancellor as well as a President and Vice-Chancellor.
(*)In the interval between the retirement of Chancellor MacVicar and the appointment of Chancellor Rand, the Faculties of Art and Theology were organized under the Chairmanship of Dr. Rand and Dr. Goodspeed, respectively.[Governance]
- 1888-1890 Malcolm MacVicar
- 1890-1892*
- 1892-1895 Theodore Harding Rand
- 1895-1905 Rev. Oates C.S. Wallace
- 1905-1911 Alexander C. McKay
- 1911-1922 Abraham L. McCrimmon
- 1922-1941 Howard P. Whidden
- 1941-1949 George P. Gilmour
- 1949-1950 George P. Gilmour - President and Chancellor
- 1950-1955 E. Carey Fox
- 1955-1960 Roy L. Kellock
- 1960-1965 Charles P. Fell
- 1965-1971 D. Argue C. Martin
- 1971-1977 Lawrence T. Pennell
- 1977-1986 H. Allan B. Leal
- 1986-1992 John H. Panabaker
- 1992-1998 James H. Taylor
- 1998 ---- Melvin M. Hawkrigg
Chancellors and Presidents
- 1950-1961 George P. Gilmour
- 1961-1972 Henry G. Thode
- 1972-1980 Arthur N. Bourns
- 1980-1990 Alvin A. Lee
- 1990-1995 Geraldine A. Kenney-Wallace
- 1995 ---- Peter J. George
Notes and References
See also
External links
- [McMaster Students Union]
- [Bertrand Russell Archives] at McMaster University
- [McMaster University athletics]
- [Satellite View of McMaster University]
- [Ontario Plaques - McMaster Hall]
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