50th Anniversary

A look back in time: UW in 2006

The ground is broken (right) for UW’s Health Sciences Campus in downtown Kitchener, with Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr, Ontario minister of health and long-term care George Smitherman, pharmacy director Jake Thiessen and UW president David Johnston wielding the shovels. The building will house a School of Pharmacy, a facility for the McMaster University Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, a School of Optometry clinic and the Centre for Family Medicine.

• The university begins work on its pandemic plan in preparation for bird flu or a similar contagious disease attack.
• UW alumni are now 129,000 strong and live in 140 countries around the world. More than 10,000 reside outside Canada, with about 6,000 in the United States and nearly 1,000 in Hong Kong.
• Flags at UW fly at half-staff following the shootings at Dawson College in Montreal. In the wake of the tragedy, the arts faculty hosts a public forum to help students, faculty and staff understand the roots of violence in society.

Johnston is President

Current president, David Johnston, appointed in 1999 and re-appointed in 2004, holds degrees from Harvard, Cambridge (LLB) and Queen’s (LLB) universities, specializing in securities regulation, and corporate and information technology law. His most recent administrative position was at McGill University, where he was principal and vice-chancellor. Twice named to the All-American Hockey Team at Harvard, Johnston has stick-handled his way through a major enrolment hike, building boom, and fund-raising campaign at UW. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1997.

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