Introduction 1955-1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 and beyond - Bibliography
Date: 1961 January 24.
Event: Dr. Murray George Ross is installed as President and Vice-Chancellor of York University at Convocation Hall, University of Toronto.
Category: Administrative History - Government.
Source: Globe and Mail, January 25, 1961; "York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross" Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 January 27.
Event: York University presents an application to the Ontario Municipal Board (Chairman J.A. Kennedy) to rezone the Glendon Hall property to enable the University to construct three ten- story student dormitories on the slopes of the Don Valley. The Metro Conservation Authority, the Lawrence Park Property Owners Association, The Garden Club of Toronto, and other conservationists oppose this plan.
Source: Globe and Mail, January 28, 1961; The Telegram, January 26, 1961.
Date: 1961 February 27
Event: York University obtains a change in the zoning bylaw to allow construction, but building is restricted to the tablelands, and does not extend into the ravines. All structures are to have a maximum height of 35 feet. Buildings are to be set back 50 feet from the border of the University land and parking must be provided for half the staff and students. Approval from the North York Planning Board is a condition for issuing permits for all buildings.
Category: Buildings and Property.
Source: Globe and Mail, February 25, 1961; Globe and Mail, February 27, 1961
Date: 1961 March 8.
Event: The Joseph E. Atkinson College, the first university college in Ontario devoted solely to evening degree studies for adults, is announced. The college is made possible thanks to a 782 000 (February 1961) donation from The Atkinson Charitable Foundation. Atkinson College classes will begin in September 1962 at York Hall.
Category: Administrative History - Institution.
Source: York University press release, 8 March, 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 March 9.
Event: It is announced that University Scholarships of $1 350, to be given over a period of three years, will be awarded to all Ontario scholars accepted for admission to York University. The Province of Ontario gives $400 to each Ontario scholar and the University will award students with $350 for the first year, and $500 for the second and third year for maintaining a first class standing.
Category: Academic Life.
Source: York University press release, 9 March 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 April 13.
Event: Air Marshal Wilfrid A. Curtis, a leading proponent of the new university since 1958, is appointed York University's first Chancellor.
Category: Administrative History - Government.
Source: Globe and Mail, April 13, 1961; "York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross" Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 April 27
Event: Professor George Tatham is named "York University's First Dean" in the Faculty of Arts and Science.
Category: Administrative History - Faculty; Administrative History - Government.
Source: "York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross" Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives; York University press release, 27 April 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 May
Event: Building the York University - University of Toronto Connection. York University is represented on the University of Toronto Senate by Dr. George Tatham, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, and President Ross who is an ex-officio member of the Senate.
Category: Administrative History - Government.
Source: Murray Ross letter to the Registrar and Secretary of the University of Toronto Senate, 28 February 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 July 4.
Event: The first appointments to Atkinson College are announced. Dr. Douglas V. Verney, political scientist, is named Acting Dean. Professor Neil M. Morrison is appointed Assistant Dean.
Category: Administrative History - Government.
Source: York University press release, 4 July 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 August.
Event: Faculty and staff move to the Glendon Hall campus and into the new academic building, York Hall. Its cost was $1.5 million, and the building was completed in record time. (Construction begins) in March, 1961. The architects are the firm of Morani and Allen.
Category: Administrative History - Institution; Buildings and Property.
Source: "York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross" Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 August 22.
Event: Construction worker Alex Tulini is killed at a construction site on Glendon campus. Tulini was installing pipes when a wall of earth fell, suffocating him.
Category: Buildings and Property.
Source: Globe and Mail, August 23, 1961; Toronto Star, August 22, 1961.
Date: 1961 September. ( Check calendar for date*)
Event: The academic term begins. These are the first classes to be held on the Glendon College campus. 216 students are registered. Classes are offered in the first and second years of a three- year course.
The Glendon property of eighty-five acres, formerly the E.R. Wood estate, is sold to York by the University of Toronto. The campus consists of York Hall, a new academic building with a lecture theatre, classrooms, laboratories, faculty offices, dining hall and common rooms; Glendon Hall, which houses the President's suite, administrative offices, and the library; and the coach house, which is the renovated athletic facility for the campus. The decision is made that Glendon should house 1 000 students, with up to 80 per cent living in residence.
The Library has seven staff members. The collection of 7 000 books and periodicals is housed in Glendon Hall. It is estimated that the collection will grow by 15 000 volumes per year. The University of Toronto agrees to give York students full library privileges until June 1965. (Students enrolled at York up to September of 1962 will have the same rights as Toronto students with respect to library privileges for the entire period of their study at York.).
The Department of Recreation and Athletics is introduced.
The Campus Planning Department is formed. Dr. Arthur C. Johnson is appointed Director. Mr. John K. Armour is appointed director of Physical Plant. The Planning Department works with the Board-Faculty Planning Committee.
A number of new student clubs are organized. A choir, a band, and a string group are formed. There is a Drama club, with Miss Sandra Bracken as coach. A film society is organized with George Luscombe, to show classic, international and American films.
The SCM Bookroom opens a branch Book Room at York University.
Category: Administrative History - Institution; Administrative History - Staff; Buildings and Property; Cultural Life - Students; Cultural Life - University .
Source: Murray G. Ross, These five years, p.10, 70; "York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross" Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives; York University Calendar 1961-1962; York University Calendar 1962/63; York History Research Project, "Information Sheet - 1961 p. I;York University press release, 20 September 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 October 19.
Event: Air Marshal W.A. Curtis, former Royal Canadian Air Force Chief of Staff and Vice-Chairman of AVRO is installed as Chancellor.
The ceremony takes place in the new Dining Hall on the new University campus at Bayview and Lawrence Avenue. Greetings are received from the Board of Governors as represented by Dr. R.F. Farquharson, the Honourable Dana Porter, Q.C. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario and Chancellor of the University of Waterloo, and the Right Honourable Lord James of Rusholme, Vice Chancellor of the University of York, England.
Following the Installation ceremonies, the Right Honourable Lord James of Rusholme and Premier Leslie Frost officially open York Hall, the first academic building at York. Together they symbolically replant the white rose bush of York University.
Plans for a large main campus (at a separate location) with professional schools are started.
Category: Administrative History - Institution; Administrative History - Government.
Source: Globe and Mail, October 20, 1961; York University press release, 16 October 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives; York University press release, 20 October 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1961 November 9.
Event: The Senate adopts a motion prohibiting students attending the university from belonging to a social fraternity or sorority. The Board of Governors, the Faculty Council and the Student Affairs Committee each concur with the fraternity and sorority prohibitions at York.
Category: Academic Life; Cultural Life - Students.
Source: Globe and Mail, November 10, 1961; Minutes of the Senate meeting, 9 November 1961.
Date: 1961 November 24.
Event: The York University Invitation Lecture Series begins. Five ticketed, special lectures are held in the Academic Building at Glendon Hall. Professor Howard Mumford Jones, Harvard University, lectures on "The Idea of a University." On January 26, 1962, Professor David Reisman, Harvard University lectures on "Experiments in Higher Education." On February 22, 1962, Professor Robert Ulich, Harvard University lectures "On Creativity." On March 13 and 15, 1962, Dr. Jacob Bronowski, Directory-General, Process Development Department, National Coal Board gives two lectures - "The Imaginative Mind in Art" and "The Imaginative Mind in Science."
Category: Academic Life.
Source: York University press release, 30 October 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
FOUNDERS
Date: 1961 July 1.
People: The Board of Governors, 1961 - 1962
- The Hon. Robert H. Winters, Chairman
- Air Marshal W.A. Curtis, Chancellor
- Murray G. Ross, President
- Edgar G. Burton
- Mrs. John David Eaton
- R.F. Farquharson
- Bertrand Gerstein
- John Gray
- W.C. Harris
- W.F. James
- Allen T. Lambert
- John D. Leitch
- The Hon. T.D'Arcy Leonard
- William Mahoney
- David B. Mansur
- W.F. McLean
- John S. Proctor
- Edwin H. Walker
Category: Administrative History - Government
Source: York University Affiliated with the University of Toronto Calendar 1961-1962 Second Academic Year p. 12; Murray Ross, These 5 Years, Appendix D "The Board of Governors," p. 103
Date: 1961 July 1.
People: The University Administration, 1961 - 1962.
- Murray G. Ross, President
- Arthur C. Johnson, Director of Campus Planning
- William W. Small, Comptroller and Secretary of the Board of Governors
- Donald S. Rickerd, Registrar
- Douglas G. Lochhead, Librarian
- John K. Armour, Director of Physical Plant
- Dr. Douglas V. Verney, Acting Dean Atkinson College
- Mr. Neil M. Morrison, Assistant Dean Atkinson College
- Lloyd H. Jenkins, Director of Information and Development
Category: Administrative History - Government
Source: Murray G. Ross, These five years, Appendix D "The Faculty and Staff Appointments," p. 109; York University Affiliated with the University of Toronto Calendar 1961-1962 Second Academic Year pp. 12 - 13; York University press releases, 4 & 18 July 1961. Presidents' papers. York University Archives
Introduction 1955-1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 and beyond - Bibliography