Biology Building - Official Opening
- A-168
- Item
- 15 Sept. 1960
Family members of W.P. Thompson among the crowd after the official opening of the Biology Building.
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Biology Building - Official Opening
Family members of W.P. Thompson among the crowd after the official opening of the Biology Building.
Biology Building - Official Opening
Elevated view of students dressed in Roman togas and outfits interrupting the ceremonies as dignitaries are seated behind and laughing.
Biology Building - Official Opening
Allan E. Blakeney, Saskatchewan Minister of Education, speaks during official opening.
Biology Building - Official Opening
Elevated view of the crowd in the lecture theatre.
Biology Building - Official Opening
J.W.T. Spinks, University President, speaks during official opening.
Biology Building - Official Opening
Presentation of key by J.W.T. Spinks, University President, to Dr. D.S. Rawson, head, Department of Biology, during the official opening of the Biology Building.
Biology Building - Official Opening
F. Hedley Auld, University Chancellor, addresses the audience during the official opening of the Biology Building. J.W.T. Spinks, University President, seated in the background.
Biology Building - Official Opening
View of the crowd seated in the Bowl during the official opening of the Biology Building.
A sketch by L.G. Saunders of the Biology Building for W.P. and Marjorie Thompson's greeting card.
Bio/Historical Note: The W.P. Thompson Biology Building is named after Walter Palmer Thompson, the University of Saskatchewan's third president and founder of the Biology Department (1913). Designed by Izumi, Arnott and Sugiyama, it was constructed between 1957 and 1959 and officially opened in 1960. Set back from the Bowl, the flat-roofed cube style building was located between the Collegiate Gothic architecture of the Chemistry and Physics Buildings. It originally consisted of a teaching wing and a research wing but a header and greenhouse complex was added in 1962. Unlike many other Canadian universities the Department of Biology remained a single unit, balancing diverse sub-disciplines rather than separating into several distinct departments. Prior to the building's opening in 1960, work in biological sciences was scattered among four campus locations. Perhaps the most striking of the building’s features is the mural of mosaic tiles that adorns the south and west exterior walls. The mural depicts the four main stages of cellular mitosis. The artist, Roy Kiyooka, chose chromosome patterns as a testament to Dr. Thompson's important discoveries regarding the genetics of wheat rust. In 1986, the Geology Building was completed on the south side of Biology, resulting in the transformation of the south façade from an exterior into an interior wall, part of a new atrium.
Part of Saskatoon StarPhoenix fonds
Photographs show biology museum exhibits of sting rays, monkeys, birds, fish, crocodiles and chinchillas, January 17, 1982. [Published January 21, 1982]
Part of Saskatoon StarPhoenix fonds
Photographs show a biology museum that has a tarantula, alligator, chinchillas, spider monkeys and turtles, June 30, 1982. [Published July 8, 1982]
Image of the Biology Museum atrium with banners and plants.
Bio/Historical Note: The Biology Museum is now known as the Museum of Natural Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan.
Part of Educational Media Access and Production (EMAP) fonds
Panels of dinosaurs in the biology museum
Part of Educational Media Access and Production (EMAP) fonds
Crocodile in "the zoo"
Part of Educational Media Access and Production (EMAP) fonds
Panel of prehistoric hunting in biology museum.