Three pharmacists at work with large equipment in the lab in the Chemistry (Thorvaldson) Building.

Bio/Historical Note: Following passage of the Saskatchewan Pharmacy Act in 1911, the newly incorporated Saskatchewan Pharmaceutical Association requested the University of Saskatchewan undertake the training and examination of pharmacists. A School within the College of Arts and Science was established in 1913 and the following year, 22 students enrolled in a one-year certificate program following a three-year apprenticeship. In 1921 the School became a College offering a four-year course leading to a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. Three years later the certificate program was extended to two years. In 1946 the four-year BSP was a requirement for license in Saskatchewan. In 1987 a Division of Nutrition and Dietetics was established in the College of Pharmacy. Prior to this, Nutrition and Dietetics had been offered in the College of Home Economics. In 1994 the College was renamed the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition.

Life sciences research in the Thorvaldson Lab; person sitting at far end of work station.

Elevated view of foundations of Thorvaldson Building being laid.

Bio/Historical Note: The Chemistry Building was enlarged with an addition and was renamed in honour of Dr. Thorbergur Thorvaldson, professor and dean of Chemistry from 1919-1959. The Thorvaldson Building opened on 6 June 1966. Architect John B. Parkin’s modern design continued with exterior stone cladding. The near windowless, stone three-storey addition provided classrooms, undergraduate and research laboratories, offices, a library and service facilities.

Foundation being laid for the Geology Building. Excavation equipment in foreground, with crane in background. Buildings in background from l to r: Arts Tower, Chemistry (Thorvaldson) Building and Physics Building at far right.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.

The University sheep flock grazing cultivated grass; Chemistry and Physics buildings in background.

Looking southwest from Administration Building of students changing classes. Buildings (l to r): Saskatchewan Hall, Qu'Appelle Hall, and north wing of Murray Memorial (Main) Library. Chemistry Building at far right; winter scene.

Looking northwest across the Bowl toward the Chemistry Building.

Looking west from the Administration Building as students change classes. Buildings (from l to r): Chemistry Building, Qu'Appelle Hall, Marquis Hall, north wing of Murray Memorial (Main) Library and Arts Tower. South wing of Main Library addition under construction. Parked cars in foreground; winter scene.

Looking west at Murray Memorial Library at left and Chemistry Building at centre. Corner of Biology Building visible at right.

Looking east at the Chemistry Building.

Looking northwest along the edge of the Bowl; Chemistry Building at centre of image.

Elevated view looking west along the edge of the Bowl at students walk on pathways; Physics and Chemistry buildings at right.

Images of the opening ceremonies of the Thorvaldson Building and the subsequent dinner.

Bio/Historical Note: The Chemistry Building was enlarged with an addition and was renamed in honour of Dr. Thorbergur Thorvaldson, professor and dean of Chemistry from 1919-1959. The Thorvaldson Building opened on 6 June 1966. Architect John B. Parkin’s modern design continued with exterior stone cladding. The near windowless, stone three-storey addition provided classrooms, undergraduate and research laboratories, offices, a library and service facilities.

Looking northwest from College Building across the Bowl as students walk on pathways. Chemistry Building at right.

Looking north at the Chemistry Building nearing completion.

Bio/Historical Note: The Department of Chemistry was established in 1910, and in 1912 conducted its first laboratory instruction in a poorly ventilated space in the basement of the College Building. The Chemistry Building opened in 1924 and was one of the last of the original stone collegiate gothic buildings designed by the Montreal architect David Brown. The building was sheathed in greystone and the façade has a castellated roof line and an arched portal. The four-storey building was built to house the colleges of Home Economics and Pharmacy, and the Department of Chemistry. It was the most elaborate of the early campus buildings. Designed specifically to meet the needs of teaching and research in chemistry, it was a far cry from the makeshift laboratories in the basement of the College Building and reflected the confidence of the 1920s. It faced not inward toward the Bowl and the original buildings, but outward to what was expected to be an expanding future. Dubbed by one critic as an “expensive show to make an impressive front,” it was to have a second identical north wing but depression and war brought a halt to all thoughts of capital expansion. The first floor was composed almost entirely of classrooms, with two small laboratories. An auditorium was located on the second floor, with a tile dome rising 68 feet, as well as laboratories featuring acid-proof lining on all fume vents and drains. Storerooms were located in the basement, with a sub-basement containing the ventilation, heating and sewage systems. The Chemistry Building was finally expanded with a second wing and was renamed in honour of Dr. Thorbergur Thorvaldson, professor and dean of Chemistry from 1919-1959. The Thorvaldson Building opened on 6 June 1966.