Studio portrait of Jean Himms-Hagen, scientist in Ottawa, Ontario

A crowd of people stand beside the Linear Accelerator during the open house in conjunction with the official opening.

Bio/Historical Note: The building of the Linear Accelerator (Linac) was not a random event but rather the result of a series of developments on campus. The Department of Physics had over the previous decades built a reputation for experimentation and innovation. The post-war period saw the University of Saskatchewan in the forefront of nuclear physics in Canada. In 1948, Canada’s first betatron (and the world’s first used in the treatment of cancer) was installed on campus. It was used for research programs in nuclear physics, radiation chemistry, cancer therapy and radiation biology. Next the world’s first non-commercial cobalt-60 therapy unit for the treatment of cancer was officially opened in 1951. With this unit research was undertaken in the areas of radiological physics, radiation chemistry and the effects of high energy radiation on plants and animals. When the construction of the Linear Accelerator was announced in the fall of 1961, it was portrayed as the next logical step on the University’s research path. Varian Associates, Palo Alto, California, designed and built the accelerator with Poole Construction of Saskatoon employed as the general contractor. The 80 foot electron accelerator tube was to create energy six times that of the betatron. The cost of the $1,750,000 facility was split between the National Research Council and the University of Saskatchewan with the NRC meeting the cost of the equipment and the University assuming the costs of the building. The official opening in early November of 1964 was more than just a few speeches and the cutting of a ribbon. It was a physics-fest, with 75 visiting scientist from around the world in attendance presenting papers and giving lectures over the period of several days. Three eminent physicists were granted honorary degrees at the fall convocation and hundreds of people showed up for the public open house. For three decades the Linac has served the campus research community and will continue to do so as it has become incorporated into the Canadian Light Source synchrotron.

Main reference room of the Regina Public Library of City Hall, 11th Avenue and Hamilton Street

Mark Jordon, CP Fellowship recipient, is seated at a table in his lab. Mr. Jordon's research through the Western Canadian Agricultural Research Program involved the use of biotechnology to improve flax resistant to GLEAN (used by farmers to control broadleaf weeds in wheat), and higher tolerance to frost and salt.

R.T. Coupland, Director of Matador Project (1966-1976) and professor of plant ecology, examines grain in a field.

Bio/Historical Note: From 1967 to 1972, plant ecologists at the University of Saskatchewan participated in the International Biological Program. As part of this worldwide study of agricultural productivity, ecologists established the Matador field station for grassland research carried out by scientists from thirty-four countries. The field station was located near Kyle, thirty miles north of Swift Current, in an area of natural grassland that was potentially the best wheat growing soil in the brown soil zone of Saskatchewan. The land (three square miles) was originally leased for 21 years from the Government of Saskatchewan; the lease (for $1/year) has since been renewed and currently expires in 2009. The Matador Project involved the study of the total grasslands ecosystem, including the interaction of animals, plants, microorganisms, soils and the atmosphere. Robert T. Coupland, Head of the Department of Plant Ecology, served as Director of the Matador Project.

View looking south of rear of National Research Council building. Crop Science and Field Husbandry building at left; Physical Education visible at right.

Bio/Historical Note: In 1916 the National Research Council legislation was enacted and the institution was formed with the mandate to advise the government on matters of science and industrial research. For the first 15 or 16 years of its existence the NRC consisted of offices and borrowed lab space. It launched Canada’s first research journal, “Canadian Journal of Research” and funded research for human and bovine tuberculosis – a significant domestic problem in the 1920s. In 1932, NRC’s first dedicated lab was built in Ottawa. The NRC established a laboratory on the east side of the University of Saskatchewan campus in 1948. The original purpose of the facility was to “use chemistry and biology to diversify Canadian agriculture.” Originally called the “Prairie Regional Lab” then the “Plant Biotechnology Institute,” the facility is now known as “NRC Saskatoon.”

Person seated in reference room of the Regina Public Library of City Hall, 11th Avenue and Hamilton Street