Every day we walk the hallways of SFU and casually refer to the buildings by their names or, more often, their acronyms: “Got a class in RCB;” “It’s in MBC.” We rarely think however, of the people behind the names, and what kind of an impact they had on our school. Without further ado, The Peak presents a summary of the campus’s greats.
Lorne Davies Complex
Named after: Lorne Davies
Renowned for: Davies was a successful football coach for 25 seasons, including six with the B.C. Lions and eight with SFU. It is, however, his pioneering approach to varsity sports that earned him a name. He was the first to hire full-time coaches for all sports, and a huge advocate for female sports and athletic scholarships in a time when neither was a popular concept. Perhaps most importantly, it was under Davies that SFU became the first Canadian university to be accepted into the NAIA.
Connection to SFU: He was SFU’s first head coach, and in 1965 he was hired as the head of the university’s athletic department.
Robert C. Brown Hall
Named after: Robert C. Brown
Renowned for: His work in fisheries analysis has been huge in B.C.; his research concentrates on the economics and policy of fisheries, and he has recently done work on the B.C. Herring fishery.
Connection to SFU: Brown was the dean of the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Faculty of Arts. He was also SFU’s acting president in 1993.
Blusson Hall
Named after: Stewart Lynn Blusson
Renowned for: With a background in geology, Blusson spent over a decade looking for diamonds in the Northwest Territories. In 1998, he was part of Ekati, a joint venture that included BHP Diamonds Inc. and Dia Met Minerals. Only four years after becoming a part of the venture, his net worth grew to an estimated $295 million USD. Blusson is known for his philanthropy, including over $100 million for research and education.
Connection to SFU: In 2007, Blusson donated $12 million to SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences.
Maggie Benston Centre
Named after: Margaret Benston
Renowned for: She is best known for her Marxist feminist writings. In the late 1980s, however, she also became interested in computer science and her research focused on the effects of technology on women and their work. Across the span of her career, Benston was active in three faculties: initially chemistry, then women’s studies, and computer sciences. She also had a huge part in starting the Vancouver Folk Festival.
Connection to SFU: She was a charter faculty member in 1966, and then in the mid-1970s, she took part in the founding of the women’s studies program.
Shrum Science Centre
Named after: Gordon Merritt Shrum
Renowned for: Shrum fought in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and after the war, he received both a Bachelor and a Master’s of Arts, then continued to a Doctorate in physics in 1923. He was highly influential as a member of the community, and in academia.
Most of his work was at UBC: he was the head of the Physics Department between 1938 and 1961, and between 1957 and 1961 he was also the Dean of Graduate Studies and served on the university’s Senate. He is best known as being the namesake of the Shrum Bowl, the annual rivalry football game between the Clan and the UBC Thunderbirds.
Connection to SFU: Shrum was involved in SFU’s establishment, and served as the university’s first chancellor for its first four years.
W.A.C. Bennett Library
Named after: W.A.C. Bennett
Renowned for: Bennett was B.C.’s longest-serving premier, between 1952 and 1972. He initially began his political career in the Conservative Party, but then joined the Social Credit Party a year before getting elected as the province’s leader. He resigned in 1972, shortly after the NDP defeated his party.
Connection to SFU: Under Bennett’s 20 years as premier, B.C. saw a huge influx in ambitious building projects, one of which was SFU. Other projects included hydro dams, highways, and ferry services.
Diamond Alumni Center
Named after: Jack Diamond
Renowned for: Diamond went from being a penniless Polish immigrant, to being a millionare and philanthropist. Along with his wife, Sadie, Diamond donated millions of dollars to SFU, the B.C. Heart Foundation, and B.C. Cancer Agency. He has received numerous awards, including a Companion of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia.
Connection to SFU: Diamond served on SFU’s Board of Governors between 1967 and 1973. He was then elected chancellor in 1975 and served in that position for three years.
Saywell Hall
Named after: Bill Saywell
Renowned for: Saywell received a doctorate in 20th Century Chinese affairs. His work took him to various places in East Asia, which included the position of first secretary of the Canadian Embassy in Beijing. As SFU’s fifth president, he established many of the programs and initiatives that we now see as integral parts of our SFU community including, but not limited to: the creation of the downtown campus, adopting the co-op program, and making leaps and bounds in gender balance at the university. In 1994, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia for his work in B.C. post-secondary education.
Connection to SFU: As SFU’s longest-serving president, Saywell served two five-year terms from 1983-93.
He was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 1994 for promoting B.C. on an educational level and on an international scale, and the Order of Canada in 2000 for the academic, cultural and economic bridges he has built between Canada and Asia.
