Milestones | History of Memorial University | Memorial University of Newfoundland

February 20, 1982
Installation of Dr. Leslie Harris as President and Vice-Chancellor of Memorial University.
May 28, 1982
Official Opening of the Queen Elizabeth II Library.
November 1982
Publication of the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, edited by Dr. George Story, Dr. William J. Kirwin, and Dr. John D.A. Widdowson.
September 1, 1983
Appointment of Dr. Caroline White as Director of the School of Nursing.
Janaury 12, 1984
Board of Regents approves the establishment of a fine arts program at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College.
September 12, 1984
Youth Festival held on the north campus of Memorial during the visit to St. John's of Pope John Paul II.
September 24, 1984
The first annual David Alexander Lecture delivered by Professor Larry Pratt, Political Scientist, University of Alberta.
November 24, 1984
Dr. Gwynne Dyer receives the third annual Alumnus of the Year Award from the Memorial University Alumni Association.
November 27, 1984
President Leslie Harris announces that Memorial had received funding for $1.3 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and from Petro-Canada to establish a chair in marine seismic research.
October 5, 1985
Premier Brian Peckford announces $5.1 million in funding for the construction of a building to house the School of Fine Arts at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College.
November 1, 1985
Official Opening of the School of Music Building.
November 5, 1985
Official Opening of the Institute for Marine Dynamics. Built on the Memorial campus, the institute is operated by the National Research Council.
November 30, 1985
Victor Young receives the 1985 Alumnus of the Year Award from the Memorial University Alumni Association.
April 2, 1986
Weightlifter Joy Burt, swimmer Marc Campbell and basketballer Diane Campbell are Memorial's top athletics for 1985-1986.
January 13, 1986
Telemedicine Centre establishes a first in Canada's telecommunications history with a teleconference link between Canada and a Third World country for the purpose of health education and patient care. The Centre made a satellite link between the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's and the Department of Pedriatrics in Kenya, East Africa.
February 1986
The Federal and Provincial Governments announce funding of over $25 million for the construction of a new building to house the Centre for Earth Resources Research (CERR), as well as $1 million for a Computer Aided Design (CAD) facility for the engineering faculty. The projects are approved under the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Development Fund.
April 1986
Dr. J.T. Brosnan, Department of Biochemistry, is the recipient of the 1986 Borden Award in Nutrition. The award is given annually by the Canadian Society for Nutritional Sciences to the individual under 45 years who has made the most outstanding contribution in nutrition during the preceeding five years.
April 1986
Dr. Michael Rochester, Department of Earth Sciences, wins the Tuzo Wilson Medal from the Canadian Geophysical Union. The medal is the highest award made by the Union and annually recognizes a person who has made outstanding contributions to Canadian geophysics and geodesy.
April 1986
Memorial's Office of Research establishes the Office of Technology Transfer. Funded with a two-year grant from the National Research Council, the Office's purpose is to provide a link between the University's interests and those of the private sector.
May 19, 1986
Vice-President Dr. E.R. Neale is the first recipient of the J. Willis Ambrose Medal, awarded by the Geological Association of Canada in recognization of distinguished service to geoscience over a broad spectrum of activities including public and professional education, promotion, research and teaching, and in institutional, professional and society affairs.
June 1986
Dr. Brian Fryer, earth sciences, is the 1986 winner of the Past President's Medal by the Geological Association of Canada.
June 1986
President Harris announces that Dr. Jean Briggs, anthropology, and Dr. Michael Rochester, earth sciences and physics, have been named University Research Professors, a title reserved by Memorial for its most distinguished scholars. The 1986 winners of the President's Award for Outstanding Research are Dr. James Butrica, classics; Dr. William Davidson, biochemistry; Dr. Terry Goldie, English language and literature; Dr. Raymond Poirier, chemistry; and Dr. Hans Rollmann, religious studies.
August 1986
Dr. David Idler is the winner of the 1986 F.E.J. Fry Medal awarded by the Canadian Society of Zoologists. The medal is awarded to recipients for outstanding contributions to zoology in Canada.
September 1, 1986
Dr. Ian Jacques Jordaan assumes his post as Chair in Industrial Research in Ocean Engineering, established with over $600,000 in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Mobil Oil Canada Limited. It is the first chair of this kind to be established in Canada.
September 30, 1986
Memorial holds a special convocation to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. The Association's annual general meeting is held in St. John's on October 1 and 2, 1986.
November 1986
The two-volume Bibliography of Newfoundland, compiled by librarians Agnes O'Dea and Anne Alexander, is published by the University of Toronto Press for Memorial University.
November 22, 1986
Grace Sparkes receives the 1986 Alumnus of the Year Award from the Memorial University Alumni Association.
December 9, 1986
Senate approves a master of philosophy degree in the humanities.
January 1987
Canada's first Industrial Research Chair in Marine Crustal Seismology is established at Memorial with $1,441,000 in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Petro-Canada. Dr. Jeremy Hall is appointed to the new chair.
January 1987
Official Opening of the Canadian Centre for International Fisheries Training and Development at the Marine Institute.
January 7, 1987
CHMR Radio commences broadcasting on the FM band.
February 13, 1987
Official Opening of the Centre for Computer Aided Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.
March 1987
Memorial establishes the Distinguished Teacher Awards. Two awards will be made each year, and recipients will be chosen from among nominees by a selection committee of faculty, alumni and students.
April 1987
Memorial reactivates Seabright Corporation to make university-based research more accessible to the private sector. The Office of Technology Transfer is merged with Seabright.
May 10-16, 1987
The Council of Students' Union is host to the sixth annual meeting of the Canadian Federation of Students.
June 1987
President Harris announces that Dr. David Buchan, folklore, and Dr. Sailen Mookerjea, biochemistry, have been named University Research Professors. The 1987 winners of the President's Award for Outstanding Research are Dr. Hiroshi Hamada, medicine; Dr. Alex Hay, physics; and Dr. Stephen Macko, earth sciences.
June 1987
Dr. Harold Williams, earth sciences, is the winner of the Willet G. Miller Medal awarded by the Royal Society of Canada every two years for outstanding scholarship and research in earth sciences.
October 24, 1987
Gerald Tilley receives the 1987 Alumnus of the Year Award from the Memorial University Alumni Association.
October 30, 1987
Official Opening of the School of Nursing Facility in the Health Sciences Centre.
October 30, 1987
Official Opening of the Faculty of Business Administration Building.
January 1988
President Harris announces the establishment of a chair in fisheries oceanography with funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Fishery Products International Limited, and National Sea Products Limited.
February 1, 1988
Death of Lord Taylor, former President of Memorial from 1967-1973.
March 23, 1988
Memorial's faculty and librarians choose by secret ballot to have the Memorial University Faculty Association (MUNFA) as their official bargaining agent in future labor negotiations.
January 1, 1989
Dr. John Malpas, earth sciences, appointed Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, and Dr. Chris Sharpe, geography, appointed Associate Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.