Alan Twigg was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia in 1952. Since 1987, he has owned and published the newspaper, B.C. BookWorld, Canada’s largest circulation publication about books. In 1985, Twigg co-founded the B.C. Book Prizes, and he was its executive director and
chief fundraiser in the 1990s. He also created the Van City Women’s Book Prize, and coordinated it between 1992 and 2005. Twigg was a representative of the Writers Union of Canada, on the original Board of Directors for the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing at Simon Fraser University. He also served on the boards of the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Committee and the Vancouver Cultural Alliance. He is a founder of British Columbia’s annual Lifetime Achievement Award for an outstanding literary career in British Columbia, which he has also coordinated since 1995. In 1994, he organized events aiming to honor George Woodcock, who was British Columbia’s most prolific man of letters.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Alan Twigg worked as a freelance writer. From 1995 to 1998, he wrote a weekly editorial column for The Province newspaper. He has written for The Quill & Quire, BC Historical News, as a theatre critic for The Georgia Straight, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Maclean’s, Vancouver Sun, Step and Pacific Northwest Review of Books. Alan Twigg appears frequently as a guest on CBC Radio, and he has been the host of a CBC television series about B.C. authors.

The Union of Socialist Geographers (USG) was formed in Toronto in May of 1974. It was the third such group to form in North America following Antipode (in 1969) and the Socially and Ecologically Responsible Geographers (SERGE in 1971), all dedicated critical approaches to the discipline of socialist geography through an explicitly radical lens. The idea to form the USG grew largely from a group of graduate students from across North America and relied heavily on the support of Michael Eliot Hurst, the then-Chair of the Geography department at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Burnaby, B.C.
The USG was in existence for approximately 7 years, with chapters (or collectives) in places like Toronto, Vancouver, and Minnesota (to name a few), as well as in Sydney, Australia and London, England. Internal politics led to an early demise for the USG, largely centered around the contested decision of some members to splinter off in 1979 and form a Socialist Geography Specialty Group under the umbrella of the American Association of Geographers. The result was a sharp decline in membership and participation in the USG, with it finally petering out of existence in 1981

The Office of University Advancement is responsible for fund raising initiatives to support the university's teaching, research, and service objectives.

Organized fund raising activities began at SFU in 1966, when the Resources Office was established. This office was responsible for following up pledges to the Three Universities Capital Fund, which had been established in 1963. The Resources Office was also responsible for establishing and developing new, permanent fund raising programs. Originally, the Resources Office reported directly to the University President. In 1971, the office of Vice-President, Development (later renamed Vice-President, University Services) was created, which then took on responsibility for the Resources Office. In 1977, the position of Vice-President, University Services was eliminated, and the Resources Office again reported directly to the President.

In 1982 the Resources Office was renamed Development Office and reported to the newly-created Vice-President, University Development and Extension. In 1988, the Director of Development began reporting to the Vice-President, Harbour Centre. In 2000 the office was renamed University Advancement.

The Office of University Advancement has close ties with the SFU Alumni Association, which was founded by SFU graduates in 1969, and which provides programs and services to assist SFU and its graduates. The Association is a registered nonprofit society governed by an elected board of volunteers. The Alumni Relations Office provides administrative support for all Association activities. It also publishes the Alumni Journal, maintains alumni records, and serves as the main point of contact for alumni on the SFU campus. From 1971 to 1972, this office reported to the Director of Resources. From 1973 to 1975, the office reported directly to the Vice-President, University Services, but still maintained close ties to the Resources Office. From 1977 to 1984, the office was again made a responsibility of the Director of Resources (also referred to as the Director of Development). By 1986, the Alumni Relations Office reported directly to the Vice-President, University Development and Extension, but was still linked to the Development Office. In 1988, the Director of Alumni Relations began reporting to the Vice-President, Harbour Centre.