Elinor Ames was a charter member of the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University from 1965 until her retirement in 1997.

Elinor Ames was born October 1, 1931. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree at Tufts University in 1953 and a Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1960. Her research and teaching interests included developmental psychology, social psychology, personality and perception.

Ronald “Ron” James Baker was the first faculty member hired by President Patrick McTaggart-Cowan for the new Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 1964. Baker served as the university's Director of Academic Planning and as the first head of the English Department. He remained at SFU until 1969, when he was appointed to be the first president of the new University of Prince Edward Island.

Baker was born in London, England, on August 24, 1924, to James “Jim” Herbert Walter and Ethel Frances Baker (nee Miller). He served with the Royal Air Force (1943-1947), during which time he trained in Manitoba. After the war, in 1947, he immigrated to Canada.

Baker married Helen “Jo” Gillespie Elder [ca. 1947]; they would have 5 children (Sharon Ann, Lynn Frances, Ian James, Sarah Jane, and Katherine Jean). In 1975, he married Frances Marilyn Frazer (1932-2010), with whom he had one son, Ralph Edward “Ted.”

Baker graduated from the University of British Columbia (UBC) with a Bachelor of Arts in 1951 and a Master of Arts in 1953, both in English. He went on to do graduate work in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London (1954-1956). Baker had lectured in English during his undergraduate degree at UBC, and returned to the University to become an associate professor in 1962. While at UBC, Baker was involved in the production of John B. Macdonald’s report, Higher Education in British Columbia and a Plan for the Future (1962), which led directly to the development of a second university (SFU) in the Lower Mainland.

In 1964, Baker became the first faculty member hired by President Patrick McTaggart-Cowan for the newly created SFU. Baker served as the University's Director of Academic Planning and as the first head of the English Department. He remained at SFU until 1969, when he was appointed to be the first president of the new University of Prince Edward Island (1969-1978). He continued to teach there as a professor until 1991, when he retired.

Baker served on numerous councils and committees throughout his career, including the Canadian Association of University Teachers (1954-1969), the Royal Society of Arts (Fellow, 1971-1990), the Royal Commonwealth Society (1964-1966), the National Defence Strategic Studies Committee (Chairman, 1986-1998), the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO) (Volunteer Advisor to First Nations Groups, 1988-2004), and the Canadian Citizen Court (Presiding Officer, 1996-2004).

Baker was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (1978), and received numerous awards and honours, including the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal (1977), a Canada 125 Medal (1992), and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002). He also received honourary law degrees from the University of New Brunswick (1970), Mount Allison University (1977), University of Prince Edward Island (1989), and Simon Fraser University (1990).

W.A.C. (William Andrew Cecil) Bennett (1900-1979), also known as Cecil or Cece, was a businessman and politician. He was the Premier of British Columbia from 1952-1972.

The youngest of five children, Bennett was born on September 6, 1900 in Hastings, Albert County, New Brunswick to parents Andrew Havelock Bennett and Emma Burns Bennett. He was raised Presbyterian, and maintained a strong affiliation with the church throughout his life.

In 1901, the family moved to Hampton, New Brunswick, where Bennett received his early education. In 1915, the family moved to Saint John, where Bennett attended high school. While in school, Bennett worked part time for Robertson, Foster, and Smith’s, a local hardware firm. In grade 9, Bennett left school to work full time at the hardware store, working in most of the store’s departments.

At the age of 18, Bennett moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he worked for Marshall Wells, a large wholesale hardware firm (1919). He was quickly promoted up the ranks, eventually becoming assistant sales manager.

While in Edmonton, Bennett took correspondence courses in such subjects as accounting, business management, business law, economics, and commerce.

On February 19, 1927, Bennett, in partnership with Joe Renaud, purchased a hardware and furniture store in Westlock, Alberta. In 1928, they opened a second store in nearby Clyde, Alberta.

On July 11, 1927, Bennett married Annie “May” Elizabeth May Richards. Bennett and May had three children, Mary “Anita” (1928), Russell “R.J.” James (1929), and William “Bill” Richards (1932).

Bennett sold his share of the Westlock and Clyde stores to Renaud in 1930 and moved his family to Kelowna, British Columbia, where he bought Leckie Hardware. On January 15, 1932, he opened McEwan & Bennett Hardware in Vernon, BC. That same year, he also helped established Domestic Wine By-Products Ltd., now known as Calona Vineyards, with partners Pasquale Capozzi and Giuseppe Ghezzi.

Bennett was elected President of the Kelowna Board of Trade in 1937, and served until 1939. In 1937, he also ran, unsuccessfully, for nomination as South Okanagan candidate for the provincial Conservative Party. In 1941 he ran again, and was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for South Okanagan on October 21. Bennett was also a member of the Post-War Rehabilitation Council (1942-1946).

Bennett was active in local charities, including fundraising efforts for the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Home Front Appeal and as President of the Kelowna branch of the Red Cross Society.

In 1946, Bennett ran for leadership of the provincial Conservative Party, but was defeated by Herbert Anscomb. Bennett maintained his seat in South Okanagan until May 13, 1948, when he resigned to run as a federal Conservative candidate in the riding of Yale. He was defeated in the May 31 federal election, but was re-elected MLA for South Okanagan the following month. In 1950 he ran again for leadership of the provincial Conservative Party, but was defeated again by Anscomb.

During this time, Bennett was involved in two additional political endeavours: trying to create a Coalition Party in BC, and also attempting to reform the election system with the Transferable Voting system, in which voters could rank candidates into their first, second, third, and fourth choices.

On March 14, 1951, Bennett crossed the floor of the House to become an Independent Member. Later that year, he joined BC’s Social Credit League. He was re-elected in his riding as a Social Credit MLA on June 12, 1952, an election in which the Social Credit League of BC won a minority government. Bennett was then elected leader of the Social Credit League on July 15, and sworn in as Premier of British Columbia on August 1. This provincial election featured the Transferable Voting system which Bennett had championed. Later that year, Bennett was also made Freeman of the City of Kelowna (December 9, 1952).

On June 9, 1953, the Social Credit government was re-elected with a majority. The following year, Bennett was made Minister of Finance in conjunction with his position as Premier. In 1956, the Social Credit government was re-elected, and in 1959, Bennett and the government announced that British Columbia was free of debt.

The Social Credit government stayed in power, with Bennett at its helm, until 1972. Bennett’s government oversaw numerous infrastructure projects including road and bridge development and the expansion of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (now British Columbia Railway Company), 1956-1958; establishment of what would become Canada’s largest ferry fleet, the British Columbia Toll Authority Ferry System (now BC Ferries), 1958; formation of B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, 1962; creation of the Bank of British Columbia, 1966 (later acquired by the Hong Kong Bank of Canada); and construction of two large-scale hydroelectric dams on the Peace and Columbia Rivers (W.A.C. Bennett and Duncan dams), 1967.

Bennett also oversaw the development of post-secondary education institutions in BC, including the establishment of British Columbia Institute of Technology (1962), University of Victoria (1963), and Simon Fraser University (1965). He was awarded an honourary Doctorate of Laws at the opening ceremonies of Simon Fraser University on September 9, 1965. SFU also named its library after Bennett in 1982.

On September 15, 1972, the Social Credit government was defeated by Dave Barrett’s provincial New Democratic Party. Bennett, who had been the longest-serving premier in BC history, was re-elected in his riding, and became the leader of the Opposition. On June 5, 1973, he resigned as South Okanagan’s MLA; his son, William “Bill” R. Bennett, won the riding in a by-election on September 7. Bennett retired as leader of the Social Credit party on November 15, and Bill was elected leader of the party on November 24. In 1975, the Social Credit party was re-elected with a majority, making Bill Bennett premier.

In 1976, W.A.C. Bennett was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He died in Kelowna on February 23, 1979.

Thomas Brose came to SFU as a charter faculty member in the Political Science, Sociology and Anthropolgy Department in l965. He remained in the Department until 1970 when he left the University. During that period, Brose served on a committee to discuss the role and organization of Joint Faculty at SFU. He also served as the temporary acting chairman of the Committee on Food.

Robert Dunham (1939-1990) was a professor of English at Simon Fraser University. His specialty was the literature of the Romantic Period. A graduate of Stanford University, Dunham joined SFU in 1966. He was a gifted teacher who won the University's excellence in teaching award in 1986 as well as the 3M Fellowship in 1988, a national award which recognized excellence in teaching and educational leadership.

David J. Mitchell is an author, historian, public policy analyst, former Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and Vice President, Chief Development Officer of Simon Fraser University. He is the author of W.A.C. Bennett and the Rise of British Columbia.

Born in Montreal in 1954, David J. Mitchell completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science at Simon Fraser University in 1975 and a Master of Arts degree in Canadian History, also at Simon Fraser University, in 1976. In addition, he has completed the Parliamentary Internship Program with the British Columbia Legislature in 1978, and attended the Banff School of Advanced Management in 1988. As of 1999, he is a Doctoral candidate in the Department of History at Simon Fraser University.

David Mitchell's diverse career path has included senior positions in both the public and private sectors. He has served as Deputy Clerk of the Saskatchewan Legislature, and as an Archivist and Editor at the Provincial Archives of British Columbia. In addition, he has held executive positions within the BC resource industries. From 1991 to 1996, David Mitchell served as an independent Member of the Legislative Assembly for West Vancouver – Garibaldi.

David Mitchell is an award-winning writer whose books are well known to British Columbians. He is the author of W.A.C. Bennett and the Rise of British Columbia (1983), considered by many to be the definitive text on W.A.C. Bennett. Bennett, the former premier of British Columbia whose Social Credit government held power between the years of 1952 and 1972, granted Mitchell a number of exclusive interviews between 1976 and 1979, forming the foundation for the subsequent book. David Mitchell is also the author of All Aboard! The Canadian Rockies by Train (1996) and Succession: The Political Reshaping of British Columbia (1987). He has also contributed various articles on public affairs and business to a number of journals, publications and newspapers including the Financial Post, The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, and Business in Vancouver. In addition, he serves as a frequent commentator on television and radio and has hosted a number of radio and television programs.

Gerry Scott received a Master's degree from SFU in 1991 for his thesis entitled Beyond Equality: British Columbia New Democrats and Native Peoples, 1961-1979. In the preface to his thesis, Scott writes, "My interest in the evolution of the political relationships between British Columbia New Democrats and the aboriginal peoples of the province was first aroused in 1974. At that time I was working as a researcher for the government caucus and I undertook preparation of background papers on aboriginal land claims for the consideration of caucus members. In the 1970s and 1980s I continued to be involved in many of the issues under examination in this thesis through my work as Executive Assistant to Skeena MP Jim Fulton and as Provincial Secretary of the NDP during the years of Bob Skelly's leadership."

Thelma Finlayson is a distinguished entomologist who served as a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University from 1967 until her retirement in 1979. Her research interests have centered on the classification of immature stages of insect parasites of forest and agricultural pests. Since 1979 she has been Professor Emerita and continues to be actively involved with the university, contributing time, counsel and private funds. The university established the Thelma Finlayson Society in 1989 in honour of her many contributions to SFU.

Peter Martinus Buitenhuis (1925-2004), English professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University (SFU), was a prolific scholarly writer and literary critic. His academic career—which included teaching positions at Yale University, University of Toronto, McGill University, and University of California at Berkeley—saw the production of numerous books, articles, and reviews, including works on Henry James, E.J. Pratt, and Hugh MacLennan. Buitenhuis also conducted research and wrote on various topics pertaining to propaganda and World Wars I and II.

Of Dutch ancestry, Buitenhuis was born in Ilford Essex, England on December 8, 1925. He married three times and had seven children. With his first wife, Patricia (nee White), he had three children, Paul, Penelope, and Pym; with his second wife, Elspeth Fisher (nee Cameron), he had two children, Beatrix and Hugo; and with his third wife, Ann Cowan (nee Stephenson), he had two children, Juliana and Adrian.

In December 1943, Buitenhuis left his job as a bank clerk and enlisted in the Royal Navy. From 1943-1946, he was commissioned to several different ships, including the H.M.S. Beehive, where he served as a Navigating Officer in Coastal Forces, conducting anti-submarine and minesweeping duties in the English Channel and North Sea (1944-1945). After his time on the Beehive, Buitenhuis spent a short period in the Admiralty. In 1946, he was appointed as a navigational officer on H.M.S. Starling, where he served until his release from the Navy later that year. Buitenhuis received the 1939-45 Star, the France and Germany Star, and the Victory Medal.

Buitenhuis left the Navy to attend Jesus College at Oxford University on a veteran’s grant (1946). There he earned a BA and an MA in English language and literature. In Buitenhuis’s last year of studies, a professor from the University of Oklahoma (U of O) recruited him to teach English, thus enticing Buitenhuis to immigrate to the United States.

Buitenhuis taught at the U of O until 1951, at which time he left his position in response to an investigation by an Oklahoma legislature committee. The committee was putting pressure on the university’s employees to sign a loyalty oath to the constitution of the United States and to the constitution of Oklahoma State. Buitenhuis, neither interested in staying in Oklahoma nor signing the oath, went on to Yale University to pursue a PhD in American Studies, where he wrote his thesis on Henry James. After completing his degree, Buitenhuis stayed on at Yale’s American Studies Department to teach (1955-1959).

In 1959, Buitenhuis left Yale and immigrated to Canada, after receiving an invitation from Northrop Frye—then the chairman of the English Department at Victoria College in the University of Toronto—to teach at the College. He became a Canadian citizen c.1960, while still retaining his British citizenship.

While at Victoria College, in 1963, Buitenhuis joined with fellow Americanists from other Canadian universities to form the first American Studies association in Canada, the Canadian Association of American Studies.

Buitenhuis worked at the College as an associate professor until 1966, when he took a year to teach at the University of California (Berkley) as a visiting professor. In 1967, Buitenhuis returned to Canada to take a position at McGill University in Montreal. After several years at McGill, in 1975, Buitenhuis accepted the position of Chairman of the Department of English at Simon Fraser University (1975-1981) and moved to Vancouver.

Buitenhuis remained at SFU until his retirement in 1992. In that time, he not only taught in the Department of English, but was also the Associate Director in SFU’s Centre for Canadian Studies (1987-1988). He continued to teach literature well after his retirement through SFU’s Continuing Studies Department, and was still teaching until shortly before his death. Buitenhuis passed away on November 28, 2004.

Buitenhuis remained an active scholar, book reviewer, and writer throughout his life. Included in his many literature reviews and scholarly articles are several books, including E.J. Pratt and His Works; Five American Moderns: Mary McCarthy, Stephen Crane, J.D. Salinger, Eugene O’Neill, and H.L. Mencken; The Grasping Imagination: The American Writings of Henry James; The Great War of Words: British, American, and Canadian Propaganda and Fiction, 1914-1933; and The House of Seven Gables: Severing Family and Colonial Ties. Buitenhuis also completed a manuscript just weeks before his death titled, Empires of the Mind: British Authors' Roles in World War II.

Buitenhuis’s literary and academic career brought him into contact with many well-known authors, including Margaret Atwood, Northrop Frye, Timothy Findley, Thomas Wolfe, and Scott Symons.

Hugh Johnston is professor emeritus of history at Simon Fraser University, where he taught for 37 years. His book Radical Campus: Making Simon Fraser University was published to coincide with the university's 40th anniversary (2005). He joined SFU as a faculty member in 1968 and witnessed firsthand SFU's tumultuous beginnings. At various times in his career, Johnston led the History Department as chair.

Johnston grew up in south-western Ontario. He received a B.A. from the University of Toronto and attended the Ontario College of Education. Johnston went on to receive an M.A. from the University of Western Ontario and his PhD. from King's College at the University of London.

His teaching and research interests have centered on British and South Asian migration and settlement, eighteenth century exploration of the Pacific Northwest, the history of British Columbia, and higher education in Canada. Johnston is well known as an expert in Sikhism, Sikhs in Canada, and India-China relations. From 1992 to 2001 he also served on the board of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, a bi-national organization promoting scholarly exchange, and in 1995–1996 he was resident director of the institute's office in Delhi. In 2001 he was the institute's president.

During his career, Johnston wrote numerous scholarly articles and books. In 1995, with Tara Singh Bains he co-wrote The Four Quarters of the Night: The Life Journey of an Emmigrant Sikh. Other books include The Voyage of the Komagata Maru: The Sikh Challenge to Canada's Colour Bar; British Immigration Policy, 1815-1830: "Shovelling out Paupers"; and the History of Perth County to 1967 (co-authored with W. Stafford Johnston).

Lolita Wilson came to Simon Fraser University in August 1965 as Dean of Women and Associate Professor of Psychology. She subsequently served in a number of positions at the University including Acting Registrar, Dean of Student Affairs, and Assistant to the Vice-President, Academic. She retired from SFU in 1978.

Iris Lillian Garland (1935-2002) taught dance from the University’s inception to her retirement as Professor Emeritus from the School for the Contemporary Arts (SCA) in 2000. As a charter member of SFU, Garland established and was involved in the growth of the contemporary dance program, which began as components of the Recreational Program in the Faculty of Education, and ultimately grew to become an academic degree program in the SCA.

Garland was born on June 23, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a BS in 1957 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she majored in physical education and graduated in the top three percent of her class. She went on to earn her MSc in 1960 at the University of California at Los Angeles. Garland spent the next five years as an instructor in physical education at the University of North Dakota and then the University of Washington, before joining SFU as an instructor in the Physical Development Centre of the Faculty of Education in September 1965. It was at SFU that Garland also met her husband, James Warren Felter, who served as the first Curator/Director of the Simon Fraser Gallery.

Early on, Garland was an outspoken supporter of the creation of an academic unit offering credit courses and programs in the fine and performing arts at SFU. Meanwhile, she grew the contemporary dance program from its humble beginnings within the Faculty of Education into workshops and intensives offered through Kinesiology and a fledgling Centre for Communications and the Arts, bolstered by guest performers and artists in residence as instructors. With the establishment of the Centre for the Arts in 1975, dance was ultimately elevated from non-credit workshops to credit courses alongside those in film, music, theatre, visual arts, and art history. Garland’s continued efforts helped to establish an academic dance minor program in 1976, and a dance major program by 1980. After the Centre became the School for the Contemporary Arts in 1989, dance became an academic BFA degree program and part of an interdisciplinary MFA offered by the SCA.

Throughout her career, Garland continued her dance education, pursuing studies in modern, dance notation, and a voice intensive in theatre. She also studied ballet under Mary Ann Wells in Seattle and Mara McBirney in Vancouver. In 1983, at the University of Washington, she became a Certified Movement Analyst, a program incorporating Laban Movement Analysis, which Garland went on to feature in her teaching. A significant contribution to her teaching was the creation of the unique telelearning course, “Dancing in Cyberspace: Creating with the Virtual Body,” which she co-developed in the 1990s with Lisa Marie Naugle, a PhD student from New York University. The course was offered through SFU's Centre for Distance Education and utilized Life Forms, a software program developed by Dr. Thomas W. Calvert in the SFU Computing Science Department. Life Forms allowed for the study and choreography of animated human figures in dance and movement. The course was popular with distant education SFU students, as well as national and international learners. In 1998, Garland was invited to present “New Technologies for Choreographers: Life Forms Workshop and Seminar” to professional choreographers in Sydney, Australia.

Garland was popular with her superiors, colleagues, and students alike, and commended often for her hard work and dedication not only to the University, but also to the dance community as a whole both locally and nationally. In 1991, she was awarded SFU Teacher of the Year. In addition to her teaching, Garland served on multiple departmental and university committees throughout her SFU career. Within the dance community, Garland participated as an independent choreographer and performer at various dance festivals and concerts, first in the 1970s through the Burnaby Mountain Dance Company, which was originally formed with SFU dancers in 1973. She later showcased her work through the Off-Centre Dance Company, which began in 1985 under the direction of various SFU dance faculty and later absorbed into the SFU dance program to provide advanced students an opportunity to be part of an ensemble and perform publicly. From the late 1980s into the 1990s, Garland featured her work at Vancouver’s Dancing on the Edge Festival of Contemporary Dance, an event which continues today. At the national level, Garland was heavily involved with the Dance in Canada Association as a member of the board in the 1970s and as a conference organizer into the 1980s. Her dedication to the Association earned her an Outstanding Service Award in 1985.

In addition to her main research interests in early modern dance history, dance and technology, and dance analysis and choreography, Garland developed an interest in Spanish dancer Tórtola Valencia (1882-1955). She began researching the life of this early modern dancer in earnest, travelling to Spain to conduct further study, and presenting several conference papers on the topic in the 1990s. Garland had begun writing a biography of Tórtola Valencia when she was diagnosed with cancer in early 2002. She passed away in North Vancouver, BC, on October 29, 2002.

The SFU Women's Centre was established in 1974 and continues as of this writing (2009) as an active organization. Funded by the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) as a constituency group, the Women's Centre provides programming, space and volunteer opportunities to self-identified women on campus, and resource information and peer support to women and men.

The Women's Centre began in 1974 when a group of women students revived the SFU Women's Caucus (originally established in 1968) and obtained SFSS club status. It opened the Women's Centre that year in a small room in the Rotunda. In 1980 the Centre moved to the Academic Quadrangle, then in 1996 back to the Rotunda (TC3013), doubling its physical space to approximately 1400 square feet.

The Centre's organizational structure has evolved over time. The Women's Centre Steering Committee developed out of the Women's Caucus, but by 1977 it had merged with the Women's Centre Collective. The Collective consists of women students who volunteer a set number of hours per week to staff the Centre and remains the decision-making body of the Centre. In 1979-80, the Women's Centre Board was created to formulate policy, promote the Centre, liaise with the university community, locate funding sources, and work closely with the Collective, which continued to be responsible for day-to-day operations and activities. The Board included representatives from SFSS, the Women's Centre Collective, the Women's Studies Department, the Women's Studies Student Union, and female administrative and clerical university staff. By the mid-1980s the Board was meeting irregularly; it was discontinued in 1990, its functions transferred to a newly created part-time paid position of Coordinator, funded by and reporting to the SFSS.

The Women's Centre provides a number of services, including a women-only lounge open 24 hours a day, a resource office, peer support, library, kitchen facilities, study carrels, couches and a quiet play area for children in the lounge. Men can access the Centre's library materials, peer support, and referral information.

Since its establishment, the Centre has undertaken numerous activities and projects. In cooperation with other campus groups, the Centre promoted the creation of a Women's Studies Department, the institution of a university harassment policy and office, the improvement of campus childcare facilities, and the organization of International Women's Day events, December 6 vigils, and women's self-defense classes.

The Association of University and College Employees, Local #2 (AUCE #2) was formed at Simon Fraser University in 1974. On November 19, 1974 an election was held at SFU to determine if non-academic staff wanted a union, and if so, which union they wanted to represent them (the Simon Fraser University Staff Association or the Association of University and College Employees). Staff voted to have AUCE as their representative. Although part of a larger Provincial organization, AUCE #2 (like all AUCE locals) was established as an independent union to specifically represent the interests of non-academic staff at SFU. It was a completely autonomous unit determining its own structures, negotiating its own contracts and having complete control of its own finances, while at the same time having access to province-wide support from other AUCE locals (although each local had the right to refuse support).

Because non-academic (and non-professional) staffs were mostly women, AUCE addressed itself to problems that were particularly oppressive to women workers. In this regard, one of AUCE # 2's main objectives (along with other AUCE locals) was to bring about fair wage standards and to assure uniform job classification with equal pay for comparable work for all employees, regardless of sex, age, marital status, colour, race, religion or national origin. In addition, AUCE also sought improvement in the working conditions of its members and dedicated its efforts toward maximizing the opportunities for personal growth in the work situation.

AUCE #2 continued to represent SFU staff until 1989 when its membership voted to enter into a two-year service contract with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). This agreement allowed AUCE to continue as a local union in accordance with its own constitution and bylaws, but to have full access to all services and departments of CUPE. At the end of the contract, a vote was held to determine if AUCE #2 would join CUPE. On December 12, 1991 the motion was passed that effective December 31, 1991, AUCE #2 would withdraw as the representative of non-academic and non-professional staff, in favour of CUPE Local #3338.

The Simon Fraser University Faculty Association was incorporated under the British Columbia Societies Act on June 24, 1969, although it had been active on campus since the university opened in 1965. The Association is concerned with the economic benefits available to faculty including salary and fringe benefits; grievances; conditions of employment; procedural matters with respect to promotion, granting of tenure, dismissal and disciplinary actions; and other related areas. The Faculty Association also concerns itself with asserting the integrity of the academic profession, defending independence of thought, and encouraging the social and recreational association of its members.

On the Provincial level, the Association is a charter member of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFABC) and is a member of the governing council. Nationally, the Simon Fraser University Faculty Association is a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT).

An Executive Council elected by the membership administers the Faculty Association. The Executive consists of the President, Vice President, and Directors. In 1969, there were six Directors, which increased to eight by 1998. See Appendix A8 for a list of Executive Committee members from 1965 to 1988. Over the years various standing and ad hoc committees have assisted the Executive Council. The most recent constitution (1998) provides for an Economic Benefits Committee and a Pension Committee.

Currently, the Faculty Association continues to advocate on behalf of its members, and acts as their representative in the faculty's relationship with the university.

West Coast Review was a magazine of the arts published by the West Coast Review Society with the support of SFU. Established in 1966 by Fred Candelaria, a professor of English, the magazine published music, drama, fiction, poetry, photography, drawings and etchings as well as articles as reviews. The magazine had a policy of promoting new Canadian talent. In addition to financial assistance from the University, the journal received funding at various times from private and governmental agencies, the Simon Fraser Student Society, advertising, and subscriptions.

West Coast Review was initially published three times a year until 1969 when it became a quarterly journal. It periodically devoted special issues to a particular genre or theme such as West Coast Photographers.

In 1990, West Coast Review was succeeded by West Coast Line.

The John Howard Society of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia (JHSLM) takes its name and its spirit from the 18th century English prison reformer who observed unjust social conditions in prisons, both as a prisoner of war during the Seven Years War, and as High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, a post which included the task of inspecting local prisons. The suffering that John Howard endured and witnessed led him to become a lifelong advocate for criminal and social justice reform. Throughout his life he demonstrated a firm belief that every citizen must ultimately accept his or her individual responsibility for the criminal justice system.

The society began as the John Howard Society of British Columbia, established in Vancouver in 1931. It was the first John Howard Society in Canada. The objects of the Society as outlined in its Constitution (1932) were to seek to remove conditions which lead persons into crime; to befriend the first offender; to work for the wise and just treatment of those confirmed to penal institutions; to guide and help the mothers, wives and children of men in prison; to help discharged and paroled men and women to re-establish themselves; and to work for wise and just legislation with reference to court procedures and penal administration.

The Society has grown so that in 2020 there are over 60 John Howard Societies across Canada with a national office in Ottawa.

Throughout its history, the professional staff of the Society have been responsible for visiting regularly or being on-call to various correctional facilities throughout British Columbia. These include prisons, forest camps, community correctional centres and half-way houses. Staff offer counseling, advocacy, pre-release planning, educational guidance and develop self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and the Seventh Step Society. Staff also assist clients in the courts offering pre-sentence intervention, alternatives to incarceration, and counseling. In addition, family members are supported by the Society in acquiring life skills and attending community development programs.

Today, the JHSLM has expanded its services to assist people with complex needs achieve greater independence and value their positive contributions to society. While the JHSLM continues to advocate for and support people impacted by the criminal justice system, the organization has developed an expertise in assisting people facing multiple barriers, including those who may be experiencing homelessness, unemployment, problematic substance abuse, mental health challenges, developmental disabilities, or spectrum disorders. This is done through a range of programs that provide assistance with housing, life-skills, education, employment, and community-based services, with the goal of creating a safe, healthy and inclusive community for all.

The Society is also involved in parole, probation, bail supervision and community assessments, lessening the demands on existing facilities. In the area of education, the Society provides speakers for service clubs, churches and community groups desiring information about the criminal justice system and for furthering the cause of penal reform. In the area of advocacy, the Society's staff has been involved in preparing briefs and papers and corresponding with Government officials and others in an attempt to monitor the criminal justice system and encourage alternatives.

Organizationally, the John Howard Society of BC and the Vancouver Office of the JHS operated under the same roof and had the same executive director until 1983 when the provincial office was removed to Victoria, physically separated from any local branch office. At that time the JHS of BC and the JHS of Vancouver Island were amalgamated. The Vancouver office became the John Howard Society of the Lower Mainland of BC. There are currently seven regional John Howard Society’s in BC, and one provincial organization which now operates in the same office as the JHSLM.

The Simon Fraser University Staff Association was established in 1966 by staff on campus who felt that conditions and salaries at the university were in need of improvement. An association, rather than a union, was formed as staff felt that freedom of action within the university was preferable at the time. By 1968 the Staff Association was an officially recognized body of the university, and was registered under the Societies Act. The aims of the Staff Association, as given in its 1968 constitution, were to unite staff under a single organization capable of acting on its behalf, to communicate with administration on matters affecting staff, to obtain and improve the best possible conditions of employment, to have representation on university committees, and to encourage the continued education of its members. In 1971, the constitution was changed to read:

The primary object of the Association is to serve the common interests of the non-academic employees of Simon Fraser University who are not members of trade unions in all matters concerning wages, salaries, benefits, and conditions of employment in such manner as to promote the fair treatment of all such employees individually and as compared in general to other persons and groups of persons similarly employed at Simon Fraser University and in other parts of the Greater Vancouver area.

Membership in the Association was voluntary, although all eligible staff were encouraged to join in order to give it stronger support for voicing the opinions and needs of its members.

By 1974, some members of the university staff expressed interest in union representation. A Committee to Investigate Alternatives was formed to explore the possibilities of union representation, although the Staff Association executive did not support this group. Concurrently, a number of unions attempted to organize staff on campus: the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Office and Technical Employees Union, and the Association of University and College Employees all campaigned to represent staff at SFU. In response the Staff Association decided to seek certification through the Labour Relations Board. On November 19, 1974 an election was held to determine if staff at SFU wanted a union, and if so, which union they wanted to represent them (the Staff Association or the Association of University and College Employees). Staff voted to have AUCE as their representative, and, as a result, the Staff Association began winding up its affairs. By December 1974 it had moved out of its offices, gave their surplus equipment and stationary to AUCE, and turned their records over to the university archives.

The British Columbia Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers came into being in 1958. In 1968 this Division became the Western Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers (WDCAG) and they included members of the parent body from Alberta and the Western States. The purposes of the organization are the promotion of geographical study, teaching and research. The Division holds annual meetings and publishes a newsletter and occasional papers.

The Simon Fraser University Society (SFUSS) was established on October 5, 1965. "University" was later dropped and it is now known as the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS). The SFSS still maintains its original constitutional objectives: "to promote, direct, administer, coordinate all student activities of, by and for the students of Simon Fraser University, and to promote cooperation amongst the students of Simon Fraser University and cooperation between the members of the Society and students within the Province and elsewhere." Its mandate has come to include advocating for students rights and providing services to graduate and undergraduate members. These include advocacy services, such as Legal Aid and Women's Centre, and retail services, such as Quad Books, the Print Shop and the Pub.

In its first year, the Society organized social events, co-sponsored Vietnam teach-ins, started a co-op bookstore, and protested against the poor quality food offered on campus. In the 1970s, the Society organized against tuition fee increases, lobbied for improved on-campus housing, started a women's centre, and opened a student-run pub. The 1980s saw the development of plans for a student union building and a continuation in the struggle for affordable education. In the 1990s the Society has constructed the Maggie Benston Centre, expanded its services and continues to advocate on behalf of students for accessible, affordable education.

The Executive Council originally consisted of 14 elected officers: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Ombudsman, Clubs Director, Public Relations Officer, Arts, Science and Education Presidents, Athletics Coordinator, Social Convenor, Cultural Director, and Housing coordinator. This remained until 1977 when changes to constitutional by laws established five at large positions: President, Treasurer, External and Internal Relations Officers, Secretary, and Public Relations Officer and the Ombuds Office. Currently, six elected Executive officers and 36 Student Union representatives elected by students from each academic department sit on the Forum, the student representative body responsible for all major Student Society decisions. The Departmental Student Unions and Standing Committees supply information and recommendations to the Forum. Student Society Standing Committees deal with every aspect of the Society's operations.

The TeleLearning Network of Centres of Excellence (TL-NCE) was established in 1995 when the federal government's Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program awarded a grant to create a network of researchers from Canadian universities, focusing on the development and application of networked technologies in education and training. TeleLearning established a management office to administer its affairs, and on April 7 1997 the office incorporated under the Corporations Act as TeleLearning Network Inc. (TN Inc.), a not-for-profit corporation. Ostensibly two separate bodies, each with its own Board of Directors, in practice TL-NCE and TN Inc. were not distinct: Board members were identical for both and the same Board session dealt with the affairs of both. TL-NCE was the "research face" and TN Inc. the "legal-administrative face" of the same organization. TeleLearning's renewal application in 2001 for a second round of NCE funding was unsuccessful. The decision was made to close out the Network, and on September 30, 2002 the corporation was officially dissolved.

TeleLearning's mandate was to research, develop and demonstrate effective knowledge-building pedagogies, implemented through telelearning; to support the development of a knowledge economy and learning society in Canada; and to transfer the resulting knowledge into Canadian organizations, institutions of learning and Canadian companies for worldwide exploitation. Its main functions were to organize further research and distribute funding to individual projects through seven distinct research themes; publicize research results through publications, reports, and conferences; promote cooperation among private, public and university sectors; and encourage the development of commercial applications and technologies through the formation of spin-off companies.

TeleLearning was primarily funded by the federal government through the NCE programs of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and Industry Canada. Additional funding was obtained through TeleLearning membership fees from participating public and private-sector organizations, including international affiliates. The chief officers of the Network were the Network Leader, Network Co-Leader, and the Executive Director. The Board of Directors was responsible for the overall management and direction of the Network, with certain powers delegated to an appointed Executive Committee. Other committees advised the Board, including the Program Committee and the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Committee. Relations between the Network and member organizations was regulated by the Network Internal Agreement.

TeleLearning's management office operated out of Simon Fraser University, which served as the Network's host institution. The main functions of the management office were disbursement of funds, NCE reporting, communications, member liaison, assistance with funding proposals, and conference organization. As host institution, SFU provided TeleLearning with office space, facilities, and some administrative services (e.g. payroll and finances).

The TeleLearning Network was originally built around four "beacon technologies": Collaboration Architecture and Design Resources for Telelearning (CadreTel), Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environment (CSILE), Teleform, and Virtual-University (Virtual-U). Over 240 public- and private-sector organizations participated in its projects, including over 130 faculty from 30 Canadian universities. The Network supported the growth of the online learning industry with the development of more than 45 software prototypes. Its spin-off companies included TELEStraining Inc., ClearMed Medical Knowledge Inc., Math Resources Inc., Nomino Inc., InVentures Incubator Inc., Cogigraph, the Portal for Online Objects in Learning (POOL), and TeleLearning Solutions Inc.

Hari Prakash Sharma (1934-2010) was a sociologist and Marxist scholar who came from the United States, politicized by the anti-war movement and inspired by the politically charged atmosphere at Simon Fraser University in 1968. He joined the Department of Political Science, Sociology, and Anthropology in that year and taught until his retirement in 1999 when he was honoured by the university as Professor Emeritus.

He was born on November 9, 1934 (although some records indicate January 10, 1934 as his date of birth) at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, India, the second of eight children born to Kundun Lal Sharma and Moharli Devi Sharma. His father was a railway stationmaster, and the family moved frequently.

Sharma earned his BA from Agra University in 1954. After a five-year stint as Lower Division Clerk and Typist for the Government of India in the Central Excise and Customs Department, he earned an MA in Social Work from Delhi University in 1960. He then accepted a post as Lecturer at the Delhi School of Social Work, where he remained for three years. In 1963, Sharma moved to the US to further his education. He received an MS in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University in 1964 and a PhD in Rural Sociology from Cornell University in 1968. He taught briefly at the University of California, Los Angeles before accepting a position at SFU.

As a faculty member of SFU, Sharma became a champion of the academic rights of colleagues who faced the threat of dismissal for their support of student-led movements to democratize the university. Notably, he supported fellow colleague and friend Kathleen Gough, a British anthropologist with Marxist leanings who was suspended for her political activities. Gough and Sharma co-edited "Imperialism and Revolution in South Asia," which was published in the Monthly Review, an independent socialist journal, in 1974.

His research areas of special interest included political economy and agrarian social structures, particularly in India; social movements, political mobilization, ethnic and cultural identities; race and class; and nation-building among the aboriginal people of British Columbia. He wrote extensively on those topics and provided guest lectures at over 50 universities and scholarly institutions in Asia, Europe, and North America.

In the spring of 1967, the Naxalbari peasant uprising inspired him to travel to India and several other Asian countries. Upon his return, he became committed to political activism from an anti-imperialist perspective. During 1971-72, Sharma was a founding member of and contributor to the Georgia Straight Collective, which produced a publication for radical and alternative views. In 1973, he went to Amnesty International in London and the Commission of Jurists in Geneva and made a written representation to the UN Human Rights Commission in an effort to publicize the condition of more than 30,000 political prisoners in Indian jails. In 1974, Sharma and his comrade Gautam Appa of the London School of Economics organized a petition of international scholars to protest the treatment of political prisoners in India, which he handed to the Indian Consulate in Vancouver, BC on August 15 of the same year.

On a return trip from India in early 1975, Hari Sharma began to travel across North American campuses giving talks and mobilizing people toward the formation of a patriotic organization of Indians living in North America. This effort contributed to the founding of the Indian People's Association in North America (IPANA) on June 25, 1975, the same day on which Indira Gandhi declared a State of Emergency in India. The opposition to what was identified as a "fascist dictatorship" became the urgent task of IPANA along with the defense of the thousands of political prisoners.

IPANA established chapters in several North American cities, with its most active chapters in Montréal, Vancouver, New York, Toronto, and Boston. It had links with patriotic organizations in San Francisco, Chicago, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. In their effort to oppose imperialism and to promote democratic rights and social justice in India, IPANA produced three publications: the quarterly New India Bulletin, which came out of Montréal from 1975; India Now, a monthly that was produced in New York from 1976; and Wangar, a Punjabi paper that was produced from Vancouver every two months from 1977. In addition to its publications, IPANA held numerous public meetings, demonstrations, lectures, films, and cultural programs to highlight the systemic oppression of dalits, peasants, and workers that mocked any concept of democracy and freedom put forth by the existing Government of India. One of IPANA’s first public interventions in North America was to sponsor a speaking tour by Mary Tyler, a British writer who had been held in an Indian prison for several years without any formal charge for alleged revolutionary activities in Bihar.

Under Sharma's leadership, IPANA also supported the struggles of minorities and workers in BC. He was a primary force in the founding of the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism (BCOFR). Through the 1980s, IPANA and BCOFR engaged thousands of people from several communities. Both Sharma and IPANA also helped form the Canadian Farmworkers Union in 1980.

In the 1980s, Sharma focused much of his research and writing on the condition of minorities in India, which came to a crisis with the attack on the Golden Temple and the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984 following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. He defended the human rights of Sikhs and of Muslims who became the primary targets of the Hindutva movements advocating Hindu nationalism. In 1987, Sharma organized a parallel conference on the centralization of state power and the threat to minorities in India to coincide with the Commonwealth Conference in Vancouver.

In 1989, Sharma united groups of the South Asian community to form the Komagata Maru Historical Society. The event commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Komagata Maru incident in which Indian immigrants traveling to Canada on a chartered ship were turned away from the shores of Vancouver by racist policies of the government. The society united the community, and as a result of its activities, the government installed a commemorative plaque in Vancouver in 1989. In 2004, during a screening of the film Continuous Journey (a documentary on the episode by the Toronto filmmaker Ali Kazimi), Mayor of Vancouver Larry Campbell sent a scroll to Sharma on behalf of the Komagata Historical Society declaring the week to be dedicated to the memory of Komagata Maru.

Following the attack on the Babri Masjid mosque in December 1992, Hari Sharma became the prime mover in the formation of a North American organization dedicated to the defence of minority rights in India, also known as Non-Resident Indians for Secularism and Democracy (NRISAD). This organization united people of Indian origin collectively through educational and cultural activities. One of its significant events in Vancouver included the celebration of the 50th anniversary of India's independence from colonial rule. The event united people across the South Asian community to focus on issues that included the urgency for peace between Pakistan and India. In September 1999, Sharma travelled to Montréal to join the founding of the International South Asia Forum (INSAF), a coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to the promotion of peace and social justice in South Asia. He became its first President and organized the Second Conference in Vancouver in August 2001.

Over time, NRISAD recognized a need to widen the focus of the organization to include the whole of South Asia because its membership in Vancouver comprised people from the entire subcontinent of India and the diaspora in East Africa and other countries. Under Sharma's leadership, NRISAD evolved into the South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD) in 2000. It pursued the same quest as its predecessors for peace and democracy based secularism, human rights, and social justice. Some activities included condemning the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 (for which Sharma was denied a visa to visit India), championing the human rights of Kashmiris, condemning violence against journalists and academics in Bangladesh, supporting the movement for democracy and social justice in Nepal, and defending the human rights of Tamils under the attack of the Sri Lankan state.

Throughout the years, Hari Sharma developed close ties and contacts with various political groups and communities. He worked with the First Nations in the Interior of BC, and as co-chair (along with Dr. Ronald Ignace, the elected Chief of the Skeetchestn Band from 1982 to 2003 and between 2007 and 2009), he helped to promote and to defend the merit of the SFU Kamloops First Nations program (then the SCES/SFU Program). In addition to his regular workload at SFU, Sharma taught courses such as Violence and War, Marxist Theory, and Third World issues on different occasions in Kamloops. Although the 16-year partnership between SFU and the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society of the Shuswap Nation (SCES) was dissolved by mutual agreement in 2004, over 400 students graduated from the program.

In addition to his academic work and political activism, Hari Sharma was an accomplished literary writer and self-taught photographer. He wrote and published short stories in Hindi. Many of his works also were also translated into Bengali, Punjabi, and English. Vapsi, one of his stories, was made into a Doordarshan (Indian public service broadcaster) film. Sharma attributed his interest in photography to a Japanese camera that had been "gifted" to him as a bribe by an importer while pushing files as a government worker. The camera became something that Sharma frequently took with him on trips to India to capture snippets of everyday life. Over the years, his photographs were published in academic journals and art magazines. His works were also publicly displayed in galleries in North America, Europe, and India.

After more than 50 years of political activity, Hari Sharma developed contacts and friendships with many who supported revolutionary movements. He married twice.

After a prolonged battle with cancer, Hari Sharma died in his Burnaby home surrounded by his closest comrades on March 16, 2010.

Evelyn T. and Leigh Hunt Palmer were active members of the Simon Fraser academic community from 1966 until their retirement in 2001. Leigh served as an associate professor of physics while Evelyn was a laboratory instructor in chemistry.

Both Palmers were active in university affairs and in scientific and cultural groups. They sponsored a number of seminars and lectures at SFU including the Albert Einstein Memorial Lecture Series, which they initiated on the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Albert Einstein.

For further details of the Palmers' careers and achievements, see the autobiographical sketch in the Appendix (available only in the Archives reading room).

Dr. Douglas Cole was a Professor of History at Simon Fraser University from 1966 to 1997. His teaching and research interests centred on Canada: specifically, on the history of Canadian art, anthropology, and Indian-White relations. He was an active member of the university community, serving on a number of committees and as president of the Faculty Association from 1986 to 1988.

Douglas Lowell Cole was born in Mason City, Washington on December 9, 1938. In 1960, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.

Cole went on to complete his masters degree at George Washington University in Washington, DC in 1962 and then completed his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1968. Both his post-graduate degree theses focused on topics relevant to Canadian history. His MA thesis, "The United States and Canadian Diplomatic Independence, 1918-1926," and his Ph.D. thesis "John S. Ewart and the Canadian Nation," prepared him to accept a position teaching topics in Canadian history at Simon Fraser University.

During his career, Dr. Cole wrote numerous scholarly articles and books. In 1977, he co-wrote From Desolation to Splendour, a history of the changing perceptions of BC's landscape. Other books include Phillips in Print : The Selected Writing of Walter Phillips on Canadian Nature and Art (co-authored with M. Tippett), Captured Heritage, and An Iron Hand Upon the People (co-authored with Ira Chaikin). He has also contributed to BC Studies, Journal of Canadian Studies, Canadian Review of Nationalism, Canadian Historical Review, and others.

Dr. Cole was also the recipient of a number of awards, citations and honours. He was a finalist for the Harold Adams Innis Prize for best work in English in Social Sciences for An Iron Hand Upon the People. He was also awarded a Regional History Award from the Canadian Historical Association in 1987, the Molson Research Prize in 1986, and the Eaton Award for the best British Columbia book in 1978. Dr. Cole was also granted a University Research Professorship in 1990.

Dr. Cole passed away August 18, 1997.

Gillian Stainsby received her Master's Degree at SFU for her thesis, "It's the Smell of Money": Women Shoreworkers of British Columbia. For further biographical information, see Appendix A3, "Acknowledgements," photocopied from Stainsby's thesis (available in hard-copy finding aid only).

The British Columbia Honey Producers' Association (BCHPA) was founded in 1920 and continues as an active organization. Its functions are to promote beekeeping as a profitable activity, promote and assist in the marketing of produce and purchase of supplies, support apicultural research and education, and disseminate information about beekeeping and best practices to both Association members and the general public. BCHPA membership includes both commercial honey producers and hobbyists.

The BCHPA was formed as a result of a split within the Beekeepers Association of British Columbia, founded four years earlier in 1916. The disagreements related to the outbreak of a bee disease in 1916 and the requirement of registration for all beekeepers under the provincial government's revised Foul Brood Act. When the BCHPA broke away in 1920 it established two Divisions – Fraser Valley and Kootenay; in 1925 the Vancouver Island Beekeepers' Association joined as a third Division. The two provincial associations merged in 1931, with the older organization entering the BCHPA as the Greater Vancouver Division. Membership in the BCHPA peaked in 1978 with 1,290 members and 32 Divisions.

The BCHPA is organized into geographically based Divisions. A Central Executive acts as a coordinating body for Association-wide business, and is assisted by various standing and ad hoc committees. Divisions are headed by their own Executives and are responsible for holding divisional meetings, publishing newsletters, collecting membership fees, operating educational programs, acting as a purchasing cooperative for supplies and medications, advising the Central Executive and preparing resolutions for the BCHPA annual general meeting. The Central Executive is headed by an elected President and consists of officers elected at the annual meeting and appointed regional representatives. It functions primarily as a liaison body between the various Divisions and between the Association as a whole and the provincial Ministry, the BC Federation of Agriculture and the Canadian Honey Council. It is also responsible for producing the Association's newsletter.

The Vancouver Women in Trades Association (VWITA) was formed in 1979 and incorporated under the British Columbia Societies Act in 1983. It became inactive in 1987. The organization functioned as an advocacy and support group for women working in, or seeking to work in trades and technology. It sought to facilitate contact among tradeswomen, improve their working conditions, promote greater representation of women in skilled, blue-collar occupations, and further women's access to trades education and training. In pursuing these goals, the Association frequently acted in liaison with other groups, government agencies, unions, businesses and educational institutions. The group also maintained links with other Women in Trades Associations across Canada, including the Women in Trades Kootenay Council. Membership in VWITA generally ranged between forty and fifty women. Annual general meetings and regular monthly meetings were forums for collective decision making, while a number of elected standing committees and coordinators initially carried out on-going business. In 1983 one paid staff position was created (Office Administrator) and in 1985 staff was expanded to three (Office Coordinator, Research Coordinator and Liaison Coordinator). These positions were primarily funded through government grants. Prior to the Association's incorporation in 1983, it was also known as the B.C. Women in Trades and the Women in Trades Association of B.C. Officers of the organizations included Joan Blair, Judy Doll, Alison Stewart, Carolyn Sawyer, Kate Braid, Suzanne Gerard, and Lynn Ryan.