Today’s photo is of the 21st anniversary of the Agricultural College. 

A photo of #Manitoba Agricultural College alumni at their 21st reunion, held 90 years ago this month.

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Today’s photo is of a former curling team on campus!

Women's Intercollegiate curling team, 1955: Holly Kent (Lead), Mary Jane Rasmussen (Second), Shirley Wilkie (Third), and Marilyn Davis (Skip)
Source: Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation fonds.

For more photos documenting the UofM’s 140 years, follow UM Archives & Special Collections on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out #140for140 on Twitter and Instagram and #UM140 on Twitter and Instagram.

U of M’s past, present and future celebrated at 140th anniversary festivities

Thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni, retirees, friends and community members came together to applaud the significance of the University of Manitoba at a 140th birthday celebration on Feb. 28. Read more.

First phase of Arctic climate change study cancelled due to climate change

The Science Team of the Canadian Research Icebreaker CCGS Amundsen cancelled the first leg of the 2017 Expedition due to complications associated with the southward motion of hazardous Arctic sea ice, caused by climate change. Read more. 

Gifts bring dreams of new Geneva, create unique leadership institute at U of M

On May 3, Great-West Life, Investor’s Group and Power Corporation of Canada announced a commitment of $12 million through the Front and Centre campaign to create the Institute for Leadership Development, a new teaching and research institute focused on developing leaders in Manitoba.  Read more.

On Dec. 8, Arthur Mauro, OC, OM, QC, [BA/49, LLB/53, LLM/56, LD/87] announced to a standing ovation a $5 million gift from the Mauro Family Foundation which will endow a cross-faculty Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice and support local and international peace-building initiatives. Read more.

Two U of M researchers listed among Canada’s most powerful women

Dr. Catherine Cook, Vice Dean, Indigenous Health, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, and Dr. Samar Safi-Harb, Canada Research Chair in Supernova Remnants Astrophysics, Faculty of Science, have been named Women’s Executive Network (WXN) 2017 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award winners in the ‘trailblazers and trendsetters’ category. Read more.

Time traveller

When a baby born this year comes of age, what will her world be? As Canada marked its 150th and the University of Manitoba its 140th, our alumni imagine the life of a student circa 2042. Read more.

2017 Distinguished Alumni Awards Celebration of Excellence sends enthralled audience into ‘La La Land’

From inspiring stories of helping those in need to well-deserved accolades for innovators and mentors who improve our lives, the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Awards Celebration of Excellence highlighted amazing graduates who have taken their places as leaders in our community and around the world. Read more. 

Canada Summer Games wrap up on campus

The University of Manitoba was proud to host 4,000 athletes on our campus and to also showcase our university to spectators, coaches and volunteers during the Canada Summer Games. Read more.

Desautels Faculty of Music unveils premier space, receives a major donation

The Desautels Faculty of Music officially opened its new, 60,000 square foot state-of-the-art facilities attached to Taché Hall at an evening celebration on Sept. 14. And joining the Faculty at its opening ceremony was philanthropist and arts supporter, Dr. Bonnie Buhler, who announced, a $1 million gift to create an endowment fund to support outstanding graduate students in music. Read more.

Integrating Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing

A visionary who unites Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing with university policies and culture, Dr. Lynn Lavallée was named the first Vice-Provost (Indigenous Engagement), effective September 1, 2017 to August 31, 2022. Read more.

Celebrating our collective accessibility commitment as a community

“In the past year, we have taken action to make the University of Manitoba a more inclusive and accessible community for all faculty, students and staff in support of the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA).” Read more.

The 140^th anniversary year saw new discoveries, new scholarship winners and many other significant achievements by outstanding U of M students.

These are some of the top student success stories from the past 12 months.

U OF M STUDENTS RECEIVE CANADA’S LARGEST STEM SCHOLARSHIP

Bailey Paziuk and Shayna Timmerman were named the University of Manitoba’s recipients of the prestigious Schulich Leader Scholarships. Read more.

MONSTER DISCOVERED IN CANADIAN ARCTIC 

Graduate student Aurelie Delaforge discovered Canada’s first, genuine, scientifically sound monster lurking under our Arctic sea ice. Read more.

SCHOLARSHIP BRINGS RURAL MÉTIS STUDENT ONE STEP CLOSER TO RUNNING BUSINESS

UM Today had the opportunity to chat with Riley Chartrand, one of this year’s recipients of the Indigenous Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship. Read more.

I’M CARVING MY OWN PATH  

Harley Bray likes to be prepared. The third year science student has a saying: Don’t make plans; make goals. Read more.

THREE U OF M STUDENTS EARN RECOGNITION WITH VANIER SCHOLARSHIPS

University of Manitoba graduate students Jacqueline Hay, Deirdre Khan and Nickolas Kosmenko received 2017 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships. Read more.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR RECORD-BREAKING NUMBER OF BISON STUDENT-ATHLETES

For the third year in a row, a record number of Bison student-athletes have pushed their limits and achieved national recognition as Academic All-Canadians. Read more.

BY INVESTING IN THE STUDENTS GROUPS, I GAINED A PASSION

Noah Wilson takes a holistic approach to his education. For Wilson, this journey began while he was still in high school. Unsure of what exactly he wanted to study, he chose U of M because of its strong Indigenous community. Read more.

OUR EMERGING LEADERS CELEBRATED

This year, 40 University of Manitoba students from various faculties and programs across campus received the Emerging Leaders Award. Read more.

HONOURING THE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT OF INDIGENOUS STUDENTS

Taylor Morriseau, Haylea Clyne and Amanda Fontes were recipients of the inaugural Indigenous Student Awards of Excellence for their achievements and contributions in making the university an inclusive and supportive learning environment. Read more.

CO-OP EDUCATION STUDENT CHAMPION NAMED 

Tiffany Pastrick was awarded the 2017 Co-operative Education Student Champion Award. The Dean’s honour list student excelled in her co-op at Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre and continues to volunteer at the organization.  Read more.

CHANGING THE GAME IN MANITOBA

Team ‘Hour Off’ took home the $10,000 Game Changer prize this year, answering the question “With technology filling all our free time, how can we reclaim boredom as a productive or creative force?” Read more.

I’M EXPERIENCING THE WORLD

Recent graduate Oliver Marshall currently lives in western Japan where he works as an international relations coordinator for Shimane Prefectural Government. Read more.

Wishing you a year of adventure, inspiration and bold ideas.

As our 140th anniversary comes to a close, we are reminded of how learning and discovery can shine a light upon the world to make it a better place for all. Whether across the globe or closer to home, our University of Manitoba community comes together to make a meaningful difference.

As we look forward to 2018, I encourage you to light a path for others with your optimism and hope.

Today’s photos are a throwback students writing exams in the 1970s!

Students checking their marks.
Source: University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections

Students writing exams.
Source: University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections

For more photos documenting the UofM’s 140 years, follow UM Archives & Special Collections on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out #140for140 on Twitter and Instagram and #UM140 on Twitter and Instagram.

Today’s photos are a throwback to a time where grilled cheese sandwiches were only 25 cents in the university cafeteria!

University Cafeteria.
Source: University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections

University Cafeteria.
Source: University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections

For more photos documenting the UofM’s 140 years, follow UM Archives & Special Collections on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out #140for140 on Twitter and Instagram and #UM140 on Twitter and Instagram.

Today’s photo features books, books and more books from the 1980s.

Beth Morrison browses through some of the novels at the University of Manitoba's second annual Canadian Publishers' display.
Source: Winnipeg Tribune fonds

Halloween may be over but we’re taking a look at some costumes worn on campus from the 1960s-1980s.

The Miser at a University of Manitoba Open House, 1980.
Source: University Relations & Information Office fonds

President Campbell gets a surprise visitor, 1977.
Source: University Relations & Information Office fonds

University Beaux-Arts dance, 1962.
Source: Winnipeg Tribune fonds

For more photos documenting the UofM’s 140 years, follow UM Archives & Special Collections on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out #140for140 on Twitter and Instagram and #UM140 on Twitter and Instagram.

Professor of finance Usha Mittoo [MBA/81].

A challenge to be innovative and creative

Usha Mittoo [MBA/81] is a groundbreaker — and she traces it back to her own classroom learning. The first female finance professor at the I.H. Asper School of Business remembers worrying as a University of Manitoba student that she didn’t have the background to follow the case studies they were doing in her course. She had just come from India and was the only foreign student in her program.

“I understand,” said her prof Ross Henderson, a Harvard-trained PhD who used the Socratic method in his courses, when she went to see him after class. “But you are coming with new insights rather than looking from the same perspective as everyone else.” He challenged her “to be innovative and creative,” says Mittoo. 

That lesson never left her. After completing her PhD at UBC, she joined Asper School of Business in 1988 and currently holds the Stuart Clark Professorship in Financial Management. Mittoo has lectured and presented all over the globe and has received many awards for her research and teaching; her work on Canadian markets and international finance has been cited in many top academic and practitioner journals and textbooks. 

Her professor, she says, “was receptive to my perspective and encouraged me to grow what I saw as a weakness into a strength — to take risks and to think outside the box.” 

—Mariianne Mays Wiebe 

Luke Nickel [B.MUS. (COMP.)/11]

Luke Nickel [B.MUS. (COMP.)/11]: A sense of boundless possibility

In 2008-9, my third year as an undergraduate student at the University of Manitoba, I was enrolled in the XIE ensemble, or eXperimental Improv Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Gordon Fitzell. Unlike other musical ensembles where students would perform existing repertoire at lunchtime concerts at the Desautels Faculty of Music, the XIE taught an improvisatory approach — both musically and in respect to its own organization. Dr. Fitzell worked with us to organize our own off-campus events. The events ranged in size from small jam sessions to larger multidisciplinary shows.

I will never forget when Dr. Fitzell proposed that we fundraise for Amnesty International by cooking and serving a meal to over fifty people. The catch? We were to do it while musically improvising using cutlery, food-processors, knives and food. This experience was extremely inspirational to me at the time.

Dr. Fitzell taught us the fundamentals of event organization, but also the hard-to-teach capability to dream as big as our brains would allow us. I carry this sense of boundless possibility with me in my work as a festival director as well as into my own artistic practice.

Award-winning Canadian interdisciplinary artist and researcher Luke Nickel just completed his PhD at Bath Spa University and lives in Bristol, UK. His work investigates notions of notation, re-performance, loss of fidelity and memory. He cofounded and continues to co-direct Winnipeg’s Cluster Festival of New Music + Integrated Arts, which in March 2017 celebrated its eighth year. 

For more alumni memorable moments, read the rest of the story in the Spring 2017 issue of Teaching Life online.