UBC designated as primary international academic partner of Chongqing, China
A successful official visit to Chongqing, China has helped to solidify future partnerships and collaboration between the city of Chongqing and UBC.
start an evolution Campaign Celebration in London
On December 6, 2012 His Excellency, Gordon Campbell, Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and Professor Stephen J. Toope welcomed Europe-based donors and friends to UBC’s start an evolution: London Celebration at Canada House.
Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Flanders Panel (HarperCollins, 1994)
I recently discovered this Spanish writer of devilishly clever literary mysteries. The characters are well-drawn, and the mystery revolves around a Flemish painting and the intricacies of chess. Wonderfully paced, and urgently compelling, this is a great read on a long plane ride, or at the cabin.
Gao Xingjiang, Soul Mountain (Harper Perennial, 2004)
Gao was the first Chinese author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, although he did so from exile in France. After the publication of a work dealing in part with the massacre at Tiananmen Square, all his writings were banned in China. In awarding him the Nobel, the Committee referred to his “œuvre of […]
Iris Murdoch, The Bell (Vintage, 1999; first published in 1973)
I first began to read Murdoch when I was studying in England in the 1980s and was drawn to her complex characters; no-one is ever good or bad, everyone is an amalgam. The Bell is no exception, for here we have a religious community of deeply confused people struggling to find a way to live […]
Tim Winton, Dirt Music ( Scribner, 2001)
I discovered this book browsing in a New York bookstore. Winton is a youngish Australian whose novels have twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize. Dirt Music is the story of a couple of outcasts who find each other, lose each other, and against pretty remarkable odds, connect again. I have rarely read any […]
David Mitchell, Black Swan Green (Vintage Canada, 2007)
Mitchell is probably best known for Cloud Atlas, now, as they say, “a major motion picture.” I thought that The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (2010) was fabulous. Mitchell’s diversity of subject matter and style is remarkable. In Black Swan Green he writes in the voice of thirteen-year-old Jason Tyler, who lives in a […]
Nadine Gordimer, A Guest of Honour (Penguin, 1973)
Gordimer’s writing is simply brilliant, but her stories always leave me with a profound sense of sadness. Winner of the Nobel Prize in 1991, Gordimer is closely associated with the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. But she is no naïve optimist! A Guest of Honour is the story of a colonial-era British civil servant, Colonel […]
UBC to produce clean heat and electricity from biofuel
A new $34-million UBC clean energy facility will generate clean heat and electricity for campus from renewable bioenergy
Address to the Vancouver Board of Trade
Prof. Toope urges increased investment in B.C. postsecondary education
September 2012 Letter to the Community
Prof. Toope welcomes everyone to the new academic year and provides an update on UBC’s current priorities in his Annual Letter
Bringing the UBC community together for an interactive dialogue
10 September – Vancouver Campus
19 September – Okanagan Campus
Canada in the Pacific Century Report
Positioning Canada as the academic and research destination of choice for Asia will help it thrive in the new global economy
UBC at the 2012 Summer Games
UBC has much to celebrate as the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games begin
2012 Spring Grad Event at Sty-Wet-Tan Great Hall
Prof. Toope attends the UBC First Nations Longhouse Graduation Celebration held for this year’s Aboriginal grads
UBC at Universitas 21
Dr. Karen Gardner receives the inaugural Universitas 21 Award for Internationalisation at U21’s AGM in Lund, Sweden
Op/ed: Building bridges from B.C. to Brazil
Building bridges from B.C. to Brazil; Ties being developed through student exchanges will provide a foundation for future relationships that benefit all Vancouver Sun Wed May 2 2012 Page: A13 Section: Issues & Ideas Byline: Stephen Toope and Arvind Gupta In our rapidly evolving global context, Western nations, including Canada, are asking the question “To […]
Asia Pacific Gaining Research Strengths
Prof. Toope suggests key steps for better collaboration in Science article
Reappointment of Provost and VP Academic
To: the UBC Community I am delighted to announce that the UBC Board of Governors has approved the reappointment of Dr. David Farrar as Provost and Vice-President, Academic for a second five-year term, effective Sept 1, 2012. Dr. Farrar brings an energetic, consultative, forthright approach to his position. His first term was marked by a […]
Op/ed: Federal budget signals a commitment to innovation
Stephen Toope: Federal budget signals a commitment to innovation National Post Mar 30, 2012 – 9:52 AM ET By Stephen Toope In the global knowledge economy, a country’s greatest strategic advantage is its capacity to discover and innovate. The federal government acknowledged this clearly in Thursday’s budget, with its commitment to make smart investments in […]