Terry Lavender
Emeritus College Award Reception
I was honoured to be asked to attend the annual general meeting of the UBC Emeritus College on March 13, and to present the Award of Distinguished Service to Dr. Marguerite Chiarenza. (All photos by Martin Dee.)
What Music Means to Me
I was speaking to some students the other day and one of them asked “What does music mean to you? Is it just entertainment?” I was nonplussed for a moment. It was quite the question, and I wasn’t really sure how to answer. After a moment’s thought, I replied that music meant everything to me. […]
Thriving Communities: UBC’s Strategic Plan and You
Greater Vancouver Board of Trade Four Seasons Hotel, Vancouver Thank you, Robert, for your kind introduction. Good afternoon, and thank you everyone. It’s an honour to be with you today. I’d like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam, the Squamish and the Tsleil […]
TEDxUBC 2019: #NominateHer
Good morning! A few days ago, a very kind person indicated that he’d like to nominate me for a major prize. He said he felt I deserved it and that it would bring credit and a spotlight on UBC if I were selected as the laureate. I told him I was very flattered but would […]
Annual Giving – Faculty & Staff Appeal
Dear members of the UBC community, In 2017, UBC launched the Blue & Gold Campaign for Students, with the goal of raising $100 million in student support over three years. Since then, thousands of alumni, donors, faculty and staff have come together to support UBC students—making a difference in their lives by helping them to […]
Remarks at the Musqueam Flag Raising Ceremony
Good morning everyone and thank you for coming out today. As you may know, until now, UBC has marked National Indigenous Peoples Day by temporarily raising the flag of its host First Nation in place of the university’s flag. Last Fall, we raised the flag of the Okanagan Nation Alliance permanently at the UBC Okanagan […]
Musqueam Flag Raising Ceremony – February 25, 2019
February 25, 2019. All photos by Paul Joseph, UBC
Raising the Musqueam Flag: Acknowledging the past, recognizing our future responsibilities
Students, faculty, staff and visitors at UBC’s Vancouver campus may have noticed, and wondered, about the three flag poles standing bare at the foot of Student Union Boulevard. Wonder no more. On Monday, February 25, three flags will be raised at the site – the UBC flag, the provincial flag and the flag of […]
UBC Medicine: Looking to the Next 70 Years
Alan Bernstein Distinguished Lecture, Vancouver, BC (PDF: 2019 02 08 Alan Bernstein Distinguished Lecture) Good morning and thank you. It is an honour to be invited to give the Alan Bernstein Distinguished Lecture. Bernstein was the founding president of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and Executive Director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. In […]
School Community Mental Health Conference 2019 Remarks
Vancouver, BC Thank you, Minister. Happy to be here and to discuss this important topic; one that is important to our country, to UBC, and to me personally. Mental health is a significant issue: one in five Canadians will have a mental health problem or illness this year. It’s a world-wide problem too, with growing […]
UBC Connects: Connecting UBC to the community
What do a bestselling novelist, a world-renowned physicist, a futurist and an Indigenous activist-athlete have in common? They are all “provocateurs” who are shaping the way people think about a broad range of issues. And they all participated in the first season of the UBC Connects speaker series last year. The talks by novelist Isabel […]
January 2019
Welcome Welcome to the first issue for 2019 of Letter to the Board, a regular communication from myself to members of the UBC Board of Governors, issued in advance of regular meetings of the Board. Highlights Alumni and Donor Engagement In December, I travelled to Asia to engage with donors and alumni in Hong Kong, […]
Episode 5: No More Silos
On the fifth episode of The Blue and Goldcast, Santa and Jen meet two professors who are charting a new path for higher education in Canada. Dave Ng, a biologist and associate director of the Michael Smith Laboratories and Allen Sens, a Professor of Teaching in UBC’s political science department teach ASIC 200, a class […]
2019 Lunar New Year Dinner Remarks
Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, Vancouver Thank you everyone, and thank you especially to Susan and Ken Chow. (To the Chows:) We are delighted to have you lead us through the program this evening. But UBC is also honoured and deeply grateful for your dedication and generosity all the other days of the year. I […]
Take the Cool Campus Challenge
UBC is participating in the BC Cool Campus Challenge, a fun and friendly initiative between BC universities and colleges to save energy this winter season. Across the province, post-secondary institutions are challenging each other to see who can gather the most pledges from students, staff, and faculty to help reduce our natural gas use and […]
Strategic Plan funding focuses on Indigenous, cross-campus initiatives
I am pleased to announce that 20 new pilot projects and change initiatives will be funded as part of the university’s commitment to implementing the strategic plan, UBC’s Next Century. Each proposal was reviewed by the responsible vice-president and associated advisory councils from each core area of the strategic plan (People and Places, Research Excellence, […]
UBC’s Emeritus College is the first of its kind in Canada
Welcome to 2019. I trust you have all had a good holiday break. I know I always feel energized and hopeful at the start of the New Year. January can indeed be invigorating. The days are getting perceptibly longer. Students, faculty and staff are back on campus, with renewed energy and enthusiasm, prepared once more […]
Episode 4: “Women’s Brains Aren’t Wired That Way”
In the fourth episode of The Blue and Goldcast, Jen and Santa talk about women in STEM, the importance of mentorship, and ways for institutions like UBC to encourage diversity. They hear a story from UBC Mathematics Professor Stephanie van Willigenburg about her struggle to find a place in a disproportionately-male field. Blue and Goldcast […]
November 2018
Welcome to the November 2018 issue of Letter to the Board, a regular communication from myself to members of the UBC Board of Governors, issued in advance of regular meetings of the Board. Highlights Strategic Plan Earlier this month, I hosted a roundtable discussion with prominent UBC supporters, alumni, and community leaders to discuss […]
Holiday Reflections: Honouring our commitments
The holiday season is a good time to reflect back on the year that has gone and to look forward to the year ahead. Looking back, the past year has seen a number of significant accomplishments, most notably the endorsement of the new UBC strategic plan, Shaping UBC’s Next Century. Other milestones included the opening […]