UNBC Library Named In Honour Of Founding President
November 29, 2001 For Immediate Release
The most important building at the University of Northern British Columbia has been named after the person perhaps most responsible for the University's initial development.
The most important building at the University of Northern British Columbia has been named after the person perhaps most responsible for the University's initial development.
Geoffrey R. Weller was the University's Founding President, starting
in 1991. The next four years were busy and turbulent ones. A site had
to be selected, a campus designed, an academic plan drawn up, a number
of competing interests dealt with, a faculty and administrative staff
hired, and a huge number of other problems resolved. Working with the
Interim Governing Council, the original body appointed to oversee the
beginnings of the university, and with a small staff, Geoff worked out
the master plan for UNBC. He was largely responsible for setting out
the five major themes of the university --environment, northern studies,
women's studies, First Nations studies, international studies -- and
for seeing that the Prince George campus, which cost more than $130
million, was built on time and according to plan.
Professor Weller was passionate about many issues of the North: health
care, economic development, the role of northern universities, etc.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Lapland,
Finland, for his significant contribution to northern studies and northern
development.
By 1995, when he stepped down as President to devote himself to teaching
and scholarship, UNBC had a faculty complement numbering more than 100,
a large and skilled staff, a beautiful campus in Prince George, partnership
arrangements with all of the northern colleges and many foreign universities,
an extensive regional program of course offerings, a detailed academic
plan, and an impressive range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Future visitors to the Prince George campus will notice that the Library
- the largest and most important single building on the campus - has
been named after Geoffrey Weller. Engraved on the plaque is a Latin
phrase: si monumentum requiris, circumspice -- if you would see
his monument, look about you.
Geoffrey Weller passed away in July, 2000, at the age of 58.