UNBC Loses Founding President Geoffrey Weller
July 25, 2000 For Immediate Release
It was with great sadness that the University of Northern British Columbia received the news of the death of Dr. Geoffrey R. Weller, its founding president, in Prince George on July 22nd, after a short illness, at the age of 58.
It was with great sadness that the University of Northern British Columbia received the news of the death of Dr. Geoffrey R. Weller, its founding president, in Prince George on July 22nd, after a short illness, at the age of 58.
Geoff Weller was born in England in January 1942, and grew up in Tonbridge,
in Kent. He finished his high school education as an exchange student
in Ann Arbor Michigan in 1961, and then studied Economics and Political
Science at the University of Hull, UK, at McMaster University in Hamilton
Ontario, and at McGill University in Montreal. In 1999, he was awarded
an honorary PhD from the University of Lapland, Finland.
Dr. Weller began his teaching career at Bishop's University in Lennoxville,
Quebec in 1965, and in 1971 moved to Lakehead University in Thunder
Bay, Ontario, where he spent the next nineteen years, rising through
the ranks from Assistant Professor to Vice-President Academic, a position
he held until coming to Prince George six years later.
At Lakehead he was responsible for a number of innovations in northern studies, particularly the establishment of the Lakehead University Centre for Northern Studies and the Association of Circumpolar Universities, which was his particular pride. This group brought together scholars and administrators from universities in Canada, Alaska, the Nordic countries, and Russia to discuss matters of scholarly and other interest. The first meeting was held in Thunder Bay in 1991, and a more recent meeting took place a few years ago in Prince George.
At Lakehead he was responsible for a number of innovations in northern studies, particularly the establishment of the Lakehead University Centre for Northern Studies and the Association of Circumpolar Universities, which was his particular pride. This group brought together scholars and administrators from universities in Canada, Alaska, the Nordic countries, and Russia to discuss matters of scholarly and other interest. The first meeting was held in Thunder Bay in 1991, and a more recent meeting took place a few years ago in Prince George.
Because of his administrative experience and his focus on northern
studies, he was a logical choice to be the founding president of the
new University of Northern British Columbia. He was appointed in the
fall of 1990, and arrived the first week of January 1991, stepping off
the plane to a temperature of -50. Resisting any temptation to get right
back on the plane, he stayed and took immediate charge of planning for
the new institution.
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 over $100 million, was built on time
and according to plan. At the same time he fulfilled the aspirations
of those northern residents who had fought to see the university established,
by founding campuses in the Peace district, Quesnel, Terrace, and Prince
Rupert, as well as a highly successful campus in the Nass Valley, in
cooperation with the Nisga'a First Nation. He worked with the noted
Haida artist Bill Reid in establishing an endowment fund to carry forward
Reid's legacy through the training and education of talented First Nations
artists.
In August 1994 Dr. Weller proudly welcomed Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
to open the new campus, and classes began in the new buildings the next
month. 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.
If this were not enough, he continued throughout this period to make
presentations at academic conferences and to publish scholarly papers.
His main fields of interest were northern development, particularly
in health and education, international relations in northern Europe
and the Pacific, and more recently the field of international security.
He never stopped learning, questioning, and publishing.
Geoff was a good natured, even tempered man, who retained his composure
even under the heavy stress of forming a new institution from the ground
up. He was tolerant, perhaps even to a fault, of those who disagreed
with him and worked against his ideas. He had a wicked sense of humour
which in private moments he used to entertain friends and colleagues,
and which relieved some of the terrific tensions of his job.
During his last illness, he had the satisfaction of knowing that the
University of Northern British Columbia was a success. With 3300 students,
its enrolment was growing, and its future assured. Its graduates were
going on to rewarding careers or further education, its faculty winning
research grants at a enviable rate, and its rating across Canada was
not only high, but rising. It may truly be said of Geoffrey Weller,
as it was once said of the architect Sir Christopher Wren, si monumentum
requiris, circumspice -- if you would see his monument, look about
you.
He is survived by Jean, his wife of 37 years, his father, three sons
- Duncan, Eric, and Alex - and one grandson. A private funeral service
will be held in Prince George, and a public memorial service at UNBC
on Saturday, September 9th.