History
Memories of Ryerson
Alumni, faculty and staff recall highlights from their time at the University
By Dana Yates
Service to Ryerson
A formal education
Initiation Day
Christmas with Marshall McLuhan
Radio rescue
A proud moment
University status
Team spirit
Hands-on hotelier
Answering the call
Focus on students
A challenging course
Still dancing after all these years
After the war
Service to Ryerson
Before retiring in 1999, former staff member Gladys Doyle (left) was close to becoming a member of Ryerson's 25-Year Club - twice. Gladys was just 17 when Principal Kerr hired her as a switchboard operator in 1952. Back then, she handled a plug-in board with eight outside lines and 30 extensions. But technology wasn't the only thing that changed during the next 47 years: Gladys also met countless students, watched the construction of Kerr Hall and saw the school through two name changes.
A formal education
"As students in the 1950s, we were a bit of an oddity because we attended classes in jackets, white shirts and ties. I was impressed with Principal Howard Kerr. Of course, I didn't know then that I would end up working for almost every President from that day on, first as a teacher, and then Vice-Chair and Chair of the School of Radio and Television Arts (RTA)."
� Dr. Robert Gardner, RTA ’59, Professor Emeritus
Initiation Day
"My most unforgettable event at Ryerson happened during my first year. For Initiation Day, Early Childhood Education students were made to dress as nursery rhyme characters.
"My assigned character was the Old Woman in a Shoe. I, being almost six feet tall, was forced to wear an ugly grey wig, a flowered straw hat and old motherly looking clothes. I travelled by TTC streetcar from my home in Scarborough!
"I was ecstatic to discover my new classmates looked and felt as ridiculous as I did. We climbed on the back of a huge flat-bed truck and rode along Yonge St. Crowds of people lined the street hooting and laughing at all the Rye freshmen.
"This helped my classmates develop a closeness that made our experience at Ryerson thoroughly enjoyable."
� Julia Kirkwood-Blake, Early Childhood Education '58
Christmas with Marshall McLuhan
"In 1959, I came to Ryerson from the Philippines on a one-year fellowship in radio and television sponsored by the Canada Council. I was the first Filipino and Asian to ever take such a fellowship in a North American setting.
"During a briefing session at St. Michael's College at University of Toronto, I met a passionate man of letters whose magnetic personality and keen mind I would later admire - Marshall McLuhan - and first heard his now iconic phrases 'hot and cold medium,' 'the medium is the message' and 'the global village.'
"As a student of mass media, I met with Professor McLuhan that fall and I likened those meetings to graduate study sessions.
"One day, he paused in the middle of our chat, puffed on his cigar, and asked, 'Tony, will you be busy on Christmas Day?'
"And that's how I came to be the only guest of Professor McLuhan and his family for Christmas lunch in 1959."
� Tony Joaquin, Radio and Television Arts '60 (right)
Radio rescue
Reg Michie, Electrical Technology ’71, worked in several engineering-related roles during his 35-year career at Ryerson. One particular job, though, sticks out in his mind: "In 1973, I was part of the engineering support team for CJRT, which used to broadcast distance-education courses. The transmitter tower was on top of Kerr Hall East, and on Christmas Eve, ice on the tower caused the radio station to go off air. My family was gathered for the holiday when I received the call to service the tower. So I spent six hours that night working to get the radio station back on air," he laughs today. He later continued his studies and became a professional engineer. He retired from Ryerson in 2007.
A proud moment
During the last 25 years, Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Gosha Zywno (left) has seen many changes at Ryerson. In fact, one particularly proud moment came during last spring's Convocation: Ryerson's first PhD in Engineering was bestowed upon Yifeng He. "It was our great privilege that he graduated from Electrical and Computer Engineering," says Dr. Zwyno. "He received a standing ovation from 1,000 people. It gives me such great pleasure to see these wonderful things happen for Ryerson and its students."
University status
When Dennis Mock joined the Department of Geography in the 1970s, he only planned to stay for one year. Fast-forward more than two decades: Dr. Mock is Vice-President, Academic and helping Ryerson secure university status. "It was one of the most exciting things I've ever done," he says. "Since that time, Ryerson has kept on running and its future is very bright. I'm proud to be part of its history."
� Dennis Mock is currently President and Vice-Chancellor of Nipissing University in North Bay, Ont.
Team spirit
"During the 1998-99 basketball season, the men's team won the Ontario University Athletics East division title. My wife and I travelled to Halifax to watch the team compete in the national championships. Ryerson's President and one of the Vice-Presidents were also at the tournament, and they hosted a breakfast for everyone. In the end, Ryerson played well against the University of Alberta, but they didn't win. Even still, it was a great experience!"
� John Easton, Chemical Technology ’64, is a former Chemistry Professor and Director of Ryerson's Office of Co-operative Education. He was the Chair of the Department of Applied Chemistry and Biology/School of Chemical Engineering from 1986 until 1996 during which time co-operative education was established in both programs. Today, he is Associate Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
Hands-on hotelier
Now Vice-President of Procurement for Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Fred Lawlor, Hospitality and Tourism Management ’79 (right), remembers his summer job at Banff Springs Hotel after first year.
He was one of several students who travelled west for work thanks to Ryerson instructor Bill Lougheed. They went out by train, spending three days in coach seats. There, Fred was a server in the Rob Roy Room.
"It was a great opportunity because of exposure to the industry and an absolutely iconic hotel," Fred recalls.
Another memory from Ryerson was taking the wine-tasting class at 9 a.m., followed by accounting at 10.
He remembers his instructors fondly. "They came from the business, understood the business and had fantastic connections."
Answering the call
Today, Margaret MacMillan is Warden of St. Antony's College at Oxford University. But in fact, the former Ryerson professor never intended to become a teacher. That is, until she joined the Department of History during the 1970s. Over the ensuing 25 years, she taught several courses, and found her calling along the way. "I am grateful for that experience," she says. "When you're teaching, you have to learn how to keep students interested." Her solution was to describe historical events and people as though they were parts of a story. The tactic kept students engaged and served Dr. MacMillan well in writing the best-selling and award-winning book Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World.
Focus on students
"While achieving university status was a high point, it didn't eclipse the great satisfaction I got from teaching. Later, as President, I interacted with student leaders on the Academic Council and Board of Governors. It was always a pleasure to connect with students - I found them to be enthusiastic, full of energy and keen to do things. They also had a very positive outlook on the world."
� Terry Grier (left), former Politics Professor, Dean of Arts and President of Ryerson (1988-1995)
A challenging course
"One of the most significant formative experiences I had at Ryerson occurred in the fall of 1980, my first semester of the Bachelor of Technology in Architectural Science program. Bob Greenberg, a faculty member, invited Bruce Goff, an American architect who was a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan and Antonio Gaudi, to give a lecture. Mr. Goff, in his 70s, was obviously delighted to be with the young design students at Ryerson. The slides of his work revealed an astounding variety of projects, both built and unbuilt, that exposed new opportunities to the young and impressionable audience. More importantly, Mr. Goff stayed for two hours after the slide show to answer our questions and tell war stories.
"Looking back, I now appreciate the unique combination of art and science as taught at Ryerson that has informed and guided my career to date. I owe a debt of gratitude to Bob Greenberg, an iconoclastic professor who constantly challenged our preconceived ideas about design, both in academia and in the real world. Thank you, Bob. Thank you, Ryerson."
� Tom Arsovski, Architecture ’84, earned a master's in architecture at the University of Michigan. He is a Senior Associate at architectural firm Perkins Eastman in Chicago.
Still dancing after all these years
My husband Gerry was with me when I started in the Theatre/Dance Department and together we own one of the largest Royal Academy of Dance Schools in Colorado. I could not have done it without my training at Ryerson. I am often called back to Ontario to choreograph or perform, and most recently choreographed Swing for Drayton Entertainment.
� Vera Stephenson, Theatre ’82 (right), co-director of Reverence Academy of Dance in Colorado
After the war
"In 1944, 10 years after graduating from the Normal School as a teacher, I returned to the school in one of the best positions I ever had. The school, on the site of what is now Ryerson, had been converted to the Training and Re-establishment Institute for men and women from the three services to complete the education that the war had ended so abruptly. As one of the first four teachers and the first female teacher, I taught Grade 13 English.
"A math teacher shared how he presented to his class a textbook problem involving a plane's speed, distance from ground level and the timing of a bomb's release. Without putting his pen to paper, one of the men gave the answer. The teacher filled a blackboard, trying to find the solution, finally coming to the same conclusion as the student. When asked 'How did you know that?' the student answered, 'I was a navigator.'"
� Anne Rogers MacDonald (above), graduate of the Normal School and teacher at the Training and Re-establishment Institute
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