McGILL UNIVERSITY: Canada’s oldest mining engineering school to celebrate 140 years (March 31, 2011)

MONTREAL - On the occasion of its 140^th anniversary, the McGill Mining Engineering Program is taking pride in its legacy of excellence and launching a major revitalization strategy to meet industry's requirements of the future.

The oldest mining engineering school in North America, the momentous anniversary calls for celebration of the mining excellence and global industry leadership McGill Mining alumni, and the Canadian industry in general, have demonstrated over the past 140 years.

McGill's Mining Engineering Program began in 1871 as a two-year degree, and two years later, John F. Torrance became Canada's first mining engineering graduate. Since then, over 1,000 engineers have graduated from the program, many going on to hold senior positions and to spearhead important discoveries and developments in industry. McGill's first graduate mining degree, a M.Eng., was awarded to William Arthur Carlyle in 1893. The first woman to graduate as a mining engineer in Canada was from McGill, and to date, seven Canadian Mining Hall of Fame inductees have been McGill Mining Engineering graduates: William Guy Brissenden, James Edward Gill, Oliver Hall, R.G.K. Morrison, Richard Valentine Porritt, William S. Row, and Jules R. Timmins.

To achieve its future commitment, McGill Mining is inviting all of industry to assist. A five-year revitalization strategy is being launched this year, supported by a major fundraising campaign. The strategy will be to become, again, the leading school of mining on the continent. Objectives are being set with the help of an industry-led Advisory Board, ensuring the direction of the strategy responds to the realities of today's industry and future needs.

The revitalization strategy is built upon four pillars:

          Increase teaching staff: create new chairs in mining, recruit world-class professors whose areas of expertise compliment current faculty, and engage professors-of-practice from industry to teach in the undergraduate program

          Increase undergraduate student enrolment

          Integrate mineral processing and sustainable mine development in the teaching curriculum and research

          Cultivate industry partnerships to support the co-op program

The anniversary celebrations are underway, and alumni, students, and industry leaders are invited to join the festivities to mark the 140^th, with a grand soirée on May 21 at McGill's New Residence Hall. This will be the perfect kick-off of the CIM Conference and Exhibition in Montreal that begins the next day.

Join McGill Mining and help lay the roadmap to a sustainable future.

Enquiries about the McGill Mining Engineering Program and the anniversary celebration may be made by contacting Teresa Barrett, 514-398-4762 or Teresa.Barrett@McGill.ca