John Theberge (1940- ) was a professor and researcher in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, from 1972 until his retirement in 2000. Theberge received his BSc from the University of Guelph, MSc from the University of Toronto, and PhD from the University of British Columbia. John Theberge's career focused on his wolf research, pioneering a technique using vocal patterns to identify wolves. John Theberge and his co-researcher and wife Mary Theberge became Canada's premier timber wolf research team, receiving international recognition for their field research. In 1993, Equinox magazine proclaimed John and Mary Theberge "Environmentalist of the Year". In 1998 they were presented with the Harkin Medal from Canadian Parks and Wilderness Services.
Terry Copp was born in 1938 and grew up in the Montreal suburb of Notre Dame de Grace. He attended Sir George Williams University (now Concordia) where he earned his bachelor’s degree. His career as an educator began prior to graduation when, in his third year, a teaching position at the University. As a condition of his employment, he was required to graduate before the beginning of classes in September and enroll in the Master of Arts program at McGill. After his year of teaching at Sir George Williams, he taught history at Westmount Junior High School. While there, he became concerned about the conditions at a local residential house where a number of his students lived, known as Weredale House. When he had a letter outlining his views published in the Montreal Star, many supporters of Weredale were upset and Copp left his position with the school board.
Copp completed his MA in 1961 and soon after was accepted into the PhD program at McGill. After a realization that his thesis would not work out, he took a job at a high school in Lindsay Ontario as an emergency replacement geography teacher. After this, was offered a full-time position teaching history at Loyola College and part-time teaching courses at McGill. He became a full-time faculty member at Loyola for the 1965/66 academic year while still teaching the Canadian history survey at McGill.
In 1968, Copp married and became a father to two step-children and later a third. In 1970, he took a position at Sir George Williams, which led to a year-long position as visiting professor at the University of Victoria. While in this position he was able to complete much of the manuscript for what became The Anatomy of Poverty: The Condition of the Working Class in Montréal 1897-1929, which was published in 1974. In 1975, Copp and his family left Montreal when he took up a position at Wilfrid Laurier University. In 1980, Copp’s research interest shifted from labour history to military history. He has published extensively in this area of study, including the five-volume Maple Leaf Route series with Robert Vogel, and numerous articles in Canadian Military History and other journals. In 1991, Copp and Marc Kilgour were awarded a grant from the Security and Defense Forum to finance what became the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies.
Copp has been involved in numerous projects outside of the university. He has served as a research director and on-camera historian for the television documentary series “No Price Too High”, which was produced in response to the controversy caused by the CBC’s “The Valour and the Horror”. He was involved in the Canadian Battle of Normandy Foundation raising money for a Canadian Memorial Garden and student bursaries.
Copp retired in 2005 and is currently professor emeritus of history and director of the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. He also writes a series of feature articles that have been published in Legion Magazine since 1994.
Maureen Forrester (1930-2010), born in Montreal, Quebec, was one of the world's leading contraltos. After making her professional debut in 1951, she toured the world performing with virtually every major choir until the 1990s. In 1965 she began giving master classes. She was chairman of the voice department at the Philadelphia Music Academy from 1966 to 1971 and later taught part-time at the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta. Forrester was chair of the Canada Council 1983 to 1988, chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University 1986-1990, and in 1986 she was honorary president of the International Year of Canadian Music. Maureen Forrester received many awards and recognitions including 30 honorary degrees. She was named a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1967, awarded a Canadian Music Council medal in 1983, received the Order of Ontario in 1990, and inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame. Wilfrid Laurier University named its recital hall in her honour and established a scholarship in her name.
Eugene Kash (1912-2004) was a Canadian violinist, conductor and teacher. He was married to contralto Maureen Forrester from 1957 to 1974.
Marcia Schofield was a student at Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University) from 1947 to 1950.
Gail Carr was a student at Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University) from 1967 to 1970. She was a contestant in the Miss Canadian University Queen Contest in 1969. Her married name is Gail Murray.
Dr. Yehoshua (Shieky) Brownstone is a photographer in London, Ontario. He was formerly a Professor in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Western Ontario.
Leslie Lasky was a student at Waterloo Lutheran University in Business Administration from 1964 to 1968. He lived in Willison Hall and served as a residence Don. In 1967, he was elected as student representative to the Selection Committee for a new president of the University.
The Brantford campus of Wilfrid Laurier University opened in 1999. The campus is located in downtown Brantford, Ontario and awards Bachelors degrees in Business Technology Management, Contemporary Studies, Criminology, Education, English, Health Administration, Health Studies, History, Human Rights and Human Diversity, Journalism, Law and Society, Leadership, Psychology and Youth and Children's Studies.
Planning for the creation of a university in Brantford began in 1996, when the Brant Community Futures Development Corporation commissioned a business plan for the establishment of a university in Brantford. The city of Brantford had experienced economic decline in the wake of the collapse of the farm equipment industry. Community leaders, including members of the Grand Valley Educational Society, hoped that a university would contribute to urban renewal of the city’s downtown core. They also sought to provide local post-secondary educational opportunities for local students. In 1998, the City of Brantford, The Grand Valley Educational Society and Wilfrid Laurier University signed a “letter of intent” to form a campus of Laurier in Brantford.
The first building occupied by Laurier Brantford was the Carnegie Building on George Street, originally constructed as a library, and renovated as a university building. As it expanded the university has constructed new buildings, including the Student Centre built by the Student Union in 2005. Other university buildings, like Grand River Hall which opened in 2001, are examples of adaptive re-use, and have been renovated to meet the needs of the university.
Laurier Brantford is administered by a Vice-President/Principal who reports to the President of Wilfrid Laurier University. The faculty report to the Dean of Brantford, and govern through the Brantford Divisional Council. Library service is provided by Laurier librarians at the Brantford Public Library.
Brantford students are members of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students Union (WLUSU).
The Waterloo Lutheran University Graduate School of Social Work was founded in 1966 with a curriculum based on clinical practice as well as community organization practice. Students specialized in one of five concentrations: community development, social planning, social administration, research, or individuals, families and social groups. The first class graduated in 1968, the same year that the Graduate School of Social Work was accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. In 1974, the name of the program was changed to the Faculty of Social Work to reflect the expansion into part-time, continuing education and undergraduate social welfare courses (offered in the Faculty of Arts and Science). In 1981, the Faculty of Social Work created an undergraduate Social Welfare Option, considered to be a minor.
The Doctor of Social Work program was established in 1987, making it the first doctoral program at Wilfrid Laurier University.
By 1988 the Faculty had moved from the seminary to the Peters building and then to the Aird building before moving to the St. Jerome’s Duke Street building in 2006. This Laurier Kitchener campus was a 12 million dollar conversion from historic landmark to professional school.
The first Dean of the Faculty of Social Work was Sheldon L. Rahn (1966-1968), followed by Francis J. Turner (1969-1979), Sherman Merle (1980-1983), Shankar A. Yelaja (1983-1993), Jonnah Hurn Mather (1994-2001), Luke J. Fusco (2001-2006), Leslie Cooper (2006-2009), and Nicholas Coady (2011-).