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In 1910 the Canada Synod and Synod of Central Canada of the Lutheran Church entered into an agreement to establish a Lutheran Seminary. Though the location first proposed for the Seminary was Toronto, Waterloo was selected when its citizens offered a tract of land on the boundary of the town. The choice of location was affected, too, by the fact that the majority of Lutherans in Ontario lived in the vicinity of Waterloo and Berlin (Kitchener). In 1911 the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada opened its doors.

Facilities for pre-theological education were established in 1914 with courses leading to senior matriculation given in Waterloo College School.

In 1924 the Waterloo College of Arts, providing courses in post-secondary education in a four year program, was established. In 1925 the Faculty of Arts, under the name of Waterloo College, affiliated with the University of Western Ontario. Waterloo College soon began to offer Honours degree programs in the arts.

The affiliation with the University of Western Ontario ended in 1960 when the Seminary obtained a revised charter changing the name of the institution to Waterloo Lutheran University.

On November 1, 1973, Waterloo Lutheran University became Wilfrid Laurier University, one of Ontario's provincially assisted universities after Bill 178 was given Royal Assent by the Lieutenant Governor, former Wilfrid Laurier University Chancellor William Ross Macdonald.

Jules Frederic Wegman was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland on 14 July 1865 and received his early education there. He came to the United States with his father Julius, also an architect, at the age of ten years and trained with him. At one point he was sent to Jerusalem to measure the city and its buildings, and his drawings were used to reproduce the city at the Worlds’ Fair at St. Louis in 1904. Wegmen then spent several years in the Chicago office of Daniel H. Burnham & Co., a leading figure of American architecture. He appears to have also worked there under his own name, and is credited with the design of the Newbury Building, South Wabash Avenue at East Ninth Street in Chicago, in 1896. In 1905 he was invited to join the Toronto firm of Darling & Pearson, and worked there until his death in 1931, becoming a partner in 1924. He worked on the Sun Life Building in Montreal, the North Toronto Station at Yonge and Summerhill, and the 1925 expansion of the Art Gallery of Toronto. He spoke at least four languages fluently and traveled widely, collecting photographs and drawings of architectural details. In 1911 he joined the Arts and Letters Club and lunched there regularly. In 1912 he was Chairman of the Toronto Chapter of the Ontario Association of Architects and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada shortly before his death.

In 1910 the Canada Synod and Synod of Central Canada of the Lutheran Church entered into an agreement to establish a Lutheran Seminary. Though the location first proposed for the Seminary was Toronto, Waterloo was selected when its citizens offered a tract of land on the boundary of the town. The choice of location was further influenced by the fact that the majority of Lutherans in Ontario lived in the vicinity of Waterloo and Berlin (Kitchener). In 1911 the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada opened its doors.

Facilities for pre-theological education were established in 1914 with courses leading to senior matriculation given in Waterloo College School.

In 1924 the Waterloo College of Arts, providing courses in post-secondary education in a four year program, was established. In 1925 the Faculty of Arts, under the name of Waterloo College, affiliated with the University of Western Ontario. Waterloo College soon began to offer honours degree programs in the arts.

The affiliation with the University of Western Ontario ended in 1960 when the Seminary obtained a revised charter changing the name of the institution to Waterloo Lutheran University.

On November 1, 1973, Waterloo Lutheran University became Wilfrid Laurier University, one of Ontario's provincially assisted universities after Bill 178 was given Royal Assent by the Lieutenant Governor (and former Waterloo Lutheran University Chancellor) William Ross Macdonald.

In September 1999, Laurier opened a campus in Brantford, Ontario.

Established in 1975, the Faculty of Music delivers music education and related activities at Wilfrid Laurier University. As of 2013, undergraduate degree options include an Honours Bachelor of Music (BMus) degree and an Honours Bachelor of Music Therapy (BMT) degree. The faculty also offers Master of Music Therapy and Master of Arts in Community Music degrees. In addition to the degree programs, there are several supplementary and post-graduate options including three diploma programs, a practicum program and a management option. The Faculty of Music invites guest artists from around the world to contribute to the course offerings and hosts a number of affiliated artists, beginning in 1967 with Peter van Ginkel. Every year the faculty produces a number of concerts and recitals of traditional, new and original music. The concerts showcase the talents of WLU students and special guests in a variety of styles and forms including jazz, opera and orchestra.
The institution’s involvement with music dates back to first half of the 20th century when it was known as Waterloo College. Initially, musical activities at the college were the domain of student groups such as the college choir and the glee club. In the years following World War II the interest in music had grown at the college. There was an annual student musical known as the Purple and Gold review and the college choir led by Dr. Ulrich Leupold regularly toured the parishes of Southern Ontario. In 1945 Dr. Leupold established the Department of Music with the class Music10. By 1956 the college offered two courses in music history and theory, as well as one course on church music. In 1965 a music program was formally created by Dr. Walter Kemp. This new program allowed students to earn a Bachelor of Arts with a major in music. In 1969, a new three-year Bachelor of Music degree was introduced and was to commence in 1970.

The Music Department remained affiliated with the Faculty of Arts for the next five years. Traditionally, the department held classes in the chapel and in a music room in the Arts Building. However, these facilities did not suit department’s needs and in 1971 classes were moved into two houses on Bricker Street. Due to noise complaints from neighbouring residents, the music department was soon asked to vacate the houses. The department was then moved into the garage of the President’s House (Alumni Hall). On May 1st, 1975 the Department of Music became the Faculty of Music. Dr. Christine Mather was named the first Dean and was inducted on November 3, 1975. That same year, the Faculty of Music was moved to Macdonald House. In 1979, Dr. Gordon Greene became Dean and held the position for two consecutive terms. In 1988 the Faculty was moved to the newly constructed John Aird Centre, which contains the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, the Theatre Auditorium, classrooms, practice rooms and offices. This purpose-built centre remains as the current home of the Faculty of Music. In 1989, Anne Hall was appointed Dean. Other Deans of the Faculty of Music include Dr. Charles Morrison (Appointed in 2000) and Dr. Glen Carruthers (Appointed in 2010).

The Faculty of Science at Wilfrid Laurier University was founded in 2000, when the Faculty of Arts and Sciences partitioned into distinct faculties of Arts and Science. The Faculty consists of the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Kinesiology and Physical Education, Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science, Psychology and the Health Sciences program. Deans of the Faculty of Science have been Dr. Arthur Szabo (2000-2007), Dr. Deb MacLatchy (2007-2009), and Dr. Paul Jessop (2009- present).

The Faculty is predominantly housed in the Science Building which was officially opened in 1995. Eventually the Science Research Centre (opened in 2004) was added between the Science and Bricker Academic Buildings. The Research Centre is a dedicated research building for faculty and students.

In 2000, the Faculty of Science mandate was as follows:
“Laurier’s Faculty of Science is dedicated to collaboration between and beyond its six departments. In that spirit, the Faculty offers selected high quality programs with homes in Biology, Chemistry, Kinesiology & Physical Education, Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science and Psychology. Its programs are contemporary and competitive, designed to attract the highest quality students, and to provide them with a stimulating education and thorough preparation for employment or further studies. That Faculty holds the advance of scientific knowledge as one of its key values, and as such is committed to sustaining a supportive climate for research in the pure, social and applied sciences. The Faculty’s spirit of shared enterprise is highly valued by its members.”

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-).