Great Moments: Alumni association

The UVic Alumni Association was incorporated in 1965 under the guidance of community leaders and former Victoria College students, including Victoria lawyer Constance Isherwood (who drafted the association’s constitution), Victoria Mayor (and future UVic chancellor) Richard B. Wilson, and Brian Tobin, editor of the Victoria Daily Times.

Since then, countless volunteers have given their time to help the association in its mission to lead the worldwide involvement of alumni in UVic life through a variety of programs, services, and events offered in partnership with the university.

The association’s prestigious Alumni Awards for Excellence in Teaching were the first of their kind on campus when they were introduced in 1989 and the gallery of past recipients lines the main stairway of the Mearns Centre for Learning/McPherson Library.

The alumni association also recognizes the achievements of individual alumni in their careers and community service. Among the many celebrated members of the UVic alumni family are: prize-winning novelist Esi Edugyan (BA ’99), Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield (BA ’96), nature photographer Paul Nicklen (BSc ’90), TV and film actor Erin Karpluk (BFA ’00), and Grand Chief Edward John (BA ’74), chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.