Lakehead University

Lakehead University

Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ont, was founded in 1965. Its roots date back to 1946 when Lakehead Technical Institute was established. The name was changed to Lakehead College of Arts, Science and Technology in 1956, and in 1957 the city of Port Arthur donated the land for a new college campus. In 1965 Lakehead became a university with all degree-granting powers.

Set in the rugged beauty of Northwestern Ontario, Lakehead offers a wide range of educational opportunities. Relatively small class sizes encourage communication between students and faculty. Lakehead offers a broad array of arts and science and professional programs. Much of Lakehead's curriculum has been tailored to reflect the natural resources and environmental issues of the boreal forest region. Programs such as biology, forestry, geography, geology and outdoor recreation, parks and tourism take advantage of the natural laboratory. In 2000 the federal government announced that Lakehead would be the lead institution in a national Centre of Excellence for Children and Adolescents with Special Needs. In 2001 Lakehead announced an innovative partnership with Nortel Networks and Bell Canada that will see the campus become the site of the largest installation of voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephony in North America.

Lakehead is one of the few Canadian universities that offer both degree and diploma programs at the undergraduate level, in addition to graduate programs. Several degree completion programs allow college transfer students to invest their diploma in a degree.

Distinguished Lakehead alumni include world curling champions Heather Houston and Richard Lang, Governor General's award winning author Diane Schoemperlen, and Margaret Page, Member of the Order of Canada. Lakehead's colours are blue and gold and its motto is "Ad augusta per angusta" or "Achievement through effort."