Reason #4 of '101 Reasons Why I Heart Edmonton'

University of Alberta

by emil tiedemann

SHORTLY after the turn of the century, Edmonton and Calgary contested over which city would become the newly-confederated province’s capital and which would attain the University of Alberta. Needless to say, we ended up with both, and Calgary...well, you know. 
 
One of the many buildings at the main UofA campus.


To say that the University of Alberta is important to our province would be an elaborate understatement. It’s essential to Alberta, and to its nearly 40,000 students from more than 150 countries, as well as the 15,000 people who are employed at the UofA. 

The original north campus on the rim of the North Saskatchewan is made up of some 150 buildings spanning about 50 city blocks, offering 400 programs in 18 faculties. The UofA has an economic impact on Alberta of well-over $12 billion annually, and is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in the country (as high as #3). 

But, those are just the numbers. The University has had a significant impact on Edmonton and Alberta’s cultural, political, and scientific worlds as well, giving us some of the province’s most important alumni, including a billionaire businessman, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Hollywood actors, Juno-winning musicians, 68 Rhodes Scholars, five Premiers, and even a Prime Minister! 
 
The UofA is one of the most prestigious universities in all of Canada.


Founded in 1908 by inaugural Alberta Premier Alexander Cameron Rutherford and inaugural UofA President Henry Marshall Tory, the University has since expanded to three other Edmonton campuses, as well as the Augustana Campus in Camrose, and a staff centre in Calgary’s downtown. 

It has become somewhat of a city within a city, with its hundreds of dorms and sororities, a pair of LRT and bus stations, nearly a dozen libraries, over 400 research labs, its own Hub Mall, the Timms Centre concert hall, various sports teams (Golden Bears & Pandas), the University of Alberta Hospital, and of course, some of the most innovative and influential minds around. 

Perhaps, the University of Alberta is Edmonton’s single greatest contribution to the furtherance of our nation as a whole. #ualberta

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is a UofA grad.
 

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