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It was this day, 60 years ago, that the University of Ģ����ý was born.

With multiple campuses and countless world-shaping inventions under its proverbial belt; being home to the ; several collaborating centres; and being home to countless world leading researchers informing , , health strategy and , UĢ����ý embraces its youthful nature to punch above its weight.

“What the University of Ģ����ý has been very successful at is identifying those big problems that are important to solve,” says President and Vice-Chancellor Ed McCauley as he looks back at .

“The secret sauce is that we have very, very strong disciplinary strength, but we don’t have the deep silos that other universities have because we’re so young,” he says. 

“Being able to bring together these disciplines across all faculties is really, really special.”

From as the Alberta Normal School in 1906 and eventually the University of Alberta’s southernmost campus, UĢ����ý is now the youngest of the Top 5 Research Universities in Canada.

From the university’s halls and grounds have emerged , and , as well as illustrious , , — even , BA'85, MA'91.

“I speak every year to the first-year students … and it has been amazing — one of my favourite things I’ve ever done in my 38 years of speaking,” Olympian Mark Tewksbury, who trained at the university, told the ahead of UĢ����ý’s 60th.

“I share my story, and I literally can point and say, ‘It happened in the pool right across the hall!’ And everyone kind of turns their head," added Tewksbury, Hon. LLD’10.

“It’s where I found my confidence and leadership, and absolutely set my foundation for life.”

Before the university’s official launch on April 29, 1966, what is now main campus, and 4,600 students made up a student body that today numbers more than 38,000.

For more stories about UĢ����ý’s first 60 years, click .