A Casual Retrospective of Formative Years of Acadia University’s Geology Department
by George R. Stevens, Head of Geology Department 1966-1981
Acadia University, and its Geology Department, both experienced revolutionary development and rapid progress under the enlightened, vigorous Presidency of Dr. J.M.R. Beveridge. Dr Beveridge was a new President, called to Acadia in (1964). Acadia was an old University (founded 1838) rooted in Baptist tradition. Dr Beveridge recognized the need for reform of its governing body and shepherded a new Constitution for it to lessen the predominant influence of clergymen and the Baptist Convention. The Board would now include Educators, Scholars, Businessmen and Public Servants, and Private Citizens, its constitution affirmed officially by the Provincial Government.
These changes and their impacts were revolutionary, sudden, and dramatic, and were not without some resistance in both Faculty, Administration, and Alumni. In the past it was common and conventional to hire Acadia Alumni preferentially for newly opened positions in Faculty and Administration. Nepotism seemed to have ruled at Acadia, until the post-war wave of wonderful, talented, colorful new émigré Faculty members who were eager to escape the turmoil of war and post-war Europe. These pioneers powerfully influenced the color and path forward of education at Acadia. President Beveridge recognized the effect that truly new and diverse Faculty would have on Acadia’s Future, and with the blessings of the newly constituted Board of Governors, began a program of recruiting new Faculty members much more broadly, drawing from established, well-recognized Universities in Canada, United States, and Europe.
I am one of them.
I am quite content, justifiably proud of my own direct influence and roles in building the Department of Geology at Acadia. I am also most grateful for the remarkable opportunity and freedoms offered to me in 1966, and since. Here’s some of the background:
In 1965, during my time on faculty of the Lafayette College (Pennsylvania) Geology Department, I received private notice from Acadia University to consider an opening in its Geology Department. I knew practically nothing then about Acadia U., but enough of Nova Scotia Geology, to get a spark of interest. I replied tersely, with the barest professional data about myself…. (not with a full CV). I was soon called to the telephone to speak with Chalmers Smith, Acadia’s acting as Dean of Science who explained a bit of Acadia and its new directions… (but with little information about its two-person Geology Department). I was urged to apply, and to mail the full Professional CV, which I did. I was surprised to rather quickly receive an invitation from Acadia’s President himself, to visit Acadia for an 'informal' overview of the situation there, meet Officers of the Administration, and gain an understanding about Acadia. We set the date for this at January, 1966.
January 1966 was cold and gray. I was picked up at the Halifax Airport and chauffeured to Wolfville by a warm, colorful Nova Scotian who chatted the whole hour of the trip. I was given rooms at “The RevAron”, on Main Street. My host, personal guide, and driver was President Beveridge himself, for that weekend. He collected me next morning and drove us to a cordial private lunch, in nearby Kentville. During this he clarified that the open position was to be Head of the Geology Department, Full-Professor Rank (subject to a two-year tenure qualification), with an ‘interesting’ salary (Canadian Dollars, sad to say. I later learned that “PhD, the Johns Hopkins University” on my record was influential). The Position was to be “Head”, (not Chairman), and answerable directly to The President and Board of Trustees. He was also careful to point out guardedly, that neither of the two incumbent Faculty members in the Geology Department was or would be considered for the position. From this, I correctly sensed problems ahead. Persistent ones.
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On Saturday Dr. Beveridge rather sheepishly asked “if I had the practice of attending church on Sundays”, (hoping, I’m sure, that I’d say “no”, or decline the offer he felt obliged to make.) Well, heck! ...that put ME on a spot just as he felt he was! – here I am at a church-related, old-school university and town, wondering just what the proper etiquette should be, so I gambled, and agreed that it would be OK to attend Church with him next day. He drooped (visibly) in disappointment, but valiantly invited me to breakfast with him at his house, and then to walk the short bit to the local (Baptist) Church. Thus began a comedy of errors: - On the short trek to church, on a very cold, snowy-icy January morning we walked into and through a snowball street-battle between local young boys, replete with loud, creative un-Baptist four-letter expletives (ALL of them). Chief vocalist among them was one Billy Beveridge, son of the President, who was embarrassed and angered that this should happen when he was dutifully shepherding a candidate. He quickly collared the young offender, and with firm authority, reprimanded and sent him home. Then began an impassioned serial apology to me for that event, assuring that it was rare, etc., - not at all typical of what Wolfville/Acadia was about. Once into a pew, with many proper introductions to nearby pew-sters, we settled down for coming events, and for the sermon - which turned out to be a noisy tirade on the least appropriate subject for a visiting geologist : “The Theory of Evolution is the Work of Satan”. Pastor was in his nineties, and this was to be his last sermon, having formally retired long before. Dr. Beveridge squirmed in anger and embarrassment throughout the whole agony, and even through our private lunch, continued to apologize. I was amused, tolerant of course, and it was clear to him that I sympathised for his predicament. He eventually cooled down, even to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
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Prior to start of the Fall Semester, I was invited to Acadia for interviews and orientation in January and April of 1966. On Canada Day ’66, I arrived with my family to take up permanent residence in Wolfville, and to formally begin the responsibilities of Head of the Geology Department.
In April, I was again hosted by Dr. Beveridge, continued to meet officers of the Administration, preview terms of the position, and seek out a residence for my family. My competent wife, Maeann, did the search, linked with a local real estate person (Mr Johnston), who took her through several prospective homes during the day. Each was quite unsuitable, until the last at day’s end, when I was free to be present. Eventually, we acquired No. 3, Victoria Avenue, which became our comfortable family home until we left Wolfville in 2001.
During this second trip to campus (April), I realized that I had not yet been shown the Geology Department itself, nor had I met its two staff members. I sensed, correctly, that there was no intention of doing so during this visit. Nonetheless I persisted in asking, and it was hastily arranged to meet with Rupert MacNiell and Reginald Moore during the last afternoon. I also got a whirlwind tour of the Department itself then, three floors of the South end of the Biology Building, Patterson Hall. This was in no way inspiring or encouraging, but my host persistently reminded me that Geology was slated to have modern new spaces in the yet-to-be-built New Science Building. I was reassured by this.
THE GEOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Geology’s part of Patterson Hall occupied rooms on three dreary, cluttered, dusty floors. Discouraging. First floor (ground level) held the entry-way foyer, a large corner Office, two other small work rooms, the mineralogy lab, and a double staircase leading up. Storage boxes and furniture items were stacked everywhere, including on the stairway landing. Second floor held a bright corner lecture room, and another laboratory with tables. An open corridor led deeper into Patterson Hall and the large Biology lecture theater. Cardboard boxes were stacked on the landing which led up to the third level “attic”, a dark, forbidding cavern of even more cardboard boxes, which were arranged as the trackway of a maze. This trackway led ultimately to the “office” of Dr. Moore, a small, crowded space under the eaves, lit by a single hanging bare light bulb, plus his desk lamp. Books were stacked everywhere. He later joked that its remote third-floor location guaranteed him relative privacy.
The myriad cardboard boxes stored everywhere contained old back-issues of Department of Mines bulletins, “and such”, Rupert MacNeill informed me later. There was no proper inventory. Once established in my role, I quickly arranged that all of those storage boxes went to the Library and to Physical Plant for proper disposition. A long overdue, ‘brutal’ house-cleaning, years overdue!
After this, I asked for a full-time Janitor, and for a full-time Geology Department Secretary, and both were quickly granted. Betty Davison was appointed as the very first Geology Secretary, an excellent, perceptive, loyal worker, who greatly facilitated our move into new quarters in Huggins Science Hall. She remained with us there for several years.
Until my arrival, the Acadia BSc program was tailored to Nova Scotia’s System that high school Grade 12 was recognized as equivalent to first year of College. This was entirely new to me. It meant that Acadia BSc graduates would not be admitted into Graduate Schools elsewhere, as the 4-year Bachelor degree was required for admission. This usually meant that Acadia 3-year grads were required to undertake a conditional trial year at graduate schools prior to actual acceptance into the MSc program there. The quality of Grade 12 education varied throughout the Province, and in general did not equate with a freshman year at Acadia, or any other College. It was clear to me that for the Geology degree, the introductory courses must be taught at College, not high school levels.
I determined at the outset to require that the Acadia BSc in Geology be a four-year program, to equate Acadia’s Geology BSc with others in Canada and the USA . This was quickly approved, with approbation. The four-year BSc degree program became general at Acadia, and its graduates became admissible to Graduate Programs elsewhere without extra conditions.
Prior to my arrival, the Acadia Geology degree core was based on a relatively few Geology Courses in three years, plus a minor of two courses in another department. In the new 4-year program, I required six or more Geology credits, and that the minor be taken in one of the Sciences, AND that at least one of the Science course be in LABORATORY Course. In practice, this meant a minor in either Chemistry, Biology, or Physics. Later, we sneaked in a course in Statistics, too. I was open even to accepting Engineering courses towards the minor.
When I arrived there were only a few undergrad Geology majors, about six. Most of that group were not strong students, and were without conviction. There were, however, three or four on-going graduate students, working very, very, very casually towards the Acadia MSc. Two were under Dr. Moore’s direction. One had been there for five years already, with no end in sight. By executive fiat, I required that the new Acadia MSc Program was to consume two full-time years, courses, seminar, the robust field program, plus a thesis defense at completion. The ‘five-year’ candidate was pushed to completion in one more year (he eventually earned his PhD at Cambridge, using electron microscope on microfossils). Two others of the casual candidates were also pushed, and finished their MSc in two years. (I mentored one of them).
Once the two new degree programs were instituted, enrolments began to climb, and the quality and number of students attracted improved. The next major step planned was to attract additional Faculty, to handle the new course-loads. I was privately assured that funding for this would be ‘forthcoming’, so I began making contacts, with confidence and optimism.
Geology was authorized new, additional faculty positions, at the Assistant Professor level. We advertised Canada-wide, requiring the PhD in-hand. This brought us Drs. John (Jack) Colwell and Uly Vagners. Jack Colwell nicely covered Mineralogy, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, and later on, Geochemistry, Ore Deposits. Jack was strongly recommended to me by his Employer (Exploration, Mining, Michigan), maybe a bit too enthusiastically? He stressed that Jack was “a Maritimer”, and would thrive at Acadia. (Right on Target)! Uly Vagners came to us from Ontario (Gov’t Survey, or Private Company? - I forget). His fields were glacial, sediments, soils. He left us for Ontario after a good year with us. His young family was not content living in Port Williams and had strong family ties in Ontario. (Uly produced an early version of a soil-type map of Kings County before he left, although it was not completed.
Looking ahead to the new building, I sought and won a substantial grant (over $20,000), to equip an X-ray diffraction laboratory, with both cameras and graphic output. This was also to include a special three-axis X-ray goniometer for determination of fabric (preferred orientation) in fine-grained rock (my research interest). This was duly ordered from Phillips Corp., which agreed to install it when the new building and lab space were ready. We were also in dire need of proper, modern petrographic microscopes, to replace the worn-out antiques we had. I ordered 12-15 new Olympus Monocular ‘scopes, installed soon after we entered the new facilities. These survived several years of student abuse.
One of the many shocks when I first saw the Department was that there were, quite literally, almost NO MAPS, of any kind. (There was in fact one badly worn small-scale geologic map of North America, and another of the Maritimes). To remedy this, I wrote a form letter to about seventy foreign embassies or consulates, asking directly for them to assist building our map library by providing the appropriate Geologic Map of that country. Most responded, quickly and generously. The Tectonic/Geologic Map of Europe (wall-mounted in our Seminar room) was the generous gift of the Soviet Union. These geologic gift-maps constituted our map library, along with Nova Scotia coverage in topographic maps.
Planning for the new Science Building soon began in earnest. The architect and builder had been contracted, with funding assured. The architect brought together a “Design” committee of the heads of the Science departments, Dean, Engineering, & Administration Officers. We were taken on a week (+) of visiting the campuses of several universities in New England to study their own relatively new science buildings (same builder?). Outstanding in my memory were MIT & Smith College. We were also wined & dined, and well cared for). Shepherded by the architect of the new-to-be-Acadia Science Building. We took notes, photos, and seminar’d evenings. After we returned to Acadia, there began even more planning meetings, some long, and detailed. Geology was allotted its third floor and basement spaces, later to subdivide those spaces into functional laboratories rooms, offices. “Huggins Hall” (as eventually named) was to be a modern, four-story structure with glazed south and north sides, the ends: a sort of deep-brick mega-stucco ‘stonework’, quite imposing, between Chemistry and Biology buildings. It was to have a deep concrete basement, and a large but obscure structure on its flat roof, to house the “air conditioning” machinery. Yes, Huggins was equipped to be entirely air-conditioned throughout! Its machinery might still be up there, but was never used. After its first year, and MUCH campus envy, and a general regional effort to conserve energy, the AC was shut down, permanently. Fortunately, the office cubicles hung along the glazed sides and had windows that could be opened for summer.
About this stage of things, I advertised broadly for a replacement of Uly Vagners. We needed another hand to build the Department, to help get settled into the new quarters, and fill out the academic program. Enter Sandra Barr! UBC referees endorsed her with enthusiasm and pointed-out that she (and husband Alan Macdonald) were then finishing a program in Thailand, and were ready to return to North America. I was also aware that a female professor might draw a few female students into the major, which was borne out. I did have reservations about her linkage to a geologist husband, being unsure about appearance of nepotism, Acadia’s old curse. Much later on, I was afield on Vancouver Island with one of their professors, who chose to enlighten me with unsolicited color of when the pair were graduate students. Sandra fared rather well. I add his saying about Acadia: “Isn’t that a small basketball college out East somewhere?”
Early-on, during Patterson Hall days, I had hoped to bring-in new Geology students having neither Acadia nor Maritimes background. (All of then-present majors and MSc candidates had both.) I’ve always believed in the benefits of cross-fertilization, having seen its effects, and have been its beneficiary. It wasn’t an easy task to start with, and “not enthusiastically endorsed” within the Department. My gifts of tact and finesse are legendary(!), and both were needed. Accordingly, I reviewed the “literature”, and eventually endorsed the application to the MSc Program of a candidate from India. His undergrad record was quite good, endorsed with strong referees. Mr. Rao eventually appeared on our doorstep, hale and hearty. After some remedial classes, we assigned him to a small tract of challenging Geology a bit down-Valley, at “Rockville Notch” where Silurian units were in contact with older ones, and with younger granite. Mr Rao eventually won the MSc, and later joined an exploration company in northern New Brunswick. He was the first of many foreign MSc candidates invited into Acadia’s Geology program: India, Bangla Desh, China, Borneo, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand – and Ireland sent us a half-dozen! Some of these went onward and upwards for PhDs elsewhere. All of them contributed mightily to academic and cultural cross-fertilization within the Geology Department, at ALL levels, and in the broader international community.
Rapid Growth:
Once the Department entered and acclimated to the new building (Huggins Hall), and through the impact of newly recruited faculty members, the dynamics changed remarkably. This was chiefly marked by steady increases in student enrolments into the Geology Major, and by fruitful changes in course offerings. My annual progress letter to the President once noted that Geology Major enrolments had climbed rapidly, and steadily to 125, the third largest of all Canadian Universities! (I avoided the more correct term: “explosively”, to stress that our growth was quite controlled, natural). In it I rightly attributed growth to the good effect of David Green, Acadia’s Registrar, who purposely guided stronger & promising incoming freshmen to Geology. David Green was an Englishman, who considered our Program broadest in and of the Sciences.