| 1942 |
Founding of the University: Carleton was the
first post-secondary educational institution founded in Ontario in the Twentieth Century.
It was founded by local businessmen and senior civil servants who saw higher education as
a worthy cause, in itself and for young men and women who were flocking to Ottawa to staff
government offices. With the end of the World War II, enrolment of returning veterans
greatly increased enrolments and led to the introduction of a full-time program. The YMCA
committee which brought the initiative to reality was chaired by Dr. Henry Marshall Tory. |
| 1949 |
First Geography course offered: ‘Geography
of Canada’ by Dr. J. Wreford Watson, Chief Geographer of the Federal Government of
Canada. The first students were mainly civil servants and teachers. |
| 1950 |
First full-time lecturer appointment in
Geography - Mrs. Jessie Watson, who taught courses in cartography and human ecology. |
| 1957 |
First full-time professorial appointment in
Geography - Dr. Gordon Merrill. By 1965, the department had grown to four full-time
faculty. Major expansion in the numbers of faculty and students occurred between 1966 and
1972. |
| 1963 |
First B.A. degrees in Geography conferred. |
| 1965 |
First B.A. (Honours) degrees in Geography
conferred. |
| 1966 |
Introduction of M.A. program. |
| 1969 |
First M.A. degrees in Geography conferred. |
| 1972 |
Introduction of B.Sc. degree in Physical
Geography. |
| 1984 |
Physical Geography faculty become associated
with the Ottawa-Carleton Centre for Geoscience Studies.
- First Geography-supervised Ph.D. in Geoscience conferred in 1986.
|
| 1992 |
Introduction of B.A. Concentration in Geographic
Information Processing.
Introduction of B.A. degree in Environmental Studies |
| 1995 |
Introduction of Ph.D. program. The program
themes are:
- the geography of societal change.
- the geography of environmental change. |
| 1997 |
Introduction of B.A. degree in Geographic
Information Processing. |
| 1997 |
Introduction of B.Sc. Concentration in
Geographic Information Processing. |
| 1998 |
First Ph.D. degree in Geography conferred. |
| 1998 |
Name changed to the Department of Geography and
Environmental Studies. |
