The Who’s Who of Lakehead’s Brick and Mortar

We go to class in the Ryan Building, study endlessly in the Chancellor Paterson Library, grab coffee in the Agora, and get completely lost in the Braun Building. These buildings are stitched into our everyday lives, but most of us have never stopped to ask: who are the names on the wall?

Lakehead’s Thunder Bay campus has five buildings named after luminaries: The William Tamblyn Centennial Building, the Chancellor Paterson Library, the Ryan Building, the Braun Building, and Bora Laskin building. 

William Tamblyn Centennial Building

Originally known simply as the Centennial Building, it was renamed in 2007 to honour Lakehead’s first president and Vice Chancellor. During Dr. William Tamblyn’s seven years as president, his career oversaw Lakehead’s evolution from a small college with a graduating class of 76 people, to what it is today. The man-made Lake Tamblyn is also named in honour of him. 

Chancellor Paterson Library:

The library is Lakehead’s cornerstone of peace, quiet, and late night study sessions. But who was Chancellor Paterson? Norman Paterson lived from 1883-1993 and was a culturally significant philanthropist and figurehead in the transportation industry. He also served on Canada’s senate for forty one years and as Lakehead's first Chancellor from 1965-1971. If you look hard enough, you can sneak a peak of his portrait that hangs on the first floor wall in the Library. 

Ryan Building: 

The Ryan Building is the core of Lakehead’s arts and humanities departments. The building opened in 1972 and was named after Timothy Ryan, who served as Lakehead’s Dean of Arts.  There isn’t much information on Timothy Ryan, but he was instrumental in the development of the humanities at Lakehead. 

Braun Building 

The Braun Building was the first to be constructed on campus, and was named after Lakehead’s first dean Harold Braun. He worked at Lakehead for 29 years and was an important figure in Lakehead’s STEM department development. 

Bora Laskin Building

The Bora Laskin building and faculty of law is named after one of Canada’s most influential legal minds and Lakehead’s second Chancellor. Born in Thunder Bay, Bora Laskin served as the chief justice of Canada on the supreme court in the 70s and 80s. As a progressive judge, he championed human rights, with his time on the supreme court seeing the creation of the Charter of Rights.

Next time you think about slacking off in class, just remember that Dr. Braun would have wanted you to achieve great things. So take a seat in the Chancellor Paterson Library, buckle down, and make the Fall semester count!