Winter scenes of Campus

View looking north of the main entrance of the Biology Building; flowers and trees in foreground.

Looking south at Biology Building; two female students walk along paths in foreground.

Looking south at Biology Building; students walk along snowy pathways in foreground.

Looking south at newly completed Biology Building.

Stone masons work among boulders in front of the steel skeleton of the Biology Building.

Bio/Historical Note: The W.P. Thompson Biology Building is named after Walter Palmer Thompson, the University of Saskatchewan's third president and founder of the Biology Department (1913). Designed by Izumi, Arnott and Sugiyama, it was constructed between 1957 and 1959 and officially opened in 1960. Set back from the Bowl, the flat-roofed cube style building was located between the Collegiate Gothic architecture of the Chemistry and Physics Buildings. It originally consisted of a teaching wing and a research wing but a header and greenhouse complex was added in 1962. Unlike many other Canadian universities the Department of Biology at Saskatchewan remained a single unit, balancing diverse sub-disciplines rather than separating into several distinct departments. Prior to the building's opening in 1960, work in biological sciences was scattered among four campus locations. Perhaps the most striking of the building’s features is the mural of mosaic tiles that adorns the south and west exterior walls. The mural depicts the four main stages of cellular mitosis. The artist, Roy Kiyooka, chose chromosome patterns as a testament to Dr. Thompson's important discoveries regarding the genetics of wheat rust. In 1986, the Geology Building was completed on the south side of Biology, resulting in the transformation of the south façade from an exterior into an interior wall, part of a new atrium.

View looking northwest of the Biology Building, with Physics annexes at far right. Several men walking on pathway in foreground.

Winter view looking south at final stages of construction of the Biology Building.

Bio/Historical Note: The W.P. Thompson Biology Building is named after Walter Palmer Thompson, the University of Saskatchewan's third president and founder of the Biology Department (1913). Designed by Izumi, Arnott and Sugiyama, it was constructed between 1957 and 1959 and officially opened in 1960. Set back from the Bowl, the flat-roofed cube style building was located between the Collegiate Gothic architecture of the Chemistry and Physics Buildings. It originally consisted of a teaching wing and a research wing but a header and greenhouse complex was added in 1962. Unlike many other Canadian universities the Department of Biology remained a single unit, balancing diverse sub-disciplines rather than separating into several distinct departments. Prior to the building's opening in 1960, work in biological sciences was scattered among four campus locations. Perhaps the most striking of the building’s features is the mural of mosaic tiles that adorns the south and west exterior walls. The mural depicts the four main stages of cellular mitosis. The artist, Roy Kiyooka, chose chromosome patterns as a testament to Dr. Thompson's important discoveries regarding the genetics of wheat rust. In 1986, the Geology Building was completed on the south side of Biology, resulting in the transformation of the south façade from an exterior into an interior wall, part of a new atrium.

Looking north at the Biology Building; students sit on grass.

Looking southwest at the Biology Building; students walk along pathways.

Stone masons work among boulders in front of the steel skeleton of the Biology Building.

Bio/Historical Note: The W.P. Thompson Biology Building is named after Walter Palmer Thompson, the University of Saskatchewan's third president and founder of the Biology Department (1913). Designed by Izumi, Arnott and Sugiyama, it was constructed between 1957 and 1959 and officially opened in 1960. Set back from the Bowl, the flat-roofed cube style building was located between the Collegiate Gothic architecture of the Chemistry and Physics Buildings. It originally consisted of a teaching wing and a research wing but a header and greenhouse complex was added in 1962. Unlike many other Canadian universities the Department of Biology remained a single unit, balancing diverse sub-disciplines rather than separating into several distinct departments. Prior to the building's opening in 1960, work in biological sciences was scattered among four campus locations. Perhaps the most striking of the building’s features is the mural of mosaic tiles that adorns the south and west exterior walls. The mural depicts the four main stages of cellular mitosis. The artist, Roy Kiyooka, chose chromosome patterns as a testament to Dr. Thompson's important discoveries regarding the genetics of wheat rust. In 1986, the Geology Building was completed on the south side of Biology, resulting in the transformation of the south façade from an exterior into an interior wall, part of a new atrium.

W. P. Thompson Building, with mosaics shown.