Ryerson University

Ryerson University

Established in 1948, Ryerson University is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario. Its urban campus is in downtown Toronto.

The majority of the buildings of the university are in the blocks northeast of the Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto’s Garden District. Ryerson’s business school, Ted Rogers School of Management (Canada`s largest undergraduate business school) is on the southwest end of the Yonge-Dundas Square, on Bay Street, north of Toronto’s Financial District. It is attached to the Toronto Eaton Centre.

The Mattamy Athletic Centre, is located in the Maple Leaf Gardens arena, formerly home of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ryerson has Canada’s third largest undergraduate engineering school, the George Vari Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science. In addition to offering full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate programs leading to Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees, the university offers part-time degrees, distance education and certificates through the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.

Egerton Ryerson, founder of the School System of Ontario. Photo: Elena

In 1852 at the core of the present main campus, the St. James Square, Egerton Ryerson founded Ontario’s first teacher training facility, the Toronto Normal School. Mr. Ryerson was an educator, politician, and Methodist minister. He is known as the father of Ontario’s public school system.

Egerton Ryerson is also a founder of the first publishing company in Canada in 1829, The Methodist Book and Publishing House, which is today is part of McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

The Toronto Training and Re-establishment Institute was created in 1945 on the former site of the Toronto Normal School at St James Square, bounded by Gerrard, Church, Yonge and Gould. The Gothic-Romanesque building was designed by architects Thomas Ridout and Frederick William Cumberland in 1852.

Campus Ryerson Polytechincal Institute. Named after the Reverend Egerton Ryerson, founder of the procince’s education system, the Ryerson Institute of Technology was established in 1948 to provide technological education for post-secondary school students. The buildings and many staff members of the former Toronto Training and Reestablishment Institute for veterans, located on this site, were transferred to the new Institute. Diploma courses were offered in various schools of technology, commerce and the applied arts, and the Institute rapidly became a leading centre for technical education in Ontario. In 1964 it was renamed Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, and administration was transferred from the Ontario Department of Education to a Board of Governors. Seven years later Ryerson became a degree-granting institution. Photo: Elena

The Ryerson Institute of Technology was founded in 1948, inheriting the staff and facilities of the Toronto Training and Re-establishment Institute. In 1966, this institution became the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.

Today, Ryerson University offers programs in chemical, civil, mechanical, industrial, electrical, biomedical and computer engineering. The university is also one of only two Canadian universities to offer a program in aerospace engineering accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). In total, Ryerson offers more than hundred undergraduate and graduate programs.

Ryerson University. This coat of arms in Ohio sandstone is a composite of a design by Governor John Graves Simcoe (1791 – 1796) to which were added the motto (religio, scientia, libertas) and the beaver by Dr. Egerton Ryerson, Ontario’s first superintendent of education. Governor Simcoe’s design served as the seal of Upper Canada, and Dr. Ryerson used the composite as the insignia of the Department of Education. This sculpture was placed in the facade of the Normal school which stood on this site when a third floor was added in 1896. This building, later called Ryerson Hall, was demolished in 1963. Photo: Elena

The Toronto Normal School. The Toronto Normal School, the first provincial institution for the systematic training of elementary school-teachers, was established in 1847 through the initiative of the Reverend Egerton Ryerson, Chief Superintendent of Schools for Canada West. In 1852 the School was located in Classical Revival style buildings designed for this site by F.W. Cumberland and Thomas Ridout. At first the Normal School had to provide academic instruction for some poorly educated student-teachers, but, increasingly, emphasis was placed on professional training. As a result the Toronto Normal School contributed significantly to the gradual improvement of teaching standards throughout Ontario and became a leading centre for teacher-training. In 1941 the Normal School was moved to a different site and renamed Toronto Teachers’ College in 1952.

Web Site of Ryerson University: ryerson.ca

Ryerson Theatre School. Photo: Elena