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> Trio of students-turned-faculty celebrate four decades on the hill
Trio of students-turned-faculty celebrate four decades on the hill
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Contact:
Lindsay Meredith, 604.291.5554, lindsay_meredith@sfu.ca
Barry Beyerstein, 604.291.3743; barry_beyerstein@sfu.ca
Craig Asmundson, 604.291.4231; craig_asmundson@sfu.ca
Lindsay Meredith, 604.291.5554, lindsay_meredith@sfu.ca
Barry Beyerstein, 604.291.3743; barry_beyerstein@sfu.ca
Craig Asmundson, 604.291.4231; craig_asmundson@sfu.ca
August 31, 2005
A trio of Burnaby high school classmates who headed for the hill when SFU first opened in 1965 will be celebrating their own four decades at SFU when the university turns 40 on Sept. 9
None of them planned or predicted they would still be haunting the AQ hallways. But if you ask business professor Lindsay Meredith, psychology professor Barry Beyerstein or kinesiology lecturer Craig Asmundson, who graduated together from Burnaby South senior secondary school, they'd do it all over again.
After graduation the three were eager to check out the bold new university rapidly taking shape in their backyard. “Oh boy, were we excited by the prospect of what Simon Fraser University had to offer,” recalls Meredith. “ This was not going to be an old traditional monster like other universities. Here, we had something called tutorials, where classes were small and there were actually people you could talk to. You could study all year and the mandate was to be experimental and unique. That was a powerful incentive to kids like us.”
Beyerstein was also looking for something different when he caught wind of the new university.“SFU was opening right at the time I was ready to enter university, and it seemed exciting to be part of a brand new place, and it was,” says Beyerstein, dubbed “the witty psychoanalyst” in his high school yearbook. He studied for a time at Berkeley but returned when he was offered a job at SFU. “Been here happily ever since,” he says.
Asmundson chose SFU over UBC so he could remain closer to home and take advantage of what the new place had to offer. “It was exciting to have that choice, coming right out of high school,” he says. After four semesters he left SFU and worked at a variety of jobs, then returned. He graduated in 1972 and went on to complete his master's degree in kinesiology. A few years later he was hired as a lecturer, though never having any long range plans to stay beyond getting his degree. “I just fell into things,” he says.
The three boys from Burnaby South, all now residents of Coquitlam, have been more than just regular faculty employees at SFU. Each has won a major award for service to the university. Beyerstein and Meredith have received the president's award for service in media and public relations, while Asmundson received the C.D. Nelson award for his contributions outside of academia.
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electronic photo of the trio with their high school grad pics available
None of them planned or predicted they would still be haunting the AQ hallways. But if you ask business professor Lindsay Meredith, psychology professor Barry Beyerstein or kinesiology lecturer Craig Asmundson, who graduated together from Burnaby South senior secondary school, they'd do it all over again.
After graduation the three were eager to check out the bold new university rapidly taking shape in their backyard. “Oh boy, were we excited by the prospect of what Simon Fraser University had to offer,” recalls Meredith. “ This was not going to be an old traditional monster like other universities. Here, we had something called tutorials, where classes were small and there were actually people you could talk to. You could study all year and the mandate was to be experimental and unique. That was a powerful incentive to kids like us.”
Beyerstein was also looking for something different when he caught wind of the new university.“SFU was opening right at the time I was ready to enter university, and it seemed exciting to be part of a brand new place, and it was,” says Beyerstein, dubbed “the witty psychoanalyst” in his high school yearbook. He studied for a time at Berkeley but returned when he was offered a job at SFU. “Been here happily ever since,” he says.
Asmundson chose SFU over UBC so he could remain closer to home and take advantage of what the new place had to offer. “It was exciting to have that choice, coming right out of high school,” he says. After four semesters he left SFU and worked at a variety of jobs, then returned. He graduated in 1972 and went on to complete his master's degree in kinesiology. A few years later he was hired as a lecturer, though never having any long range plans to stay beyond getting his degree. “I just fell into things,” he says.
The three boys from Burnaby South, all now residents of Coquitlam, have been more than just regular faculty employees at SFU. Each has won a major award for service to the university. Beyerstein and Meredith have received the president's award for service in media and public relations, while Asmundson received the C.D. Nelson award for his contributions outside of academia.
-30-
electronic photo of the trio with their high school grad pics available