The Fields Institute Turns Twenty-Five 170725 Final book with covers | Page 58

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Derek Corneil
and also, importantly, of the President of the University of
Waterloo, Doug Wright. Their infectious enthusiasm spread
quickly from Waterloo to McMaster University and to the
University of Toronto.
There may not have been a second round of competitions
for Centres of Excellence, but the idea for a mathematics
research institute in Southern Ontario nevertheless gained
support from NSERC with the condition that it be located
at one of the several sponsoring universities, which were then
competing to provide it with a permanent home.
Steve Halperin was Chair of Mathematics at the University
of Toronto at the time, and I represented the Faculty of
Arts and Science in large research projects. Together, we
drew up the Toronto proposal. Faculty members of both
departments gave strong support to the notional institute, and
crucially won the backing of the President of the University,
Rob Prichard, who recognized immediately the significance of
a mathematical research institute and would not countenance
it going elsewhere than to Toronto.
Prichard met the bus carrying the Site Selection
Committee, climbed on board, holding up traffic on St. George
Street, while he shook hands and introduced himself to the
committee members. Toronto won the competition.
Three sites at the University of Toronto were proposed.
The first was the location of the Boys and Girls Library at
40 St. George Street, which was for sale. The second was
an addition to the Sidney Smith building, but an engineering
assessment indicated that the property would be unable to
bear the additional weight. The third site was 222 College
Street, then being used as a parking lot.
Finding sufficient parking created problems for some time
between the University and the City of Toronto parking
authorities, but around then, the University saw the wisdom