The Fields Institute Turns Twenty-Five 170725 Final book with covers | Page 56

34 Peter Lancaster may have been a little too elaborate. The architectural design for a new building to house the Institute included a domed portico which was later removed from the plans out of financial considerations (see drawing on pages iv–v). Among the memorable Fields activities that I have experienced, I particularly remember a conference on Applications of Operator Theory held at the University of Manitoba in 1994. I was Chair of the Program Committee—and it also happened to coincide with my retirement from the teaching staff at the University of Calgary. So a very successful international mathematical gathering was also the scene of a retirement celebration, which included my wife, Edna, and my three daughters. I believe that the Fields Institute—and the other mathematical institutes of Canada—have provided, and continue to provide, an extraordinary stimulus to research in the mathematical sciences across the country.