- Grad year: 1966
The 1956 Engineering Physics class held its 60th Reunion Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2016, at UBC. Six of the original 9 members of our graduating Engineering Physics class (and some family members) were able to make this reunion, of which one (William Olsen) lives in the Vancouver area, one in Vernon, B.C. (Don Watts), one in the Victoria area (Grenville Mason), one in California (Michael Harris), one in Ottawa (Arthur Kuhn), and one in Austin, Texas (Peter Riley). Fred Holland (Washington, DC) and John Coburn (San Jose) were not able to make it. We have met as a group fairly regularly since 1996, when we held our first UBC reunion since graduating in 1956.
The UBC part of our reunion, held Friday Sept.30, was kindly organized by Tara Newell, Alumni Relations Coordinator, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC. We met for coffee in the Hennings Building, and I felt a thrill as I walked by Hennings 200, site of my first UBC Physics class way back in 1951! Coffee was followed by a wonderful tour of Engineering Physics undergraduate project classrooms, given by Dr. John Nakane and Bernard Zender. Finally, we met for lunch at UBC’s Sage Restaurant. On Saturday, October 1, we toured the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame at BC Place, Vancouver. We especially enjoyed seeing display photographs which include Michael Harris, a member of UBC’s 1956 Gold Medal winning rowing team.
Overall, I think and hope that this was a wonderful reunion for all; we feel fortunate to have been part of this close-knit group. We hope for more reunions!
Submitted by Peter Riley, Eng Phys '56
