SFU

Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University coat of arms
Motto	Nous sommes prêts (French)
Motto in English	"We are ready"
Type	Public
Established	1965
Endowment	$402 million
Chancellor	Anne Giardini
President	Andrew Petter
Provost	Peter Keller
Vice-Chancellor	Andrew Petter
Academic staff	1,095
Students	34,990
Undergraduates	29,591
Postgraduates	5,399
Location	Burnaby/ Surrey/ Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Campus	Urban, 1.7 km2 (0.66 sq mi) maintained, plus 3.3 km2 (1.3 sq mi) of SFU community
Tagline	Engaging The World
Colours	Red, blue, and grey
Athletics	NCAA Division II – GNAC
Nickname	Clan
Mascot	McFogg the Dog
Affiliations	AUCC CARL IAU ACU CUSID CBIE CUP
Website	www.sfu.ca

Simon Fraser University, commonly referred to as SFU, is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada with campuses in Burnaby, Surrey, and Vancouver.

The 1.7 km² (0.66 sq mi) Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located 20 km (12 mi) from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and comprises more than 30,000 students and approximately 950 faculty members. Undergraduate and graduate programs at SFU operate on a year-round tri-semester schedule and it is the only Canadian university competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). SFU is the first Canadian research university with U.S. accreditation and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

SFU is consistently ranked as one of the top comprehensive universities in Canada, placing first in Maclean's annual University Rankings in 1993, 1996–1998, 2000, 2008–2013, 2015-2016 and 2017. To date, SFU faculty and alumni have won 43 fellowships to the Royal Society of Canada, three Rhodes Scholarships and one Pulitzer Prize.

Simon Fraser University was founded upon the recommendation of a 1962 report entitled Higher Education in British Columbia and a Plan for the Future, by John B. Macdonald. He recommended the creation of a new university in the Lower Mainland and the British Columbia Legislature gave formal assent on March 1, 1963 for the establishment of the university in Burnaby. The university was named after Simon Fraser, a North West Company fur trader and explorer. The original name of the school was Fraser University, but was changed because the initials "FU" evoked the profane phrase "fuck you". In May of the same year, Gordon M. Shrum was appointed as the university's first Chancellor. From a variety of sites which were offered, Shrum recommended to the provincial government that the summit of Burnaby Mountain, 365 meters above sea level, be chosen for the new university. Architects Arthur Erickson and Geoffrey Massey won a competition to design the university, and construction began in the spring of 1964. The campus faces northwest over Burrard Inlet. Eighteen months later, on September 9, 1965, the university began its first semester with 2,500 students.