51猎奇入口

(Jeff) Albert, can you say a few words about yourself and how you came to SFU?

(Albert) Yes. I was a lecturer at Imperial College in London. When another department closed, a rather objectionable fellow joined the electoral diffraction department, where I worked. And I decided I had to leave. Since I was not educated in Cambridge the chances of getting a job in England were low. My twin brother was at the University of British Columbia and he told me about 51猎奇入口, and so I contacted SFU. It turned out that they had recently acquired an electron microscope, and they needed an expert to operate, which was very fortunate for me. I applied for the job, and was hired. 51猎奇入口agreed to pay for the export of certain properties that I owned.

(Jeff) So both personal belongings and research equipment.

(Albert) Yeah. For example, one of the things I brought over was the desk of Professor Blackman, who had been my boss at Imperial College and was not there anymore.

When I came here, I had a very nice welcome and thoroughly enjoyed being at SFU

(Barbara) And when did you come to SFU?

(Albert) I came here in 1968. I think the first semester I didn't teach. I taught my first lesson in the second semester. I wanted to look at what was taught and how it was taught so as to agree with the Canadian system.

(Barbara) And then in 1974, you became chair of the Department of Physics.

(Albert) Yes, I became chair. And I think it was three or four years I was the chair and because my salary went up, my wife Mona and I agreed that we would set up a bursary, which we did. It has changed its name over the years, but it is now called the Mona and Albert Curzon Bursary and it has funded 100-odd students. I'm very delighted with the financial ability of the people who run this place because the money has been growing all the time. They're really good.

(Jeff) Tell us a little bit about Mona and her early life, and then tell us about what influenced you.

(Albert) Mona and I were just like one person. We thoroughly agreed about everything. It was just lovely.

She was born in Hamburg in 1937. In 1942, she and her parents were in Antwerp.

(My love of puns makes me say that they were in Atwerp, because you have to use 鈥渁n鈥� before a vowel and twerp doesn鈥檛 start with a vowel! Sorry about that.)

Anyway, they were bombed in Antwerp. They had a car. They drove down to Calais. They lost the car on the way, but they got to Calais and they managed to get across the Channel - in 1942, which was virtually a miracle.

In the 1940s, I was in my home and a buzz bomb flew over. Its engine cut out and it dove towards the earth to kill someone. But it only killed a pig, so that wasn't so bad.

These two lucky events for Mona and me made us feel that, when we were in a good situation, we had to help others. And so that's why, when I was appointed chairman and we didn't need the extra salary, we set up a bursary for physics students. And it has grown through the years because of the excellent handling of it. Recently, thanks to Barbara Frisken, we were able to change the name before Mona died to the Mona and Albert Curzon Bursary.  Mona knew this before she died and her mental state was still okay so I was absolutely overjoyed by that.

(Barbara) So one of the things you worked on while you were chair was the co-op program. Can you tell us about that?

(Albert) Yeah. I got involved in co-op because I wanted to increase the employability of our graduates. At first, the upper administration did not want physics and chemistry to be included in co-op, but Klaus Rieckhoff was on Senate and managed to get this approved.

51猎奇入口employed somebody who was associated with Co-op. It was a lady; I've got a name somewhere and I'll let you know later.

(Jeff) So that would have been while you were chair that 51猎奇入口started the Co-op program?

(Albert) Yes around about then. Yeah, early, middle, mid-70s. And I became in charge of the co-op physicists.  After I was chair, I was co-op coordinator in Physics for many years. This involved travelling around to industries to persuade them to take students. And that was very interesting because I got to see a lot of industries.

(Jeff) That sounds like it'd be quite fascinating and also quite fruitful, potentially quite fruitful for both the university and the industries.

(Albert) Yeah, making those connections, exactly. On one occasion, in 1985, I wrote a letter to the then current Prime Minister, who was called Brian Mulroney. I've got it here, so I'll read it out to you.

鈥淚 urge you and your colleagues in the federal government to see that the proposed NSERC five-year plan is funded to the full. My reason is that I see NSERC as a vital catalyst in the promotion of high technology industry in Canada.

You have probably heard of university co-operative education schemes, in which study and work semesters are alternated. I look after the physics department co-operative education program and therefore have some knowledge of the needs of industry. It is no accident that high technology industries in the USA are located near centers of learning. For example, Stanford University and Silicon Valley.

If we wish to promote such industry It is vital to support our universities by generous funding. We will have a pool of appropriately trained Canadians to set up and staff the high technology industries.

With the advent of the Star Wars initiative in the USA, it is likely that the demand for all kinds of highly trained individuals will increase. We certainly won't be able to outbid the U.S, but many Canadians would prefer to stay in Canada, even if it means accepting a lower salary. Thus, it is vital for us to train our own people.

This is not the ivory tower-dreaming of an academic. Several high technology industries are already in BC 鈥� set up and started by university-trained Canadians:  McDonald Detweiler, Moli Energy, Vortek, CTF, etc.

Universities must stay at the forefront of advances in the basic sciences so that our graduates will be adequately prepared for the future. They will have to be familiar with the latest equipment and techniques and can only be so if their teachers, the faculty, have adequate support for their research programs. A great deal of this support comes from NSERC. And therefore, the proposed five-year plans should be fully funded.鈥�

 (Barbara) Anybody write back?

(Albert) Yes, here we are. I'm afraid he demoted me.

鈥淒ear Mr. Curzon. Thank you for your correspondence.

I noted your concern regarding funding for the National Research Council's industrial research assistance program and that you have forwarded a copy of your correspondence to my colleague, the Honourable Frank Obel, Minister of State for Science and Technology.

As you are aware, responsibility for this area falls under the minister's jurisdiction and I feel sure that your concerns will be given every consideration. In the meantime, your correspondence to this office have been forwarded to the minister so that your concerns might be addressed directly. Again, thank you very much.鈥�

(Barbara) Yeah, now you don't even get an email in return.

(Jeff) Tell us a little bit about how you identified potential employers for co-op students.

(Albert) Well, I made connections - sometimes you learn from one company about another one and then that's the way I went. But I visited all over the place. It was worth it, yes.

(Jeff) So tell us a little bit about your teaching and your approach to teaching. Was teaching an important part of your decision to stay in academia rather than go into industry?

(Albert) Oh yeah. I like teaching. And my personality is such that I like to make people laugh.

(Jeff) I'll just point out for the record that you are well noted for your puns. And also for your poems and sort of encomium at departmental functions and retirements. No departmental function or retirement was complete without a presentation by Albert. [1]

(Barbara) Did you use the puns in lectures as well?

(Albert) Oh, yes.

(Jeff) I can remember one pun, as I was responsible for lecture demonstrations, you asked me to get a pair of cymbals, the musical instrument, for one of your lectures. Do you recall that? The idea was the pun between symbols and cymbals, and so on. I was never quite sure how well that went over.

(Albert) Intrinsically, I loved the students. I used to play the guitar at the end of the lecture at the end of semester and they would give me donations for the University鈥檚 food bank. And I was very pleased about that.

(Barbara) Albert, can you tell us something about early days in the Department, and our first Head, Rudi Haering?

(Albert) Here's what I remember.

Rudi was an excellent Head. His decision to concentrate on one area, solid state physics, was the right one at the time because it gave our small Department great cohesion. In the early days funds were easy to obtain and the Department got the Philips EM300 electron microscope without even having anyone on staff to use it. I believe Bob Frindt initiated the application. I was looking around for a position in 1968 and Rudi made a job offer to me by phoning me in England. I arrived on April 19, 1968.

At that time things were turbulent here. The Press re: 51猎奇入口was hostile so Rudi set up Physics on Wheels so that we could interact directly with high schools. Participants included Rudi, Leigh, Bruce, Chuck and me but this list may not be complete. We gave demonstration lectures on lasers, low temperatures and electron microscopy. On one occasion there was a picture in the Vancouver Sun of Rudi by a laser in connection with a high school talk. I regarded this as evidence of the success of Rudi's desire to get Physics to be thought of in a positive light. Bruce had a pilot's licence and flew to some schools.

I believe that Rudi created the first Departmental Assistant position in a Canadian University. Our first D.A. was Ralph Kerr. He was an excellent man and absolutely devoted to the Department.

I recall that Bruce and Tony arrived just after me in 1968. There is information somewhere or other about how Tony came to join us. I seem to remember that he just visited 51猎奇入口one day but this may be incorrect. One of his first people was Kambersky a Czech but that's all I remember.

Rudi had a Ph.D. student, Max Burbank and together they set up a Company, Canadian Thin Films (not sure if that was its original name). Chuck may have been involved. CTF were good employers of CO-OP students over the years 鈥� Chuck and I set up co-op in physics in 1979-80. CTF has been bought by an American Medical Company. CTF developed a SQUID based machine for brain studies and diagnosis. Rudi knew Chuck when they were both at UBC and got Chuck to come here and to switch fields. I imagine that Chuck would be an excellent source about Rudi's contributions to the Department. I believe that Suso and Rudi were friends and recall that Rudi came to Suso's retirement party so Suso could be another possible source of information about Rudi.

Throughout our history there has been enormous collaboration between members of the department and teams have formed and dissolved at various times which has promoted a harmonious atmosphere.

• Albert Curzon鈥檚 speech for Jeff Rudd鈥檚 retirement.
• Albert Curzon鈥檚 presentation at SFU鈥檚 50^th anniversary celebration.
• Interview transcript, April 29, 2025.