Premier of BC 1996-1999 (BC NDP Party)

In 1964 BCIT opened it’s doors with two Health programs; Medical Radiology and Medical Laboratory for a total of 73 students enrolled. BCIT shared training responsibility with various designated hospitals. On successful completion, the student was awarded a certificate.

Currently the School of Health Sciences runs programs in ten main areas of study:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Electrodiagnostics
• Food Safety and Processing
• Health Care Management
• Health Protection
• Laboratory Sciences
• Medical Imaging Technologies
• Nursing & Specialty Nursing
• Therapeutics

These include degree and post-degree programs as well as the entry-level programs.

The School of Health Sciences maintains the quality and relevance of its health training programs through close liaison with employers and professional associations. Maintaining the traditions of BCIT there are Advisory committees for each program. Students can expect provincial, national and international accreditation; regular external and internal program assessments; a variety of professional development provisions for faculty and staff; and integration of a variety of learning strategies, including industrial experience through projects and practicums.

Vickers was born on the Nass River but raised in Kitkatla, Hazelton, British Columbia, and Victoria, B.C. His father was a fisherman who was matrilineally Tsimshian, also with Haida and Heiltsuk ancestry. His mother was a schoolteacher whose parents had emigrated from England and who was in the 1940s adopted into the Eagle clan at Kitkatla, B.C. (making Roy also Eagle). His grandfather was a Kitkatla canoe-carver. The paintings and works that he has created reflect this mixed heritage as his work has many elements of the traditional art of the First Nations peoples of the Pacific Northwest, but remains quite distinctive.

Vickers became interested in Northwest Coast art partly under the influence of the anthropologist Wilson Duff.

His work has been the official gift of the Province of British Columbia to visiting foreign leaders several times. In 1987 the original of his painting A Meeting of Chiefs was the official gift to Queen Elizabeth II and in 1993 artist's proofs of his print The Homecoming were the Province's gift to Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin.

Vickers has been the artistic advisor to several events in British Columbia. In 1994 he was the artistic advisor to the architects and designers of the 1994 Commonwealth Games. For the Games Vickers also created more than 20 totem poles. Also, from 1987 to 1995, Vickers was the artistic advisor for the Vancouver International Airport's new terminal. Some of his work is prominently displayed there for travellers to admire.

Once a substance abuser, in 1992 he created VisionQuest, a non-profit organization designed to help individuals with addictive personalities.

Mark Anthony Jacobson is a Woodland artist from Sioux Lookout, Ontario, who currently works and lives in British Columbia. A self-taught Aboriginal artist, he discovered at a young age that the Creator blessed him with the artistic ability known as the Woodland Art Movement.

Andy Everson is a contemporary Indigenous Artist born in Comox, British Columbia. He was named Nagedzi after Chief Andy Frank, who was his grandfather. His artworks are greatly influenced by his Comox and Kwakwaka'wakw ancestries.
Inspired by his grandmother wanting to pursue his traditional culture, Everson completed undergraduate and a master's degrees in Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. His thesis was heavily influenced by contemporary Comox identity as the Comox First Nation is located on the border between the larger Salish and Kwakwaka'wakw realms.
Everson creates digitally and prints using pigment-based ink and large-format giclee printers. He also does screen printing and has experimented with carving, painting and photo realism.
Everson's art was engraved on a three coin set released by the Royal Canadian Mint. The coins had designs of raindrops, sun rays, maple leaves and a sunflower to symbolize the four seasons. The designs of the coins were: Interconnection, beaver, thunderbird, the whale, which represent land, air, and sea. The coins were made of either a solid silver with a hologram finish or pure gold. 1,500 of the gold coins were minted and 7,500 silver coins are available.

Ed Hill was born in Paris, Ontario, moving to Peterborough, Ontario at a very young age. At 20 he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and in 1969 he found himself posted to Surrey, British Columbia. He had studied art at the high school level only, but his youthful dream of becoming a productive professional artist didn’t take shape until the mid 1980’s. Over the years Ed continually dabbled and experimented with various art forms. In the summer of 1985 Hill and his family were posted to Tofino, British Columbia where he met and befriended renowned west coast artist Roy Henry Vickers. Ed’s interest in Vickers’ art and techniques meant that the two became fast friends. Hill became a student of Vickers. Hill spent many hours watching, questioning and listening before ever putting brush to paper in the Vickers’ style. After tutoring and encouragement from Vickers did he produce his first limited edition print entitled “Old Man”. The two men shared a great interest in the wilderness, fishing, native culture and their art. Hill is inspired by the awesome beauty, power and energy of British Columbia as a landscape.
Hill has retired from the RCMP to Gibsons BC. He continue to create art and be inspired by the West Coast.

Business was one of the three core areas of study available in 1964 when BCIT opened.
In 1990 the name changed to School of Business. In 2020 the name changed again to School of Business + Media.

Bob George was of Coast Salish, Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

The First Nations Program and Services department was created at BCIT in 1994 after the Institute received funding through the First Nations Education Coordinator's grant from the Ministry of Advanced Education, Training and Technology. Brenda Ireland, was the first Coordinator, First Nations Programs in 1995. The BCIT Indigenous Team has grown and adapted over the years since then. This includes several name changes over the years.

In 1998 BCIT was still the only institute in BC (possibly Canada) to employ a full-time cultural/spiritual advisor to support indigenous learners. Elders on Campus is still a strong program and BCIT. Elders are the keepers of Indigenous knowledge and encourage and promote understanding and respect for Indigenous perspectives, culture, and values across BCIT campuses and beyond. Bob George was BCIT’s first Indigenous Elder in residence and a rock for many who attended BCIT over the ten years that he held this position. Alf Dumont is the current Elder on Campus (2023).

The Indigenous Gathering Place opened in November 2011. It is a comfortable, welcoming and safe space for students, families and staff. Mi Chap Tukw, the BCIT Indigenous Gathering Place (IGP) is located on the Burnaby campus at SW1-1521. IGP was made possible through the Gathering Place Grant from the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development of B.C in 2008.

From BCIT's founding until 1974 the B.C. Department of Education in partnership with an Advisory Council, chosen from business and industry, appointed the Principal as the Chief Executive Officer of BCIT.

The three divisions of Engineering, Business and Health were managed by three Directors who reported directly to the Principal. The Advisory Council formed seventeen advisory committees which met at least twice a year and advised Technology Heads at BCIT about the effectiveness of the programs being taught, opportunities for employment and updates in the industry. Recommendations went through the Principal who carried them to the main Advisory Council.

A more autonomous relationship developed between the provincial government and BCIT with the passage of the British Columbia Institute of Technology Act on July 4, 1974. The Act established a new system of governance for the Institute under a fifteen–person Board of Governors. Under Section 11 (3) of the BCIT Act the Principal was required to submit an Annual Report to the Board of Governors for the educational year. The position of Principal was expanded to encompass linking functions both between the Board of Governors and the Institute, and between the Institute and the external community. The Principal assumed the responsibility of implementing Board policy and administering the budget; she also served as the chief means of mobilizing the institute’s resources in recognizing and clarifying issues and expediting decision making. At the same time, three Executive Director positions were created in the areas of Technical Education; Administration; and Personnel and Information Services and Student Services, in order that BCIT could effectively carry on day-to-day operations while implementing a variety of administrative systems. With the Directors of the five Educational Divisions, the Bursar, the Registrar, and the Coordinator of Planning Services, the Executive Directors were members of an Executive Committee, a consultative body which advised the Principal and served as a channel of communication between the Chief Executive Officer and BCIT's staff, students and faculty.

In 1986 when BCIT merged with the Pacific Vocational Institute the title of the Chief Executive Officer of BCIT changed from Principal to President.

In 2004, BCIT's governing legislation became the College and Institute Act, RSBC 1996, ch. 5 (2). Under this Act, the President is defined as the Institute's Chief Executive Office, with the duty to “supervise and direct subject to bylaws, the instructional, administrative and other staff of the institution and exercise powers and perform duties assigned to the president by the board.” The President is to report to the Board of Governors annually on the progress of BCIT, make recommendations, and advise the Board on all matters concerning the operation of BCIT.

Individuals who have served as Principal include: Gordon A. Thom, Principal (1974-1985), Cliff McAdam, Acting Principal (July-August 1974), Dean H. Goard, Principal (1967-June 1974) d Jan 1986, E. Cecil Roper, Principal (1962-1967)

Individuals who have served as President include: Dr. Jeff Zabudsky, President (July 10, 2023-present), Paul McCullough, Interim President (July 1, 2022-July 9, 2023), Kathy Kinloch, President (2014-June 30, 2022), Chris Golding, Interim President (2013-January 2014), Don Wright, President (2008-2013), Verna Magee-Shepherd, Acting President (June 2007-March 2008), Tony Knowles, President (2000-May 2007), Brian Gillespie, President (1995-August 2000), John A. Watson, President (1989-1995), Roy V. Murray, President (1985-1988)

Previously called B.C. Business Magazine, BCBusiness focuses exclusively on business in British Columbia. Its special editions include B.C.’s Top 100 Companies, Entrepreneur of the Year, B.C.’s Most Influential Women, 30 Under 30 and the Best Cities for Work in B.C.
BCBusiness.ca is produced by the Digital Media Division of Canada Wide Media Limited.

David Alexander Hume was a BCIT project coordinator. He was also a Provincial Consultant at BCIT in 1979, when he had the opportunity to give Jack White—one of BCIT’s “founding fathers”—a tour of the “new” BCIT campus 15 years after its initial opening.

An endowment called the Dogwood Award was established in 1987 by David Hume to provide a first year achievement award to a student in Geomatics Engineering Technology.

Richard Forbes-Roberts, sometimes called “Dick”, was the manager of the Canada Employment Centre on the BCIT campus. He would advise students on matter of employment, such as finding summer jobs, through interviews for The Link and BCIT Messenger, as well as in his day-to-day work.