Beyond the Classroom

The new Sperber Health Sciences Library offers many ways to enhance the learning experience.

Funded by Geoffrey Sperber, a former Faculty of Dentistry professor, and his wife, Robyn, the new library offers students many ways to enhance their learning experience, from gathering at the Indigenous Learning Space to exploring virtual reality. Study and lab spaces, group study rooms, 3D printing services and a media room are all part of the modernized Health Sciences Library space.

The Sperber Library has become an ideal place for students to work because it was specifically designed around how we work and how modern libraries function. “The money is devoted to what I wish it to be: enlarging the student capabilities, education and research facilities of the university,” Sperber told the CBC when the project was announced.

A key highlight is the U of A Dentistry Museum Collection, featuring more than 2,000 pieces. Led by Sperber, the collection was amassed over several decades and provides a glimpse into the early teaching of dentistry at the University of Alberta and the early history of the dental profession in Alberta.

“I wanted to enhance learning through books and through the historical origins of my profession,” says Sperber. “I think any educated person needs to have a little background of where they came from before they can know where they're going.”

Sperber began teaching at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Dentistry in 1961, retiring in 1996. For the Sperbers, the gift is deeply personal. All three of their children attended the U of A, which Sperber calls his “second family.”

“What could be more fitting than contributing to the school that has given me my career, my life, my opportunities?” — Geoffrey Sperber

Saville Tennis Centre

U of A Athletes playing tennis in the Saville Tennis Centre.

The new Saville Tennis Centre is a $6.5-million tennis facility that opened Oct. 5, 2023, on South Campus. Funded jointly by Tennis Canada and Rogers, the project was also made possible by the Canada Community Revitalization Fund and philanthropist Bruce Saville, whose generosity was instrumental in bringing the Saville Tennis Centre to the U of A and Edmonton. The new facility makes year-round tennis a reality for the Edmonton community and gives the U of A Bears and Pandas varsity athletic teams more indoor and outdoor tennis training.

Carruthers Student Commons

Students make use of the new Carruthers Student Commons.

Alberta School of Business grad Court Carruthers, ’93 BCom, knew first-hand the value of time spent outside the classroom, connecting his studies with real problems and real people, and growing under the guidance of strong mentors. Wanting to pay it forward, he and his wife Kirstin funded the Carruthers Student Commons, which opened on Sept. 7, 2023 on North Campus. It transformed the former Winspear Library into a contemporary, bright hub designed for collaboration complete with meeting rooms, working spaces, co-work living lounge, network lounge, café and more.