City loses a visionary
Van Christou was a guiding force in culture and education
Van E. Christou, the third Chancellor for the University of Lethbridge and a strong influence over the university and southern Alberta, has died.
Considered one of the one guiding influences on cultural and educational life in southern Alberta and an ardent supporter of the U of L, Christou served as Chancellor from 1975-1979.
He was a member of the first board of governors and an active part of the university community throughout its history.
“Van was a treasured member of the University of Lethbridge community and someone I took great pleasure visiting with at his home, in the community and at many university functions,” stated U of L President and Vice-Chancellor Mike Mahon in a news release on Saturday.
“His influence on the first 50 years of our university is undeniable. Van was there in the beginning, advocating for the establishment of the U of L, and remained committed to furthering the ideals of the university in the many roles he would serve over the years. Our community has suffered a great loss and he will be sadly missed.”
Christou leaves behind a legacy of leadership and philanthropy.
“His contribution to the fabric of life in southern Alberta, through his commitment to the arts and education, is remarkable,” stated U of L Chancellor Janice Varzari.
“Van not only helped to establish the University of Lethbridge, he was instrumental in its growth through his vision and perseverance. We are grateful for his influence in shaping the University as we know it today.”
In 2010, Christou was interviewed for the U of L’s 50Voices project, which included 50 influential people from throughout the U of L’s 50-year history.
In that interview, he spoke about convincing the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce to sign on with the idea of a university in Lethbridge.
“I didn’t think I could sell it to them on the basis of culture or education. I thought maybe economics might be the approach, so I got this information and came up with a figure of perhaps getting the university here could bring in as much as five-and-a-half or six million dollars a year to the community,” he stated at the time.
“And on that basis, the Chamber bought the idea and supported our doing a demographic study of the province in terms of university attendance from various parts of the province.”
Christou was born and raised in Lethbridge where he worked as an orthodontist for 37 years and as an ardent lobbyist for the establishment of Alberta’s third university in Lethbridge while a member of the Senate for the University of Calgary in 1965.
In a 2003 interview with The Herald, Christou told entertainment editor Al Beeber he never had any intention of returning to Lethbridge after attending university in Rochester, New York.
And he had every reason not to. Shunned in his southside neighbourhood because of his Greek background, Christou did not have a happy childhood in Lethbridge, he told the Herald during the 2003 interview in his basement.
In some ways a foreigner in his own city, he could easily have turned his back on Lethbridge and pursued his career elsewhere.
But a letter from a dentist — none other than the General Stewart whose name graces the Lethbridge Legion branch — inviting him to work a year in general practice with him, brought Christou back.
Christou, as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce education committee, was the person who invited renowned architect Arthur Erickson here to consider sites for the university.
A man of vision, he was instrumental in efforts to turn the old Eaton's building downtown into a gallery showing art from the renowned U of L collection.
In 2003, he devoted six months of his time and energy to putting on a self-financed exhibit at the old Bowman arts centre of his own photography work which was inspired by a similar show in London.
While some of those 52 photographs reflected Christou's global travels, many were shot in his home territory — the coulees of Lethbridge, the lakes of Waterton and his beloved Japanese Gardens.
His admiration for the gardens was so deep he was given his own key by the city to photograph there year-round any time he felt compelled.
In 2002, the Helen Christou Gallery was opened to honour of the commitment of the Christous to the U of L and their interest and support of the U of L art collection.
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