b. 1934
In 1965, renowned professor Victor Chanasyk was on a mission: to establish the first landscape architectural program in Canada at the University of Guelph. He and Roman Fodchuk sat down to interview Jack (John D.) Milliken. Milliken proved to be the man for the Assistant Professor’s job. He was one of the first hires for the new program, and would remain at the school for some 28 years.
Milliken had arrived at Guelph well-schooled. He was born in Sarnia, did a stint at Queen’s University, took a job doing land surveys in the Kitchener area, and then headed for the University of Michigan, where he earned his MLA, and then lectured for a year and a half.
The opportunity to join D.W. Graham and Associates brought him to Ottawa. It was early in his career, and he was eager to work with Graham’s firm on important projects for Expo 67.
Once at Guelph, Milliken sought out buildings to house the program, designed an LA courtyard, and became task master, mentor and spiritual leader. Guelph alumni still remember his credo in the early years. “We have no precedents so we are going to drive you as hard as we can to establish a foundation for future classes and set the standard for the program,” he said.
In less than a decade, Milliken was primarily responsible for founding the MLA program. He taught graduate studio, and served as grad coordinator for some 20 years. Decades after Milliken’s retirement, Guelph Professor Nathan Perkins spoke of Milliken’s ethics, humility and honesty. “Victor is rightly credited with founding the LA program,” said Perkins, “but it was Jack that made it happen.”
Milliken also served as a founding member of the Senate Committee on University Planning when it was actually building the University, the “town and gown” representative and aid to President Bill Winegard (1968-76).
Milliken chaired the Planning Board for the city when Guelph was exploding. And according to Walter Kehm, who established the Centre for Canadian Landscape Architecture Archives at Guelph during his years as Director, it was the early initiative of Jack Milliken that brought the CSLA Awards documents to be housed at Guelph – an important early step in building the collection.
Milliken retired in 1993, and was made an OALA Emeritus in 1994. He spent his long retirement golfing, puttering around his home (largely self-built during a Sabbatical) and enjoying his property, which Perkins calls “the most beautiful 20 acres of land in Southern Ontario.”
Sources
- Nathan Perkins, personal communication to School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD), University of Guelph.
- SEDRD newsletter, June 5, 2018. Article by Nathan Perkins. nperkins@uoguelph.ca
- “Home That Jack Built,” by Tatiana Zakharova and Carleigh Pope. University of Guelph Studio V Journal 2017-18, pages 44-45, carleighpope@gmail.com tatiana.v.lee@gmail.com
- https://issuu.com/sedrd/docs/sv_la_uofguelph_2017.2018/2
- “Preserving Our Past for the Future,” by Walter Kehm. GROUND magazine.
Images
- Jack Milliken receiving his College of Fellows and OALA 50-year pin (2018) from Sean Kelly, Director of the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development. Photo by Nathan Perkins.
- Landscape Architecture Building courtyard designed by Jack Milliken. From “The Historical Evolution of the Landscape Architecture Building at the University Of Guelph,” by Amirhossein Sadeghiesfahani, MLA Thesis, 2019. Visualization by the author. See Figure 16, page 53.
- The Class of ’69 at Guelph was the first graduating class of landscape architects trained in Canada. L to R: Bela Barabas, Brian Tetu, John Haines, Larry Paterson, Doug Lewis, Allan Ross, Don Page, Larry Foster, Bill Dempsey. Absent: Jerry Fitzsimmons
