May:
Ten UBC women are nominated for the 1997 Vancouver YWCA Women of Distinction awards.
UBC commits to a transportation planning process, new housing policy and services for permanent campus residents as part of the Official Community Plan for the UBC area.
June:
President David Strangway is awarded the Community Leadership Award by the Vancouver Board of Trade.
July:
The university bids farewell to outgoing president David Strangway.
St. John's College UBC, a residential graduate college, opens.
Three faculties appoint faculty members as their new deans: Prof. Joost Blom, Law; Prof. Michael Isaacson, Applied Science; Prof. Moura Quayle, Agricultural Sciences.
Martha Piper, former vice-president, Research and External Affairs at the University of Alberta, arrives as the new president of UBC.
UBC Engineering Physics graduate Bjarni Tryggvason orbits the earth aboard the space shuttle Discovery as the university's first alumni astronaut. The shuttle also carries technology developed in the UBC lab of Electrical Engineering Assoc. Prof. Tim Salcudean.
The Official Community Plan, a framework for long-term development of the UBC campus, is accepted by the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
The Faculty of Medicine introduces a new undergraduate curriculum that has a problem-based learning approach and places an emphasis on ethics, social issues and communication skills.
September:
Martha Piper is installed as UBC's 11th president.
UBC's Equity Office wins the Government of Canada's 1997 Vision Award for achievements in employment equity.
The Liu Centre for International Studies begins its academic programs.
UBC's Sing Tao School of Journalism officially opens. The only graduate school of journalism in Western Canada, it will admit its first students this September.
October:
The Think About It -- UBC Research campaign, created to raise public awareness of the benefits of university research, is launched.
The 75th anniversary of 1922's Great Trek, when 1,200 UBC students marched through Vancouver to spur the B.C. government to finish the stalled Point Grey campus, is marked.
November:
The Vancouver-hosted Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum concludes with a leaders' meeting at UBC's Museum of Anthropology.
UBC announces the creation of a Centre for Australian Studies.
UBC claims top spot for best overall reputation among Canadian medical/doctoral universities in Maclean's magazine's annual university rankings.
December:
Biotechnology Prof. Terry Snutch wins the E.W.R. Steacie Prize, Canada's most prestigious award for young scientists and engineers.
January:
Former dean of Science Barry McBride is appointed vice-president, Academic and Provost.
February:
UBC President Martha Piper seeks community input in Victoria, Kamloops, Kelowna and Prince George about the direction the university should take in the 21st century.
Mathematics Prof. Michael Ward wins one of Canada's top research awards, the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship, for his work in applied mathematics.
March:
The RCMP Public Complaints Commission announces it will conduct a public hearing into the conduct of members of the RCMP during the APEC leaders' meeting.
April:
Mechanical Engineering Prof. Martha Salcudean is one of three Canadians to receive a Killam Research Prize, recognizing her outstanding research into computational fluid dynamics.
Economics Prof. Jonathan Kesselman receives a $1.25 million SSHRC grant to lead interdisciplinary research on the economic well-being of Canadians