Title assigned by archivist based on contents of fonds.

Frank Beinder, often referred to as the father of the college system in B.C. was born in Surrey, England on April 24, 1910. As a young man, Beinder worked in a motorcycle factory and attended night courses in engineering and business. Leaving England in 1928 and arriving in the Canadian West, he worked as a farmhand for three years and completed the first year of an Agriculture degree at the University of Manitoba but returned to England in 1930. After WWII, he returned to Canada with his wife and two children. Employed by Cominco in the field of Public Relations, Frank Beinder lived in Roseland, BC. An active member of the British Columbia education community since 1953, Beinder was elected to the Trail School board (School District No. 11) where he served for twenty years, the last five of which he was Chair. During this time, he was elected President of the British Columbia School Trustees Association (B.C.S.T.A.) for two terms, from 1966 to 1978, Chairman of the Education Committee, BC Chamber of Commerce from 1968 to 1972, director of the Education Research Institute of BC from 1969 to 1972 and was a founding member of the Provincial Teacher Qualification Board. Frank Beinder has been particularly identified with British Columbia college education since its earliest days. He was chairman of the Selkirk College Council from 1970 to 1975, a member of a government appointed Community College Task Force and a founder and Executive Director of the British Columbia Association of Colleges. Frank Beinder?s career of public service and leadership in education was unique. His particular concern for the potential of community colleges in and for British Columbia prompted Simon Fraser University to confer upon him an honorary doctorate degree in 1984. Shortly afterwards, Beinder published a history of the development of the British Columbia college system entitled "Recollections of a Layman". His efforts were recognized by the province in 1991 when he was presented with the Order of British Columbia. Frank Beinder died in Richmond, BC in 1994.

English

Finding aid available.

Frank Beinder donated these records to the Selkirk College Archives in 1994 after consulation with John Mansbridge, Chief Librarian and Craig Andrews, Dean of International Studies.