Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of my father, Dr. John LeRoy Climenhaga.

Dad, who died in 2008, is best known as an astrophysicist, and his name is most often used nowadays in connection with the respected astronomy program at the University of Victoria, and in particular with UVic's Climenhaga Observatory.

But my Dad's strong belief in and support for the value of public education -- and that included public post-secondary education in all fields, including the arts and pure sciences like his area of studies for which there was no obvious commercial application -- is my topic for today.

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The Notley Government, clearly aware of the serious problems faced by Athabasca University and anxious to find a way to save the foundering distance-learning institution, has ordered the school's board and administration, in effect, to straighten up and fly right.

The firing of outspoken University of Saskatchewan Dean Robert Buckingham this May raised questions not only of academic freedom, but of the ongoing transformation of Canadian post-secondary institutions as sites of private profit rather than public education. rabble.ca is proud to launch this special summer series on the corporatization of Canadian universities, by USask Professors Sandy Ervin and Howard Woodhouse.