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Dr. Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan was born October 3, 1951 in Paterson, New Jersey. She did her undergraduate studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz (1973) and got her PhD in Geology from Dalhousie University in 1978, during which time she undertook many oceanographic explorations in the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In 1978, Sullivan became one of six women hired by NASA. During her time as an astronaut, she did three missions in space, including the installation of the Hubble Telescope in 1990. She was the first American woman to walk in space.

Sullivan conducted a large amount of research during her time at NASA. She was appointed Chief Scientist at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA) in 1993. Her work focused on fisheries biology, climate change, satellite instrumentation and marine biodiversity. She then became the President and CEO of the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio and the Director of the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy at Ohio State University. In 2013 she was named Acting Administrator for NOAA having previously served as Acting Chief Scientist, and was confirmed as NOAA Administrator in March, 2014. In February 2016, Dr. Sullivan was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She was also named a fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Dr. Sullivan has also served on the National Science Board (2004-2010) and as an oceanographer in the U.S. Navy Reserve (1988-2006).

Symphony Nova Scotia was formed in 1983 following the demise of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, with Brian Flemming leading the Board of Directors and Boris Brott as the first Music Director. The Symphony began with 13 permanent musicians and used contract players to fill out the orchestra when needed. By 1984, the number of permanent musicians had doubled and by 1987 the orchestra had grown to 39 members.

In 1987 Georg Tintner replaced Boris Brott as Music Director. During Tintner’s tenure from 1987 to 1994, the Symphony made six recordings, toured Ontario and Quebec, and initiated popular community outreach programs such as the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute concert and the annual Nutcracker production in collaboration with Halifax Dance and Mermaid Theatre.

In 1995 the Symphony had a deficit of $900,000, which led to major restructuring, fundraising and cost-cutting, avoiding bankruptcy and achieving a balanced budget for the 1995/1996 season.

The 1996/1997 season began with a new music director, Leslie Dunner, who re-established programs cut during the budget crisis, such as school visits and free concerts, and oversaw a period of great artistic and community success. Dunner’s tenure lasted until 1999, at which point the Symphony invited six candidates to lead the orchestra throughout its seventeenth season. Simon Streatfeild was hired as the artistic advisor in 2000 and in 2002 Bernhard Gueller was appointed music director.

The Technical University of Nova Scotia was founded as the Nova Scotia Technical College (NSTC) on 25 April 1907. In 1978 it was re-named the Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS), and in 1997 it amalgamated with Dalhousie University, temporarily becoming DalTech, a separate college within Dalhousie.

The school was established through the Technical Education Act to fill the province's need for a degree-granting technical college to offer the final two years of engineering study; Acadia, Dalhousie, the University of King's College and Mount Alison already had fledgling programs offering two-year diplomas. Over time, other Atlantic universities joined these associate institutions. The provincial government funded NSTC's operation until 1963, when the Board of Governors became responsible for the college's finances.

Under the direction of Frederick Henry Sexton, the first principal, classes began in September 1909 in a new building on former military land on Spring Garden Road obtained from the federal government in exchange for the inclusion of military instruction in the college's curriculum. Both faculty and students were directly involved in both world wars, and compulsory military training was discontinued in 1945.

NSTC initially offered courses in civil, electrical, mechanical and mining engineering. In 1947, coinciding with F.H. Sexton's retirement, the Technical College Act transferred the responsibility of technical education from the college's principal to the provincial education department. Chemical and metallurgical engineering were added to the curriculum in 1947, geological engineering in 1964, and industrial engineering in 1965. Atlantic Canada's first School of Architecture was established in 1961 and the School of Computer Science in 1982. MEng degrees began being offered in the 1950s and a PhD programme was established in 1962.

In 1978 the college's name changed to the Technical University of Nova Scotia, after 40 years of lobbying to circumvent its confusion with the Nova Scotia Institute of Technology and the Nova Scotia Teachers’ College and to end the institution’s identity as a "college." In 1986 an Advisory Board was put in place to ensure liaison between what was now the Technical University of Nova Scotia and its associate universities. TUNS's mission was articulated as contributing to the development of Nova Scotia though high quality education, research, and community and industry collaboration in architecture, computer science and engineering.

Provincial pressure to amalgamate TUNS and Dalhousie brought about the Dalhousie-Technical University Amalgamation Act in April 1997. TUNS became DalTech (Dalhousie Polytechnic of Nova Scotia) and existed as a constituent college within Dalhousie until early 2000. DalTech offered courses in the Faculties of Engineering, Computer Science and Architecture and the associated buildings were re-named the Sexton Campus in honour of NSAC's first principal. The campus had expanded over the years from the original building on Spring Garden Road to encompass much of the large block bounded by Spring Garden Road, Barrington, Morris and Queen streets.