The Institute of Oceanography at the University of British Columbia was established within the Faculty of Graduate Studies in 1949. W.M. Cameron, a UBC zoology graduate, became the first active staff member. Initially, the Institute operated under the President's Committee on Oceanography which W.A. Clemens chaired. In 1953, Clemens was appointed as the Institute's first director. He served in this capacity until 1958 when George L. Pickard succeeded him. In the late 1950s, grants from the National Research Council further facilitated the development of oceanography at UBC. The Institute enjoyed considerable success in interdisciplinary teaching and research when such an approach was viewed with some skepticism on campus. In addition, graduate degrees could be awarded only by the departments whose faculty were also members of the Institute. In April 1979, the Institute was transferred to the Faculty of Science and became the Department of Oceanography.