By Jessica Cosentino
The voice of Ryerson is celebrating her 45th anniversary this week.
Gladys Doyle, 63, the first person callers speak to when phoning the university, has been working at Ryerson’s switchboard for 45 years. She is the school’s longest-serving employee.
Doyle was only 18 when she was hired by Ryerson’s founding principal, Howard Kerr, to operate a plug-in switchboard with six outside lines and 30 extensions. Now she and two other operators work with fibre-optic technology servicing 190 outside lines and 2,500 extensions.
Doyle recalls typing, training and answering phones at the Goodwill on Jarvis and Adelaide Streets when Kerr suggested she work at Ryerson. She remembers it was February 11, 1952, “a bright, sunny day,” perfect for the first day on the job.
Doyle started working just before her 18th birthday, the same age as many students attending the school. “It is the students that are always young, that makes me feel young, too,” she says.
Doyle says it was all the people she met through the years that made memorable moments possible.
“Some of my greatest friends are Ryerson students,” she says. After 45 years of commitment, she is still proud to be a member of the Ryerson community.
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