The college was named after the Scottish-born engineer and inventor Sandford Fleming, who is perhaps best known for his contributions to the concept of Universal Standard Time, and who was knighted in 1897 by Queen Victoria. On 21 May 1965, legislation was introduced in Ontario establishing Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology by then Minister of Education William G. Davis. This historic occasion for education within Ontario marked the beginning of what would become, some 50 years later,[2][3] a group of 21 Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology and 3 College Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning. Sir Sandford Fleming College was subsequently founded in 1967, with David B. Sutherland serving as its first president. Sutherland was the husband of Peterborough's longest-serving mayor, Sylvia Sutherland.