See the full list of U of M’s June 2010 award winners

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This article was published 01/06/2010 (5606 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STUDENT MEDALS AND AWARDS

Governor General’s Gold Medal, awarded for outstanding achievement at the graduate level — Salaheddin Mahmud

Governor General’s Silver Medal, awarded for outstanding achievement at the undergraduate level — Trevor Jeremy Rempel

Governor General’s Bronze Medal, awarded for highest standing in the two year Diploma course in Agriculture — Jonah Harold Genik

Governor General’s Bronze Medal, awarded for highest standing in the two year Diploma program in Art, Dental Hygiene, or the Aboriginal Focus Programs: Aboriginal Community Wellness or Aboriginal Child and Family Services — Jamie Pham

UNIVERSITY GOLD MEDALS

Awarded for highest standing in an undergraduate faculty or school.

Agriculture and Food Sciences — Rebecca Catherine Elskamp
Architecture — Logan Littlefield
Art — Cullen Ryan Reesor Bingeman
Arts — Uliana Nevzorova
I.H. Asper School of Business — Michelle Erin Pelech
College Universitaire de Saint Boniface — Audrey Kodye
Dentistry — Angela Justine Kehler
Education — Jocelyne Rachelle Chartier
Engineering — David John Robert Weber
Human Ecology — Stephanie Patricia Barbara Caligiuri,
Kinesiology and Recreation Management — Aaron Joseph Boila
Law — Anne Amos-Stewart
Music — Ashley Marie Klassen
Nursing — Lisa Giesbrecht
Pharmacy — Carolyn Dawn Lawrance
Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Earth, Environment and Resources — Matthew Cornelius Veenman
Science — Trevor Jeremy Rempel
Social Work — Andre Nicole Pelser

UNIVERSITY PROGRAM MEDALS

Awarded for highest standing in a faculty or school program.

Agriculture and Food Sciences:
Agribusiness — Michael Henry Van Den Bossche Agriculture — Douglas John Stevenson
Agroecology — Lindsey Amy Andronak
Food Science — Marcia Leigh McFadden

Art:
Fine Arts Studio — Igor Puzhevich Fine Arts Studio Honours — Cullen Ryan Reesor Bingeman

Arts:
General Degree — Renee Marie Peters
Advanced Degree — Robin Kimberly Lynn McMurachy
Honours Degree — Mons Henrik Tien-Yun Chan

I.H. Asper School of Business:
Accounting Major — Jordan Douglas Toews
Actuarial Mathematics Major — Tristan James Smykalski Finance Major — Gillian Dawn Purvis
Entrepreneurship/Small Business Major — Aynsley Kristen Dueck
Finance Major —Hao Zhang
Human Resources Management/Industrial Relations — Farah Jamshed Ahmed
International Business Major — Benjamin Lachlan Grant
Logistics and Supply Chain Management — Erin Collins
Management Information Systems Major — Laura Patricia Fox
Management of Organizations Major — Jeff Daniel Scott Klippenstein
Marketing Major — Kathryn Anne Patrick

Dental Hygiene:
Taryn Melissa Greenberg

Education:
Early Years Stream — Chantal Marie Morin
Middle Years Stream — Laurie Anne Vermette
Senior Years Stream — Jocelyne Rachelle Chartier

Engineering:
Biosystems — Kevin Daniel Stockwell
Civil — Mathew Joseph Baranowski
Computer — Victor Lam
Electrical — David John Robert Weber
Mechanical — Stephen Thomas Cull

Human Ecology:
Family Social — Kimberley Christine Boutilier
Human Nutritional Sciences — Stephanie Patricia Barbara Caligiuri
Textile Sciences — Madelaine Calanza

Kinesiology and Recreation Management:
Kinesiology — Timothy James Dueck
Recreation Management and Community Development — Amanda Joy Pugh

Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources:
General Degree — Kathleen Mae Marie Moore
Advanced or Major Degree — Gladys Elaine Salter
Honours Degree — Erin Jill Maxwell

Science:
General Degree — Ethan Taylor Bohn
Major Degree — Melody Ong
Honours Degree — Rebekah Amy Van Bruggen

HONOURARY DEGREES

During the 132rd annual Spring Convocation of the University of Manitoba this week, U of M will award honourary degrees to Constance Backhouse, Gary Doer, Michael James, Dr. Michael Rachlis, Marshall Rothstein and Don Whitmore.

A graduate of the University of Manitoba, Osgoode Hall Law School, and Harvard University, Constance Backhouse has served as a mediator and adjudicator of human rights complaints and an adjudicator for compensation claims for Indian residential schools across Canada. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Content Advisory Committee of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which works to gather human rights stories and communicate the values and responsibilities of human rights.

The Honourable Gary Doer was Manitoba’s 20th Premier and Leader of the New Democratic Party of Manitoba from 1988 until 2009. He was first sworn in as Premier on Oct. 5, 1999, and served in that post for 10 years. Doer led his party to three consecutive majority governments. Upon retirement as premier last year, Doer became Canada’s Ambassador to the United States.

Prof. Michael N. G. James has been the preeminent leader in protein crystallography in Canada for 40 years, says U of M. In 1968, he established the first laboratory in Canada devoted to the study of proteins by crystallography, and in 1974 James determined the first high-resolution structure of a protein in Canada. Since then, he has received world-wide attention for his work explaining how muscles sense calcium and the detailed mechanisms by which enzymes work, contributing to the development of drugs to fight bacterial infections and HIV.

Dr. Michael Rachlis was born in Winnipeg and graduated from the University of Manitoba medical school in 1975. Rachlis is a highly respected and vigorous champion of Canada’s public health care system, U of M points out. He has served as a consultant to the federal and several provincial governments, providing expertise on community health and health policy through his service as a consultant to the federal government, all 10 provincial governments, and two royal commissions.

From 1966 to 1992, Marshall Rothstein was a partner in the law firm of Aikins MacAulay and Thorvaldson, specializing in transportation, commercial and labour arbitrations, administrative law and litigation. In 2006, Justice Rothstein was appointed the Supreme Court of Canada, the first Manitoban appointed to the Supreme Court since the late Chief Justice Brian Dickson. He is known for his expertise in transportation and intellectual property issues.

Currently the president of the Vector Construction Group, Don Whitmore has spent his entire career in the construction industry, with a reputation for seeking out and embracing new technologies to improve not only his company’s competitive position, but to build a better product for everyone. Whitmore has been responsible for many innovations and advances in the industry through his leadership of boards and organizations with a common interest in the safe and economical construction and repair of Canada’s roads, highways and infrastructure.

TEACHING AWARDS

Professors in chemistry and marketing, with outstanding reputations as educators who gave student encouragement and support are recipients of teaching excellence awards this year.

The Dr. and Mrs. H. H. Saunderson Award for Excellence in Teaching goes to marketing Prof. Reg Litz.
Litz’s areas of teaching and research interest include entrepreneurship, small and family business and business ethics. He received his doctorate in strategic planning and policy from the University of Pittsburgh in 1997. His teaching excellence has been acknowledged through numerous awards and recognitions including the Certified Management Accountants Award for Teaching and Research.

The Olive Beatrice Stanton Award for Excellence in Teaching has been awarded to chemistry Prof. Elena Smirnova, whose students describe her as being “outstanding” and “excellent.” Smirnova earned a doctorate in chemistry at Moscow Lomonosov State University. She focuses her teaching and research on inorganic and analytical chemistry. Her teaching excellence has been recognized in the past with a number of awards, including the University 1 Excellence in Teaching Award and the Student/Teacher Recognition award.

CHANCELLOR’S AWARD

Helen Norrie is this year’s recipient of the Peter D. Currie Chancellor’s Award, given to an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the governance and/or development of the University of Manitoba. Recipients receive a certificate and medal, and have the privilege of directing $2,000 to support a university program of personal interest.

Helen Norrie is recognized for her dedication to the growth and enhancement of the University of Manitoba — a commitment she’s held for over 60 years. A four-time graduate of the University of Manitoba, Norrie holds bachelor degrees in pedagogy, arts and education as well as a master’s degree in education.

An active contributor to university life in her undergraduate days, Norrie was features editor of The Manitoban and was involved in many student clubs and groups.

She taught elementary and high school grades and was a teacher librarian in the Winnipeg, Fort Garry and St. Vital School Divisions during her career. She also taught children’s literature courses in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba (both Fort Garry campus and in Thompson) and reviewed children’s literature for a variety of publications.

She is also the author of children’s books and numerous articles and short stories. She served as a member of the Board of Governors for three years and later, during the term of her husband William Norrie as Chancellor, was a volunteer ambassador for the university.

OUTREACH AWARD

Prof. Jennifer Mactavish, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, receives the Dr. and Mrs. D.R. Campbell Outreach Award.

The honour is given to university staff members who consistently spend countless hours of their own time in community service.
U of M says that Mactavish is a tireless champion for individuals and athletes with intellectual disabilities, their families, and the agencies and organizations that exist to serve them.

As a professor in the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management — and as an affiliate of the Faculty’s Health, Leisure and Human Performance Research Institute — Mactavish has created a research agenda that encompasses a broad social science focus, with particular emphasis on issues relating to quality of life, recreation and leisure, and methods for enhancing the direct involvement of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the research process.

Many of Mactavish’s more notable accomplishments have taken place outside the academy, such as her longstanding (20 years-plus) involvement with the Special Olympics movement, or the nine-year campaign she launched on behalf of athletes with intellectual disabilities after they were banned from competition in the Paralympic Games. The latter campaign eventually resulted in a landmark ruling to re-include those athletes in competition.

More recently, Mactavish has launched an initiative in which she and her colleagues developed a sustainable sport-for-development model linking communities in Canada and Kenya.

EMERITUS AWARDS

The title Chancellor Emeritus, Dean Emeritus, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Professor Emeritus or Librarian Emeritus is an honour that is conferred by the Board of Governors after retirement on individuals who have rendered distinguished service to the university and who have significant records in teaching, research, and scholarship.

Chancellor Emeritus: William Norrie
Norrie served as chancellor of the University of Manitoba from 2001 to 2009. His commitment to the University of Manitoba goes back to 1952 when he served as the president of the University of Manitoba Students’ Union. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1953 and proceeded to study at Queen’s College in Oxford, England. After returning to Canada, Norrie graduated from the Manitoba Law School in 1955 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1977. Norrie’s community involvement is unparalleled. He served as a trustee of the Winnipeg School Board, deputy mayor of the City of Winnipeg and mayor of the City of Winnipeg — being elected four times to that position — from 1979 to 1989. He spent 24 years on the Board of Regents at the University of Winnipeg and is presently a trustee of Crescent-Fort Rouge United Church.
Norrie has been recognized with numerous awards and honours including an appointment to the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba, honorary doctorates at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, the Golden Dragon Award and an honorary fellowship at St. John’s College.

Deans Emeriti:

Henry Janzen, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management
A committed educator, administrator and research advocate, Janzen was a member of the University of Manitoba community from 1966 to 2008. He served as director and dean of what is now the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management for 19 years between 1978 and 1997.
During Janzen’s tenure, the school added Bachelor of Recreation Studies, Master of Physical Education and Master of Arts in Recreation Studies degrees. He was responsible for establishing the Faculty’s successful Health, Leisure and Human Performance Research Institute, and his fund-raising efforts resulted in a $1.8 million endowment fund for the Institute.

Harvey Secter, Faculty of Law
Secter’s tenure as dean of the Faculty of Law has been referred to as ‘transformative.’ He held that position from 1999 to 2008. Through his convincing vision and tireless dedication to the faculty, Secter was able to inspire Manitoba law firms, alumni, families of graduates and the Manitoba Law Foundation to put their financial support behind the faculty. Secter also championed an ambitious remodeling, upgrade and expansion of Robson Hall to ensure law students have the facilities and technology they need to succeed.
Believing that students deserve all the support possible to encourage their education, Secter was also responsible for a 10-fold increase in student aid and awards, new full-time staff for student services. He advocated for more experiential learning through expanded participation in moot competitions and the creation of a new centre and a new clinic relating to business law. He also succeeded in developing a more competitive compensation package to recruit and retain the best faculty in the country.

Distinguished Professor Emeritus

Mahesh C. Chaturvedi, mechanical and manufacturing engineering, made a significant impact in the area of mechanical engineering and on the lives of countless students. Chaturvedi is internationally recognized for his work in the field of materials engineering.
His pioneering work on the joining and characterization of superalloys used extensively in the aerospace industry has furthered our understanding of the behaviour of these materials in service. A professor in the Faculty of Engineering, he was awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research Chair in Aerospace Materials in 1994, a position which he continues to hold.
Chaturvedi was the driving force behind the establishment of a centre at the University of Manitoba for the characterization of engineering materials of international caliber, which is used by materials science researchers in universities, government and industry through the Prairie region.

Professors Emeriti

John (Jack) Cahoon, mechanical and manufacturing engineering, retired in 2008 after 40 years. Cahoon served as head of the department of mechanical engineering from 1975 to 1986. During his tenure at the University of Manitoba, Cahoon conducted research in a variety of areas including solid and liquid diffusion, the processing of materials in zero gravity, biomaterials and corrosion. Even in his retirement, Cahoon continues to hold an NSERC Discovery grant and a Strategic Project grant and co-supervises three doctoral students.

Jane Evans, biochemistry and medical genetics, has been instrumental in promoting the role folic acid and food fortification play in reducing birth defects. Evans received her doctorate from the University of Leicester in 1975 and after post-doctoral training joined the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba.
She was head of the department of biochemistry and medical genetics and also affiliated with pediatrics and child health, and community health sciences. A fellow of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists since 1983, Evans holds an appointment with the genetics and metabolism program, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, where she is involved with the Manitoba Maternal Serum Screening Program and is a consultant in the clinical genetics service.

James Fu, statistics, joined the department of statistics in 1974 and made significant contributions in the areas of statistics and probabilities over his distinguished career. The author of more than 70 scientific papers, Fu is best known for his role in the development, with Markos Koutras, of the Finite Markov Chain Imbedding technique for determining probability distributions of runs and patterns. This technique has been used widely in bioinformatics, for analyzing DNA sequences, and in reliability theory, for determining probabilities of system failure.

Wooil M. Moon, geological sciences (geophysics), joined the University of Manitoba in 1979. Since then, he has served as a professor in the department of geological sciences (geophysics) and in the department of electrical and computer engineering.
He is a world-renowned expert in the polarimetric SAR (synthetic aperture radar) theory and applications and has worked extensively with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Arvind Shah, a member of the department of civil engineering for 40 years, recently published a book and is working on two other book projects to be completed this year. Shah’s focus of research interest is in the area of non-destructive evaluation of plates, pipes and shells as well as the galloping of overhead, iced power lines. For the last 30 years, he has been the recipient of research grants from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and from the utility companies such as Manitoba Hydro and Ontario Hydro.

Daniel Sitar, pharmacology and therapeutics, received his university education in Manitoba and became a licensed pharmacist in 1966 until his retirement at the end of 2009. In addition, he completed a masters degree in pharmacy (1968), and a doctorate in pharmacology (1972).
After academic appointments at the University of Minnesota (1971-73) and McGill University (1973-78), he was recruited back to the University of Manitoba in 1978 to participate in the development of the first geriatric clinical pharmacology program in Canada. Sitar was a professor in the departments of internal medicine, and pharmacology and therapeutics. In 1999, he was appointed head of pharmacology and therapeutics, and served in that capacity until the end of 2008. His expertise in drug disposition and factors that affect it are recognized by invited chapters in major textbooks of pharmacology.

Patrick Choy, biochemistry and medical genetics,  who is an international leader in the study of heart disease, joined the University of Manitoba in 1979 as a researcher and professor in the department of biochemistry and medical genetics. He served as head of the department from 1992 to 1999 and as associate dean of research in the Faculty of Medicine from 1999 to 2009.
Choy is currently the associate dean of development in the Faculty of Medicine. An internationally recognized leader in the study of cardiovascular phospholipids and lipoproteins, Choy’s research established novel connections between lipid metabolism, cardiac arrhythmias and atherosclerosis. His work has been supported by the Canadian Institute for Health Research for 30 years.
Choy established the Centre for Research and Treatment of Atherosclerosis and has served as president of the Canadian Biochemical Society and vice-president of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba.