New Trail Winter 2013

W IN T ER 2013

UNIVERSIT Y OF ALBERTA

ALUMNI MAGA ZINE

THE IMPACT ISSUE W W W. NE W T R A IL .UA L BE R TA .C A

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W I N T E R 2013 VOLUME 69 NUMBER 3

NE W TR AIL .UALBERTA .C A

The Impact Report 18

16 Introduction 18 Who You Are An alumni family portrait

22 22 Uplifting the Whole People How alumni contribute to the world

28

28 Uplifting the Whole Person The U of A’s impact on alumni

34 The Impact Makers Alumni who are making a difference

34

departments 54

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Your Letters Our Readers Write

4

Bear Country The U of A Community

13

Whatsoever Things Are True Column by Todd Babiak

54

Question Period World Vision’s Kevin Jenkins talks inspiration

56 Events In Edmonton and Beyond 58

Class Notes Keeping Classmates Up to Date

70

In Memoriam Bidding Farewell to Friends

72

Photo Finish The Picture-Perfect Finale

Supervising Editor Cynthia Strawson, ’05 BA Editor Lisa Cook, @NewTrail_Lisa Associate Editors Sarah Ligon, Karen Sherlock Art Director Marcey Andrews Contributing Photographer John Ulan Contributing Editor Kelly O’Hara Staff Writers Sheila Graham, Erica Viegas Design and Production Trevor Horbachewsky, Leslie Stewart Multimedia Editor Ryan Whitefield Proofreaders Philip Mail, Matthew Stepanic Editorial Interns Alex Migdal, Madeline Smith Advisory Board Anne Bailey, ’84 BA; Glenn Kubish, ’87 BA(Hons); Jason Cobb, ’96 BA; Susan Colberg, ’83 BFA, ’91 MVA; Deb Hammacher; Tom Keating; Lawrence Kwok, ’04 BSc(Eng); John Mahon, ’76 BMus, ’83 MBA; Robert Moyles, ’86 BCom; Julie Naylor, ’95 BA, ’05 MA CONTACT US Email (Comments/Letters/Class Notes) alumni@ualberta.ca Call 780-492-3224; toll-free 1-800-661-2593 Mail Office of Alumni Relations, University of Alberta, Main Floor, Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave., Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6 Facebook U of A Alumni Association Twitter @UofA_Alumni Address Updates 780-492-3471; toll-free 1-866-492-7516 or alumrec@ualberta.ca TO ADVERTISE ashley.davis@ualberta.ca This University of Alberta Alumni Association magazine is published three times a year. It is available free to more than 145,000 alumni and non-alumni friends, and on select newstands. The views and opinions expressed in the magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Alberta or the U of A Alumni Association. All material copyright ©. New Trail cannot be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.

ISSN: 0824-8125 Copyright 2011 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40112326 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Office of Alumni Relations University of Alberta, Main Floor, Enterprise Square 10230 Jasper Ave. Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6

new trail winter 2013 1

upfront OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS

Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Associate Vice-President Tracy Salmon, ’91 BA, ’96 MSc Director, Alumni Programs Coleen Graham, ’88 BSc(HEc), ’93 MEd Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives

ALUMNI COUNCIL EXECUTIVE President Glenn Stowkowy, ’76 BSc(ElecEng) Past President Jane Halford, ’94 BCom Vice-President: Reputation & Messaging Mary Pat Barry, ’04 MA Vice-President: Educational Engagement Lorne Parker, ’08 EdD Vice-President: Centenary Wanda Wetterberg, ’74 BA(RecAdmin) Vice-President: Histories & Traditions Rob Parks, ’87 BEd, ’99 MBA Vice-President: Volunteerism Tom Gooding, ’78 BSc(MechEng) Vice-President: Alumni Student Council Chris Grey, ’92 BA, ’95 MBA Board of Governors Representatives: Jane Halford, ’94 BCom Don Fleming, ’76 BEd Senate Representatives Cindie LeBlanc, ’01 BA Anne Lopushinsky, ’79 BSc Secretary Linda Banister, ’83 BCom, ’87 MPM FACULTY REPRESENTATIVES Academic Representative Jason Acker, ’95 BSc, ’97 MSc, ’00 PhD, ’09 MBA Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences Reint Boelman, ’97 BSc(Ag) Arts Glenn Kubish, ’87 BA Augustana Sandra Gawad Gad, ’12 BSc Business Charlene Butler, ’09 MBA Campus Saint-Jean Cindie LeBlanc, ’01 BA Dentistry Vacant

Education Lorne Parker, ’08 EdD Engineering Tom Gooding, ’78 BSc(MechEng) Extension Sunil Agnihotri, ’05 BA, ’12 MA Graduate Studies Chris Grey, ’92 BA, ’95 MBA Law Ian Reynolds, ’91 BCom, ’94 LLB Medicine Vacant Native Studies Vacant Nursing Gail Blanchard, ’85 BScN Pharmacy Sheena Neilson, ’06 BSc(Pharm) Physical Education and Recreation Wanda Wetterberg, ’74 BA(RecAdmin) Public Health Ximena Ramos Salas, ’87 MPH Rehabilitation Medicine Vacant Science Fred Johannesen, ’84 BSc(Spec) Members at Large Linda Banister, ’83 BCom, ’87 MPM Ron Glen, ’89 BA(Spec), ’04 MBA Jason Krips, ’93 BCom, ’96 LLB Darryl Lesiuk, ’87 BA, ’91 BCom, ’07 MBA EX OFFICIO Honorary President Indira Samarasekera Vice-President (Advancement) O’Neil Outar Vice-President (University Relations) Debra Pozega Osburn Executive Director, Alumni Association Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Dean of Students Frank Robinson Graduate Students’ Association M. Hasin Haroon, VP Student Life Students’ Union Petros Kusmu, President

As you picked up this issue, you probably noticed that it feels different.

It has more weight. It’s designed to last on your bookshelf for years to come, and the entire issue is dedicated to one topic.

You. The Impact Issue is a celebration. It’s our opportunity to recognize the collective impact of our alumni in a way that has never before been possible.

This issue began back in spring 2012, when we sent out a survey asking alumni to share with us what they’ve accomplished since receiving their degrees. The answers were collected by two researchers at the Alberta School of Business, Anthony Briggs, ’95 BSc(Hons), and Jennifer Jennings, who spent a year and a half poring over the data.

They released their findings in September, and what your survey responses revealed stunned even us. University of Alberta alumnifounded companies inject billions of dollars into the economy and employ an estimated 1.5 million people around the world. Just as impressive is what you told us about your priorities. More than onethird of alumni who filled out the survey are creating companies, products, processes and publications with a cultural, environmental and social mission. U of A alumni also volunteer more often than the average Canadian and tell us they’re optimistic and happy.

So we’ve dedicated this issue to celebrating with you what can be accomplished by our collective power. On page 16, you can find the beginning of our reporting. It’s a 360-degree portrait that sheds new light on our alumni community: where you live, what work you do, how the U of A affected your life, even how happy you are. Enjoy the stories — they are about you.

We put faces to the U of A impact beginning on page 34, celebrating nine individuals as Impact Makers. The alumni you meet on these pages come from different worlds and have each made their mark in a unique way. Our hope is that they represent the breadth of accomplishment that comes out of this university.

Because this survey is about all of us, we want to hear your personal stories of impact — how the university shaped your future or what you’re most proud of since graduation. We will share your stories in the Class Notes section of this magazine and on our website. Visit ualberta.ca/alumni/classnotes to share your memories and accomplishments, and give the alumni community a chance to celebrate along with you.

Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA, Associate Vice-President, Alumni Relations; Executive Director, Alumni Association

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We would like to hear your comments about the magazine. Send us your letters by post or email to the addresses on page 1. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

Lacking Chemistry It happened again. In the Autumn issue you printed a photo of Eric Schloss, ’59 BA, ’63 MD, in front of “formerly the Medical Sciences Building” (page 43). When I took honours chemistry — 1945 to 1949 — about one-half of that building was occupied by the chemistry department and it remained there for some years after that.

In my day, O. J. Walker was department head and Walter E. Harris, professor emeritus and former department chair who recently passed, was my mentor. Details can be found in Department of Chemistry: History and A Memoir, 1909-2003 by W.E. Harris, pages 14 and 21. Some years ago, a beautiful rendering of the old classic by Evelyn Schmidt was offered for sale. I hastened to order a numbered copy. You can sense my dismay to find that it was titled the Medical Sciences–Dentistry/Pharmacy Centre. How about calling it formerly the Medical and Chemistry Sciences Building? Or whatever.

For your further info, the outstanding education I received at the U of A allowed me to receive a scholarship to Princeton University for my PhD. I was far ahead of most other candidates and sailed through in two years and nine months. – G. William Goward, ’49 BSc(Hons), ’51 MSc, Clinton, Conn.

Digging Up Dino Fans This is my chance to thank you and the Alumni Association for offering the New Trail magazine to alumni. I find its articles are unique and fascinating. Also, I read avidly every word in all the Department articles. Where else could I read about the exploits and research triumphs of so many of our alumni! I particularly appreciated the article by Sarah Ligon, “The New Evolution of Dinosaurs” [Autumn 2013, page 28], and its reporting on the important research proceeding at the U of A. I found it thrilling to read about the excavations and discoveries by several U of A paleontologists.

Again, many thanks! – Glen Patterson, ’42 BCom, Vancouver In “The New Evolution of Dinosaurs,” New Trail states “the university hired its first vertebrate paleontologist and created a research program that today rivals any in the world.” That paleontologist deserves to be recognized as Richard C. Fox, who provided a wealth of information to generations of students. I was one of them, taking a master’s in insect taxonomy in the entomology department. George Ball, my supervisor, insisted that I and his other

graduate taxonomy students take Richard Fox’s paleontology course. He provided detailed analysis of some exemplary “case studies,” showing how to think clearly about the phylogenetic relationships and past biology of the duck-billed dinosaurs, among other groups. His clear, persuasive lectures laid the groundwork of how I interpreted the no-see-um biting midges I have gone on to study for the past 30 years. To go full circle, I provided the first evidence that the no-see-ums in Alberta Cretaceous amber likely fed on the eyelids of those very duck-billed dinosaurs.

Inspiring teaching for which I’ve always been grateful. – Art Borkent, ’75 BSc(Spec), ’78 MSc, Salmon Arm, B.C.

UPDATE In the Spring 2013 issue of New Trail we reported in Class Notes that Tim Wiles, ’80 BCom, had been appointed deputy minister of Alberta Education in May 2012. It has been brought to our attention that he is now president and chief executive officer of the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corp., effective March 1, 2013.

Keep in touch between New Trail issues.

You’ll find web-exclusive content online and in e-Trail, our monthly electronic e-magazine. Visit newtrail. ualberta.ca/current to see these stories and more.

Lessons of Leadership and Responsibility Andrea Goertz, ’89 BCom, ’95 MBA, and Pat Daniel, ’68 BSc(ChemEng), ’10 LLD (Honorary) talk corporate responsibility.

Healing the Children of Tijuana, Mexico Spend the day with Betty Jones (Millard), ’55 BSc(HEc), ’08 DSc (Honorary), at the pediatric hospital she co-founded.

Meet More Alumni of Impact We profile more amazing alumni, including Yasmin Jivraj, ’80 BSc, co-founder of one of Canada’s top IT companies.

Jim and Anne: a 50-Year Love Story Jim Edgson, ’66 BSc, and his wife drove through a blizzard to come back to the spot on campus where they met 50 years ago.

Turns Out, It Is Your Dad’s Week of Welcome Scott Rollans, ’82 BA, crashes his daughter’s Week of Welcome and meets Fred Penner — 1979 was never like this! new trail winter 2013 3

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE

New Trail is published out of the office of Alumni Relations at the University of Alberta. It is mailed free, three times per year, to U of A alumni, non-alumni friends and subscribers, and is available on select newsstands. New Trail is also available in a digital edition.

To sign up or change your subscription, call 800-661-2593 or send your information to alumni@ualberta.ca and write Subscribe to New Trail in the subject line.

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS JAMES ADAMS (Page 41)

MARTY CHAN (Page 30)

James Adams, ’71 BA, is national arts correspondent with the Globe and Mail. He served previously as the newspaper’s arts editor.

Before moving to Toronto in 1989 to work as an editor and manager with McClelland & Stewart, he was a reporter, critic and columnist with the Edmonton Journal. He has interviewed Alice Munro three times and knows Leonard Cohen’s home phone number.

Marty Chan, ’90 BA, is a children’s author, playwright, humorist, television screenwriter and story editor. As he puts it on his Facebook page: “in other words, he hasn’t figured out what he wants to be when he grows up.” His newest books — Barnabas Bigfoot: The Bone Eater for children and The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Demon Gate for young adults — came out in fall 2013.

ALIX KEMP (Page 42)

JOHN ULAN

JENNIFER JENSEN (Page 51)

JESSE SNYDER (Page 48)

Alix Kemp, ’11 BA, is a journalist and assistant editor of awardwinning business publication Alberta Venture, where she has written about everything from the oil industry to comic books. Her freelance credits include New Trail and Avenue Edmonton, and she was a finalist in the 2013 Alberta Magazine Showcase Awards.

John Ulan has worked as a photographer for 25 years, encountering faces and places from the badlands of Alberta to the Arctic, from prime ministers to the homeless. His work has run in publications across North America. He claimed a Western Magazine Award for a portrait in the Winter 2012 New Trail.

Jennifer Jensen is a journalist and freelance writer with nearly 20 years of experience. Over her career, she has been a writer for CBC’s The National with Peter Mansbridge and CTV’s National News with Lisa LaFlamme. Jensen also worked as a producer at the BBC in London. She currently lives in Calgary.

Jesse Snyder is an associate editor at Alberta Oil magazine in Edmonton. Before settling down in Alberta, he lived in Bogotá, Colombia, where he wrote about mining and commodities.

During that time he spent three months writing from Ulan Bator, Mongolia, which was strange and sometimes terrifying.

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COREY LANSDELL (Page 31)

KELLY MELLINGS (Page 31)

Corey Lansdell, ’04 BDes, has taken his creative roots and stretched them deep. After running a small graphic design business (2005-10), he cofounded Edmonton-based Pulp Studios Inc., where he has produced creative work worthy of four Applied Arts Awards, an Ace Award of Distinction and an American Indian Motion Picture Award. His newest endeavour, “rhetoric,” will take him and his business partner Kelly Mellings (right), into the realm of lowbrow art, merchandise and gallery shows.

Kelly Mellings, ’00 BFA, is an art director, storyteller, casual beard grower, entrepreneur and award-winning illustrator who claimed an Applied Arts Award in illustration, Ace Award and American Indian Motion Picture Award. He founded the boutique illustration and design firm Pulp Studios Inc. with Corey Lansdell (left).

Pulp Studios’ work ranges from game design for clients like Microsoft to motion graphics that educate about intergenerational trauma.

ALUMNI IN THE NEWS U of A alumni who made headlines recently

Tautology by Duane Linklater

Duane Linklater, ’03 BA(NativeStu), ’05 BFA, is this year’s recipient of the $50,000 Sobey Art Award. The prize recognizes emerging contemporary artists younger than 40. – CBC

TOP LEFT PHOTO BY DALE MACMILLAN, TOP RIGHT PHOTO BY STEVEN FARMER, COURTESY OF THE ART GALLERY OF NOVA SCOTIA

VIRTUAL REALIT Y SIMULATOR HELPS AMPUTEES WALK A unique virtual reality simulator is helping amputees learn to walk again — more safely.

The Computer-Assisted Rehabilitation Environment — the only clinical virtual reality simulator of its kind in Western Canada — helps researchers better understand the balance needs of amputees and devise new approaches to therapy. U of A researchers are working with colleagues in Ottawa on the study.

The simulator’s twin-treadmill platform, motion hydraulics and circular surround screen can be programmed by therapists to create virtually any scenario and offer the patient a personalized rehab program.

“We’re looking at what a person with a single prosthesis usually does when he or she is thrown off balance,” says Jacqueline Hebert, associate research chair in clinical rehabilitation in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and medical lead of the adult amputee program at Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton. “We can actually study the biomechanics of how they’re walking [and] what their balance reactions are, then look at that and help them train better for the real world.”

Fashion designer Malorie Urbanovitch, ’11 BA, was one of two winners in the Mercedes-Benz Start Up competition for best emerging designer during Toronto Fashion Week in October. – Toronto Star Alan Nursall, ’81 MSc, has been named the new CEO of Edmonton’s Telus World of Science. He was also in the news in 2012 — breaking the world record for the tallest vinegar-and-baking-soda volcano, standing 7.15 metres tall. – Edmonton Journal Louis Hugo Francescutti, ’85 PhD, ’87 MD, was named president of the Canadian Medical Association in August. – Newswire.ca Don Iveson, ’01 BA, was elected mayor of Edmonton after serving two terms on city council. – Edmonton Sun

New Game-Making Certificate Sure to Have Mass Effect The U of A is stepping up efforts to prepare students for an industry worth about $75 billion worldwide.

A new certificate program in computer game development is being offered jointly by the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Science. It allows students in any undergraduate program to acquire deep knowledge in a single discipline while also taking courses in a variety of disciplines involved in creating games.

The entry point for the certificate is Computers and Games 250. Students from different disciplines — usually two from computing science, a creative writer, an artist and a musician — are thrown together as a team and expected to build a game.

Upon graduation, students will have a portfolio they can show game companies along with a degree in their major discipline. – Geoff McMaster

Tara Fulton, ’02 BSc, ’08 PhD, is part of a team of scientists from the United States and Canada that received a $1.7-million National Science Foundation grant to study declining populations of Pacific walrus, which are critical to subsistence in many Arctic coastal villages. – Alaska Business Monthly Lucinda Chodan, ’78 BEd, left her post as editor-in-chief at the Edmonton Journal to take on the editor-in-chief position at the Montreal Gazette. – The Westlock News – Compiled by Madeline Smith new trail winter 2013 5

LEARNING TO LEAD

STUDENT LIFE

For Nisha Patel, leadership is a lifestyle. On paper, she already has a solid leadership resumé as a business student in the first cohort to receive the U of A’s Leadership Certificate and as former president of the U of A Debate Society, ranked 20th in the world in 2012. But being a leader is something Patel strives to embody every minute of the day.

Do you believe leadership is something that can be taught?

If you see it as a process of continual improvement and see it as something you opt into, I think that changes how you approach leadership. You can’t teach a person to be someone whom other people find inspiring. But you can teach them to communicate, to be more self-aware and to be authentic.

You recently gave an address at the launch of the U of A’s Peter Lougheed 6 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Nisha Patel (right) prepares for the World Universities Debating Championships with partner Gabrielle Belzil. The event takes place Dec. 29 to Jan. 3 in Chennai, India.

Leadership Initiative in front of many important community leaders. What was your message?

I got up onstage and I knew there were three rows of reserved seating in the front, so every one of those people was someone who’d done things in

his or her life. I think the only way you can [be authentic] is to be really honest. So I got up there and I said, “This is what I believe and these are the values I’m going to try to follow through on in my life.” I think leadership goes both ways and that you don’t learn only from

someone who is older than you. Once you realize [that], all the people attending stop seeming like scary dignitaries.

They become people you can learn from and people who can learn from you. (More on the Lougheed initiative on page 10.) – Madeline Smith

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

How do you deal with the responsibility that comes with leadership?

I think it’s about having priorities and realizing what your needs are within those priorities. There are going to be days when it’s really hard to get up in the morning and be yourself all day — be who you want to be at every moment all day. You have to set your own standards for what you think is meaningful, and you can’t let other things get to you.

FROM THE COLLECTIONS

UNCOVERING CAMPUS TREASURES

Last of the Living Fossils The tuatara is the last living reptile of an entire order (Rhynchocephalia) of organisms that existed roughly 200 million years ago. Students and researchers use this rare skeleton to study evolutionary biology, providing insight into the early evolution of modern lizards and snakes. A rise in global temperature — even by a couple of degrees — presents the possibility for extinction of the entire species. The only living tuataras are found in New Zealand.

PHOTOS BY JOHN ULAN (TUATARA), MICHAEL HOLLY (METEORITE), FELIX PLAWSKI (MOOSECONSTRUE)

Space Rocks

Pop Goes Canadiana

The U of A Museums house the world’s rarest meteorites — the only ones to have remained frozen and pristine since their fall to our planet. They are rarely on public display. In fact, a custom-designed glovebox inside a frozen laboratory is used to study the Tagish Lake specimens, keeping them cold to avoid contamination and loss of volatile compounds. The fall of meteorites like this may have seeded the early Earth with the components necessary for life.

Spread across campus are the 29 interdisciplinary collections that make up the University of Alberta Museums. This unique model helps to distinguish the U of A as one of the world’s great public universities.

The collections are used daily for teaching, research and community engagement. museums.ualberta.ca

Charles Pachter captures quintessentially Canadian imagery in his art, 11 pieces of which he donated recently to the University of Alberta Museums. His highly stylized pop images have cultivated new ways of seeing ourselves as Canadians.

Mooseconstrue, a popular sculptural silhouette, will soon be part of the vibrant campus public art program.

Inspired meetings. Inspirational setting.

Toll Free: 1.877.760.4595 E-mail: conferences@banffcentre.ca www.banffconferences.ca/ualberta The Banff Centre provides exceptional meeting facilities and services in a location that cannot help but inspire.

BANFF, CANADIAN ROCKIES

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COULD THOR HOLD HIS OWN AT HOME? Natalie Van Deusen, a professor and researcher in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, is delving into the way women are depicted in Old Norse literature. She’s discovering “a very opinionated woman” who wields a lot of power in the household and a strong influence over the men in her life. – Laura Ly

Agreements Strengthen Partnership with China New agreements signed by the U of A and a leading Chinese university founded by Sun Yat-sen — the founder of modern China — are broadening opportunities for student and faculty exchanges and collaborative research.

A signing ceremony Oct. 24 formalized three memorandums of understanding that pave the way for broader co-operation and build on existing partnerships such as the Sun Yat-sen University-U of A Joint Lab for Biodiversity Conservation. They include an institution-wide agreement to foster academic exchanges and co-operation among faculty and students, a university-wide student exchange agreement and a funding agreement to attract top Chinese PhD students to the U of A. The new agreements strengthen the U of A’s profile in the populous Guangdong Province where Sun Yatsen University is based and create new relationships with southern China. – Bev Betkowski

INSPIRED BY A GECKO’S FEET Mechanical engineering professor Dan Sameoto and graduate student Walid Bin Khaled have developed new adhesives inspired by a gecko’s feet. The tape they created sticks strongly to a surface when pushed in one direction and slips off when pushed the other way, without any residue.

The dry adhesive is covered with tiny stalks, much like the millions of hairs on geckos’ feet that allow them to climb up walls and cross ceilings. After noticing that any defects on the caps of the stalks made the bond break more easily, the researchers introduced intentional “defects” to create directional adhesion.

The adhesives could improve technology, from microelectronics production to work in outer space.

– Richard Cairney

Spotlight on Weight Bias in Health Care Weight bias among health-care providers can have lifeor-death consequences, a U of A researcher says. Many patients living with obesity avoid seeking preventive health care because of feeling blamed or shamed by physicians, who often lack training in treating obesity, says Mary Forhan, an accupational therapist and assistant professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. She and PhD student Ximena Ramos-Salas, ’07 MSc, published a review of weight bias in health care. Forhan hopes to train students and clinicians in better care for obese patients. – Bryan Alary

Communications & Technology

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“Finely Tuned to Your Needs” 8 newtrail.ualberta.ca

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RESEARCH IN THE NEWS U of A research is always making waves across the media. Here’s the lowdown on what’s up in our labs lately.

New Use for Drug in Bowel Disease

Tales of the U of A Campus Saint-Jean student Emerson Csorba has gathered stories from U of A students and alumni and published them in a free ebook called Leading U. The anthology includes stories about lessons learned on campus, tales of inspiration and advice for making the most of the U of A experience — such as this piece from Karen Unland, ’94 BA, whose essay is titled “A Gateway to Ideas.”

“So, here’s my advice to those of you who are at university because you were good at school and it was expected of you or you expected it of yourself: study hard, but don’t just study. Find your tribe, the people who care about the same things you care about and challenge you to care about stuff you never knew before. Try things that are so hard you might fail.

Take this opportunity to reinvent yourself.

You’ll never have a chance like this again.

Transform.”

You can download the ebook at smashwords.com/books/view/363508.

Study Looks at Soldier Stress in Afghanistan Ibolja Cernak, who holds Canada’s first chair in military and veterans’ clinical rehabilitation at the U of A, accompanied the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan to study how soldiers cope with the stress of active duty. She hopes the study’s results may lead to better training and screening to support soldiers’ mental health and to improve rehabilitation for veterans. – Metro

U of A Recruits Cancer Researcher

COUR SE D E LIVE RY

S PA R E T I M E

Shairaz Baksh, ’90 BSc(Spec), ’95 PhD, and a team of researchers discovered that a drug normally used to treat leukemia can reverse symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease. Conditions such as colitis and Crohn’s cause patients extreme discomfort and can lead to colorectal cancer.

Baksh’s team was able to inhibit the inflammation caused by colitis, a finding they hope could be a breakthrough in treating the disease. – Edmonton Journal

A leading researcher in women’s cancers has been recruited to the U of A Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. Lynne Postovit will be researching breast and ovarian cancers as the Dr. Anthony Noujaim Legacy Oncology Chair and the Sawin-Baldwin Chair in Ovarian Cancer. She will be looking for ways to better detect ovarian cancer in its early stages and why it is often resistant to treatment. – Global News

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NEW LEADERSHIP PROGRAM HONOURS LOUGHEED Family hopes name will inspire the next generation of leaders

H GOT AN IDEA? NEW ALUMNI NETWORK CAN HELP IT GROW PROGRAM MATCHES BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS WITH EXPERIENCED ALUMNI With games like Mass Effect and Star Wars: The Old Republic, Edmonton-based BioWare climbed its way to the top of the gaming industry. Now Ray Muzyka, ’90 BMedSc, ’92 MD, co-founder of BioWare, is bringing that experience to others as the founding chair of the U of A’s new Venture Mentoring Service.

The VMS program will partner student and alumni entrepreneurs with successful alumni mentors like Muzyka who can help them develop their ideas and skills. Based on the VMS program developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U of A program will focus on helping business and social entrepreneurs scale and grow their concepts.

“Our vision for VMS is to help support and uplift University of Alberta entrepreneurs,” says Muzyka. “When we founded BioWare, there weren’t programs like this readily available for U of A students and alumni. I certainly would have benefited from this kind of mentorship myself, so I’m very excited about the potential of this new program.”

To learn more, visit ualberta.ca/vms.

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For more information, visit giving.ualberta.ca/PeterLougheedLeadershipInitiative.

TOP LEFT PHOTO BY LAUGHING DOG PHOTOGRAPHY

Ray Muzyka

is University of Alberta experience affected Peter Lougheed, ’51 BA, ’52 LLB, ’86 LLD (Honorary), so profoundly that he wore his university ring every day after he first put it on his finger.

He wore it when, as Alberta’s premier, he established the first ministry dedicated to advanced education, when he created the province’s first human rights legislation and when he championed the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.

Now his legacy of leadership is coming full circle. The University of Alberta and The Banff Centre have launched the Peter Lougheed Leadership Initiative — a program devised to inspire and mentor future leaders. This is the most prominent project to which the family has lent Lougheed’s name since his death in September 2012.

“My father was deeply passionate about Alberta and Canada and devoted all his energy to build a vibrant society that would be prosperous, now and into the future,” says his son Stephen. “Our family is proud of these achievements and even prouder still that his legacy will continue to inspire the next generation of leaders with similar passions for making the world a better place.”

U of A students have opportunities already to build their leadership skills through existing courses, student government, clubs and social activities. This new initiative will formalize a program aimed specifically at developing the mindset and skills of future leaders.

The university has begun work on the initiative with The Banff Centre, supporters, donors and government. The next step is for U of A faculty, staff and students to begin developing academic programming, building from the programs already available across campus. – Erica Viegas

The Green and Gold Guide to Being an Olympic Judge So you know a toe loop from a Salchow and think you can see better than the judges. Well, stop yelling at your television and get your scorecards ready. Here are six tips from Abbott on how to judge Olympic figure skating from your living room.

1 2 Alumna in the Judge’s Seat at Olympics

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

FIGURE-SKATING OFFICIAL FINDS PARALLELS BETWEEN SPORT AND LEADERSHIP WHEN THE SKATERS TAKE TO THE ICE in Sochi, Russia, this February, Jodi Abbott, ’93 MEd, ’96 PhD, will have the best seat in the house. She is one of the international judges who will be scoring skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Abbott was a figure skater growing up in Edson, Alta. She got into judging when she was 16 at her mother’s urging — it was a way to give back all the volunteer support Abbott had received as an athlete. She eventually worked her way up to accreditation as an International Skating Union judge.

She says the lessons she has learned as a skating judge apply well to her demanding day job as president and CEO of Edmonton-based NorQuest College.

“In skating, all the technical elements get a score on their own. You look at every piece and assess it against a standard — you do it really quickly,” she explains.

“But when you get to the program component scores, you’re actually looking at the whole picture. You’ve had all of these elements happen, but you’re looking at how they all connect together to create the overall program.”

That is exactly what she does in her role as president and CEO, says Abbott, who was awarded a U of A Alumni Honour Award in 2013.

“As a leader, I have to look at every area of my organization and how it’s operating, but I also have to always be aware of the big picture. Right now, a lot is changing in post-secondary. I have to know where NorQuest College fits into that.

But we also have to have the bigger picture and ask where it’s going.”

At this year’s Olympics, figure-skating competitions are scheduled to begin Feb. 8 with the ice dance programs and end with the women’s free skate Feb. 20.

Watch for more on Jodi Abbott in an upcoming issue of e-Trail, which brings fresh articles to your inbox every month. – Madeline Smith

BE TECHNICAL. For each technical move like a jump, spin or lift, give skaters a score between +3 and -3.

MAKE IT SPARKLE. Program components, like choreography and composition or interpretation, are scored from zero to 10.

KNOW YOUR JUMPS. Jumps fall (no pun intended) into two categories. In edge jumps, skaters take off from the edge of the blade without using the second foot, such as in the Axel, the Salchow and the loop. When a skater pushes off from the toe of the free foot, it’s a toe jump such as the Lutz and flip.

3

GET BACK UP. Think a fall means the end? Even if a flip turns into a flop, good skaters can make up the points by adding an unexpected skill somewhere. Great skaters are adding up their score as they skate and figuring out where they need to make up points.

4

DIFFERENT IS GOOD. Watch for unique entries on technical elements. A skater can earn extra points for adding a flourish like jumping with legs apart or putting one leg in an unusual position during a sit spin.

5

SCORE, DON’T SNORE. Skaters who go back and forth across the ice, performing their different skills at each end, put judges to sleep and miss out on points. Judges call this a “tennis-match” program.

6

new trail winter 2013 11

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Uplifting the Next Generation

by Todd Babiak

ILLUSTRATION BY BYRON EGGENSCHWILER

I

n the summer of 2013, my children spent a week at the U of A. It startled me, after Day 1 of her camp, when my seven-year-old daughter actually used the phrase “on campus.”

I could see her in 12 years, wearing the 2025 version of yoga pants and Uggs, hustling between classes. Is she a liberal arts type, like her dad, or a biologist and educator like her mom?

Or is she destined for medicine, where she might counsel her hypochondriac parents into tranquillity?

On the final day of Eurekamp, a joint venture between the U of A Faculty of Arts and an organization called Philosophy for Children Alberta, parents were invited to attend for the final 15 minutes.

My two daughters lined up with the

other kids and performed a Bollywoodstyle dance number. We learned how the kids had designed their week, looked at the city they had created together out of boxes, their masks and duct-tape people, and their sociological analysis of garbage.

It was curious to hear my five-year-old exploring the notion that “we are what we throw away.”

I tell my daughters a story before bed every night. Often they are about courageous sloths but sometimes they are about historical figures. Midway through Eurekamp, before bed, I told them the story of Henry Marshall Tory, the founding president of the university, as the building that bears his name was their home for the week. I taught them the noble and pretty phrase “uplifting the whole people” and they both paused.

My oldest daughter asked, “How? How does a university uplift the whole people?”

I worked for 10 years in newspaper journalism, and in that time witnessed the demolition of the business model.

It’s both sad and grimly funny to recall my conversations with colleagues across the continent, in the midst of those changes. Some were desperate to hold on to the status quo or even the glory days, when newspapers were the intellectual public square, the centre of local and national culture, and writers mattered. We simply had to wait for this Internet nonsense to pass. Once the current owners were replaced by smarter, more committed, more sophisticated “newspaper people,” order and elegance would return to the world. new trail winter 2013 13

The old humanist intentions of the university — to teach us to think and speak and write, to infect us with the classics, to teach us to become what we now call citizens — have become quaint.

A public institution, funded primarily by the government, must answer to the people and to their representatives. It can try to bypass the government and speak directly to voters, in an emotional plea to uplift the whole people, but newspapers tried a commercial version of that 10 years ago. The status quo was gone so quickly, there was nothing left to protect.

“Your city, your country, is better with strong newspapers,” may be true. But I doubt if anyone held on to a subscription out of a vague sense of civic duty. We are selfish creatures. We want to know how an institution will benefit us, our families, our communities, even if our children aren’t accomplished enough, as they graduate from high school, to get in. What does the U of A promise? What makes this place, this public investment, indispensable? What makes the U of A

different from other schools? How will it change my life? Your life?

The word “incubator” is fashionable, but the U of A has been a peculiar sort of incubator in a peculiar sort of city.

Students and alumni have launched businesses and ventures and institutions in this city that have grown into global institutions like BioWare, Stantec and the Fringe Theatre Festival. The school has refined some of the world’s most important thinkers. The U of A’s impact is all around us, no matter where we live, and as the school changes and grows, it can change and grow in that spirit. If you have an idea, this is an unusually good place to make it a reality. Good ideas, growing in the right place, always uplift the whole people.

Todd Babiak, ’95 BA, co-founded his own company, Story Engine, and has published several novels. His fifth novel, Come Barbarians, was released in the fall of 2013.

Thank you.

Festival of Ideas would like to recognize and thank our sponsors and partners.

Watch for the announcement of our 2014 speakers.

Visit festivalofideas.ca to register for updates.

festivalofideas.ca

14 newtrail.ualberta.ca

PHOTO BY GREG SOUTHAM

Only it never happened. Does it ever happen?

Universities had been around for centuries before the first newspaper was published in Strasbourg, in the early 17th century. We can speculate at what their impulses might have in common: the search for truth and transcendence, progress and invention, money and power. Both have thrived by providing what the people, and the state, want from them. The trouble is, this changes from country to country, century to century, decade to decade. What does a university do to us, today?

Today, the universities we most often hear about are hives of innovation.

Researchers and entrepreneurs burst from the classroom and the laboratory into the market. Magazines sell thousands of copies, and advertisements, by ranking schools of business. We judge universities by their direct connections to the economy, and the economy is changing. Everything is changing, unless it has already changed.

What a Weekend!

58,000

4,500

2,600

1,184

540

88

September web hits

Cinnamon buns

Cups of hot chocolate served

Attendees

Photobooth photos

Volunteers

Thank You

to our amazing sponsors & volunteers for making Alumni Weekend 2013 a great success.

Hotel Macdonald

Hole’s Greenhouses & Gardens Coca-Cola Transcontinental Printing Invert 720

Mark your calendar for next year Sept. 18-21, 2014 Do you want to participate?

Sign up as a class organizer, volunteer or sponsor.

Contact: Jennifer Jenkins P: 780-492-4540 E: jmjenkin@ualberta.ca

THE IMPACT REPORT THE STORY OF YOU

BY K AREN SHERLOCK INFOGR APHIC S BY M A RC E Y A N D R E W S

16 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Consider the impact one person can have on the world.

Now consider the impact of more than 250,000 individuals, each inspired by an education at one of the world’s top universities. A landmark survey has uncovered the magnitude of that impact. It’s an astounding story, and University of Alberta alumni are still writing it.

U

niversity of Alberta alumni have a tremendous impact on the economy and society. We illustrate that in every issue of New Trail with stories of alumni. Now a groundbreaking study based on a survey of alumni has put some numbers to the stories — and those numbers are eye-opening.

The U of A’s quarter-million living alumni have founded 70,258 organizations around the world, the study estimates, creating more than 1.5 million jobs and generating annual revenues of $348.5 billion. That’s greater than the annual GDP of Alberta. Talk about impact.

U of A alumni are clearly innovators and creators. More than 30 per cent of respondents have published peer-reviewed work, 16 per cent have created literary or artistic works for sale, 24 per cent have created a new product, service or business model and 4.6 per cent have patented a new product or method.

The study also noted a characteristic of our alumni: they have a strong drive to make the world a better place. Of the organizations founded by alumni, more than one-third have a cultural, environmental or social mission. Half of those are non-profit. More than 77 per cent of alumni have volunteered locally, and 17 per cent have volunteered outside Canada.

Clearly, the university’s role as envisioned by its first president, Henry Marshall Tory, is embodied in its alumni.

Tory charged the university community and future generations to remember that a university degree must have an impact beyond academia. “The uplifting of the whole people shall be [a university’s] final goal,” he said.

His vision has withstood a century of progress and growth, and even alumni who aren’t familiar with the phrase have applied the spirit of this promise to their lives and careers.

The study, Uplifting the Whole People: The Impact of University of Alberta Alumni Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship by U of A professors Tony Briggs, ’95 BSc(Hons), and Jennifer Jennings, is a landmark in Canadian higher education. Based on a 2012 survey of U of A alumni, it’s the first of its kind in Canada, and it’s the first anywhere that examines not only the economic impact of a university through its alumni entrepreneurs but also their impact in non-profit and social, environmental and cultural realms.

The study is innovative in another way. It explores the impact of the U of A experience — at university and later in life — and delves into questions about happiness and well-being.

A key finding is the role of faculty. When asked which U of A experience had the greatest impact on them, alumni most often mentioned their professors, commenting repeatedly on how much they inspired, encouraged and guided them.

Thanks to the more than 11,000 of you who responded to the survey, we have a clearer picture of the impact of U of A alumni throughout the world. The results also tell the story of you. Where you go after university. What experience at university affected you most. Where your lives have taken you.

We share this story in four parts. First we look at Who You Are, an examination of where alumni live and what they’re doing. Part II, Uplifting the Whole People, looks at how U of A alumni are having an impact on the world around them. Part III is Uplifting the Whole Person, where we share stories of what the university did for you as students, and as alumni.

In the final section, you will meet nine Impact Makers who represent the scope and reach of U of A alumni across the globe.

We’re excited to share the findings with you and introduce you to your fellow alumni. new trail winter 2013 17

WHO YOU ARE

Meet the people who are proud to call the U of A their alma mater — and 93.6 per cent say you are proud

WHOYOUARE

WHOYOUARE

WHERE YOU LIVE, WHERE YOU WORK, WHAT YOU THINK OF THE U OF A

T

he U of A boasts more than a quarter-million living alumni. You are making an impact in every sector of the economy, every corner of our communities and in many parts of the world. You are successful employees and employers, prolific founders and creators, avid volunteers. You have a strong bent for helping others, bringing to life the university’s promise of “uplifting the whole people.”

We’ve pulled together some of our own numbers* to sketch out a U of A family portrait and give context to the BriggsJennings survey.

Three in four of you call Alberta home. More than 90 per cent of you live in Canada. Of Alberta alumni, more than twothirds make your home in and around Edmonton, 17 per cent live in the Calgary area and 15 per cent live elsewhere in the province. Outside Alberta, the largest urban populations of 18 newtrail.ualberta.ca

alumni live in the Vancouver and Toronto areas.

Four per cent of you call the United States home, with California, Texas, Washington and New York claiming the greatest numbers. Internationally, Hong Kong is a hub for U of A alumni, followed by Australia and the United Kingdom.

Nearly one in four of you graduated with education degrees.

Arts grads make up the second-biggest group, at 17 per cent, with science and engineering the two next largest.

Your education has launched you into a wide range of careers, but a remarkable proportion of you — close to half — work in high social-impact sectors such as education, health and social work.

Here’s a stat we’re especially happy to report: a whopping 91.4 per cent of you rate your decision to attend the U of A as good or great. In fact, you’re so proud of your alma mater that 93.6 per cent of you say you promote the U of A to others. * Figures based on Alumni Association data

U of A alumni can be found in all corners of the world, but most choose to live and work in Alberta.

Where You Live

4%

93%

LIVE IN THE U.S.

3%

LIVE ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD

of U of A alumni LIVE IN CANADA 1%

1,261

Outside Canada and the U.S., Hong Kong has the greatest number of alumni, at more than 1,200.

QU

EB EC AT L AN & T T IC ER C A RI T N A OR D A IE S

A OB NI T

N

1%

SA

SK

AT C

HE

TA R ON

1%

BR

I T IS

HC

OL U

WA

IA MB

ER ALB

1%

MA

5%

IO

9%

TA

75%

The University of Alberta has more than

254,000

Edmonton & area alumni

Calgary & area alumni

17 %

More than two-thirds live in and around Edmonton

68%

Living in Alberta

15 %

living alumni who hold

307,127 U of A degrees

Total rest of Alberta

Total Alberta alumni: 143,015

Other Canadian Hot Spots

Green & Gold in the Red, White and Blue

(greater metro areas)

7,677 alumni live in the United States. The top four states are:

7,767 4,949 3,285 2,320

CALIFORNIA TEXAS WASHINGTON NEW YORK

1,546 801 628 406

Based on Alumni Association data. Geographic data based on accurate mailing addresses as of Oct. 15, 2013.

new trail winter 2013 19

VANCOUVER TORONTO VICTORIA OTTAWA

WHO YOU ARE

Education grads make up the largest percentage of U of A alumni: 23 per cent.

Here’s a closer look at the far-reaching impact of those graduates.

What You Do Grads by Degree Nearly one in four alumni have education degrees from the U of A. Arts grads make up the second-biggest group, with science and engineering the next largest.† Education (23%)

Phys-Ed & Rec (3%) Rehab Med (2%)

THE EDUCATION EFFECT

Law (2%)

Arts (17%)

Science (14%) Ag, Life & Env. Sciences (5%)

The Three Deans Three U of A alumnae who headed Alberta’s largest education faculties shaped the way teachers are taught and students learn

Medicine & Dentistry (5%)

Business (8%)

Campus Saint-Jean (1%)

Pharmacy (2%)

Nursing (6%)

Engineering (9%)

Other degrees (all less than 1% each) include Augustana, Extension, Library & Info Studies, Native Studies, St. Stephen’s, Public Health

Grads by Occupation You told us your most recent job was in‡: Arts/Entertainment/ Recreation (3.0%) Finance/ Insurance (3.8%) Info/Communication (4.6%) Mining (7.6%) Other (10.9%)

20 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Education (28.7%) Health/Social Work (17.9%) Professional/Scientific/ Tech (12.2%)

IT’S EARLY IN THE 2000s. Teachers and school boards are at odds with one another; everyone is at odds with the provincial government. After a long day of meetings in Calgary, three University of Alberta alumnae go out for a glass of wine. They are deans of the three largest education faculties in Alberta, at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge. That initial social chat grew into a regular exchange, giving updates, sharing opinions on changes in policy or curriculum, talking about advances in research. Their collaboration was formalized into an association of five teacher preparation institutions, the Association of Alberta Deans of Education, a major education stakeholder in the province. – Sheila Graham

Meet the three deans who shaped the faculties that shaped the teachers.

Based on Alumni Association data for living alumni.

Based on data from Uplifting the Whole People: The Impact of University of Alberta Alumni Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

†

‡

Public Admin (11.3%)

Education Impact Just how many lives are changed by a teacher? We looked at one class of U of A Education grads — the 1,555 graduates of the Class of 2003 — to estimate how many children they have influenced over the past 10 years.*

2013

HAS TOUCHED THE LIVES OF MORE THAN

195,000

2003

ONE CLASS OF

1,555

STUDENTS

U OF A GRADS

That could fill Commonwealth football stadium more than 3 times.

The First in the Nation

Fern Snart

Annette LaGrange

Jane O’Dea

’79 PhD

’72 BEd, ’76 Dip(Ed), ’91 PhD

’83 MEd, ’91 PhD

School: University of Alberta Date: 2004 to present Undergrads during tenure: 12,211 (to date)

School: University of Calgary Date: 1999 to 2007 Undergrads during tenure: 4,319

School: University of Lethbridge Date: 2003 to 2013 Undergrads during tenure: 2,044

One impact as dean: Developing the Institute of Sexual Minority Studies and Services, which has hosted hundreds of sexual and gender minority young people at Camp fYrefly. Another program, NoHomophobes.com, raised awareness of homophobic language in online conversation.

One impact as dean: Continuing the broad transformation of the faculty’s undergraduate degree into Canada’s first teacher preparation program in inquiry-based learning.

In this approach, students identify and research questions to develop their knowledge.

One impact as dean: Bringing the issues of Aboriginal education to the forefront and establishing First Nations programming such as the Niitsitapi Teacher Education Program and graduate programs for First Nations, Métis and Inuit students.

Though education courses were available at the U of A as early as 1912, the Faculty of Education was formed in 1942, Canada’s first.

Graduating the Future The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Education is one of the largest in Canada, based on the number of undergraduate students enrolled.

*Sources: Alberta Teachers’ Association, Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association and Alberta Education.

Based on average attrition rates and class size averages for Alberta.

new trail winter 2013 21

UPLIFTING THE WHOLE PEOPLE

Billions of dollars, thousands of organizations, countless volunteer hours — discover the impact of alumni

UPLIFTINGTHEWHOLEPEOPLE

UPLIFTINGTHEWHOLEPEOPLE

T

he impact of University of Alberta grads around the world can be measured in billions of dollars. It can also be measured in innovation, creativity, social change, discovery and countless other contributions to society.

When U of A professors Tony Briggs, ’95 BSc(Hons), and Jennifer Jennings from the Alberta School of Business set out to explore the impact of U of A alumni, they wanted to build on, but go beyond, previous alumni surveys by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Tsinghua University in China.

They wanted to ask the broader question of how the university creates not only economic change, but also social, environmental and cultural change.

“There is a lot of interest in understanding the many roles of universities generally, and the role of universities in catalyzing entrepreneurships and innovation specifically,” Briggs says.

22 newtrail.ualberta.ca

“So there’s a lot of opportunity to explore not only what this university is doing but also what is the role of ‘the university.’ ” Their findings tell the story of the U of A’s impact through its alumni. Whether as founders and employers, innovators, creators, skilled employees or volunteers, U of A alumni are making a difference in their communities and the world.

The survey asked alumni whether they had founded an organization, either for-profit or non-profit, and — for the first time in a study of its kind — whether those organizations had a cultural, social or environmental mission. It also asked questions about creative and innovative activity and volunteerism.

Jennings says when she and Briggs were soliciting input to design the study, one of the most memorable questions came from a person in the arts concerned that cultural organizations and other forms of innovation wouldn’t be counted.

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

HOW YOU CONTRIBUTE TO THE WORLD

Tony Briggs and Jennifer Jennings new trail winter 2013 23

UPLIFTING THE WHOLE PEOPLE

“When we think of the word ‘startup,’ we don’t typically think of the arts,” she says. “We felt previous studies were missing something really important and timely: the idea that innovative and entrepreneurial activity doesn’t have to be only high-tech. We wanted to be more holistic and inclusive.”

As their report says: “To the best of our knowledge, this ‘Made in Alberta’ approach is the first to measure a university’s socioeconomic impact in such a holistic manner.”

Their conclusion? The University of Alberta is a major catalyst of entrepreneurship and innovation.

“The University of Alberta’s responsibility for uplifting the whole people extends beyond its economic footprint,” the report says. “Each day, its quarter of a million alumni engage in collective and creative activities that drive positive social, environmental and cultural outcomes.”

One-third of the more than 70,000 organizations founded by alumni have a cultural, social or environmental mission. More than half of those are non-profit. Four of 10 alumni founders have established at least one organization with a primary cultural, environmental or social mission.

The report notes that a single founder can have a far-

reaching impact. Organizations often live on after the founder leaves, and a founder can — and often does — create more than one organization. In the case of U of A, it’s an estimated 1.8 organizations per founder.

The study also looked at alumni innovation — “introducing something new and valuable to the world” — and found significant contributions in areas such as art and education, literary works and publications, patents and new products, services and processes. In every case, more than half said the U of A played an influential role in their innovation.

Clearly, our alumni make an impact on society and the economy, and the U of A is a catalyst for that impact.

“Our alumni embody the spirit of our university’s promise to uplift the whole people,” U of A President Indira Samarasekera said of the findings. “They are successful and extremely committed to giving back and doing social good.

“We often wonder how the University of Alberta will stand out — what makes our university different from the thousands of others around the world. I believe this is the answer: our students, our staff and our alumni live the university’s mission every day.”

A Game-Changing Number Bigger than the GDP of Denmark: tallying the economic impact of alumni

The number is staggering, and surprising even to the most ardent believer in the power of a university education. U of A alumnifounded organizations injected nearly $350 billion into the world economy last year — more than the entire GDP of Alberta and the GDPs of more than half the countries in the world.

Alumni have founded more than 70,000 organizations worldwide, according to the Briggs-Jennings study, creating an estimated 1.5 million jobs and $348.5 billion in annual revenues in

24 newtrail.ualberta.ca

2012. The report points out that’s greater than Alberta’s 2012 GDP of $306.7 billion.

A quarter of the jobs are estimated to be in Alberta.

Based on the fact that 2.1 million people were employed in the province in 2012, that means one in five Albertans works for an organization founded by a U of A alumnus.

U of A alumni-founded organizations are creating close to as much wealth relative to Alberta’s GDP as Stanford University is relative to California’s GDP: 1.14 for

the U of A; 1.39 for Stanford, the study estimates. This is even more telling when you understand that Stanford alumni are founders of companies such as Google, Cisco and Hewlett-Packard.

In an international context, if U of A alumni-founded organizations were a country, they would place 33rd in the World Bank’s ranking of 2012 world GDPs — right between the United Arab Emirates at $348.6 billion and Denmark at $314.2 billion.

This is the second BriggsJennings report to examine

$

the impact of the U of A. The first, The Economic Impact of the University of Alberta: A Comparative Approach, released in September 2012, found the U of A is one of the largest drivers of the provincial economy, with a $12.3-billion impact.

That report analyzed the university’s direct and induced economic effects on Alberta through its research, students, visitors and the “education premium”— higher-value economic activities driven by alumni who hold a post-secondary degree. – Lisa Cook

The numbers speak volumes. U of A alumni create organizations, they create profits, they create jobs. They change what we know, what we use and how we do things.

U of A alumni have founded

70,258

Founders & Innovators Average number of organizations created by each U of A founder

1.8

ORGANIZATIONS

globally

$348.5 BILLIO $348.5 BILLION ALUMNI-FOUNDED ORGANIZATIONS GENERATE ANNUAL REVENUES OF

One in five Albertans is employed by an organization founded by a U of A graduate.*

ALUMNI-FOUNDED ORGANIZATIONS CREATE MORE THAN

1.5 MILLION JOBS A Catalyst for Change Alumni say the U of A was a spark for innovation

Percentage of respondents who said the U of A played an influential role in their innovation activities

75%

Percentage of respondents who have published a peer-reviewed publication

63%

Percentage of respondents who have created a new product, process, service or business model

57%

Percentage of respondents who have created a literary, educational, design or artistic work for sale

*Given 2.1 million employed in Alberta in 2012; estimated 390,221 jobs at U of A alumni-founded organizations.

51%

Percentage of respondents who have patented a new product or method new trail winter 2013 25

UPLIFTING THE WHOLE PEOPLE

Alumni create an impact that reaches far beyond the bottom line. Take a look at just a few of the ways they are making a difference.

65.9%

THE UPLIFTING EFFECT

of respondents have worked for a non-profit

77%

OF RESPONDENTS

REPORTED THAT THEY HAD

VOLUNTEERED LOCALLY

Volunteers at Heart Kyla Amrhein, ’09 BA, didn’t need to hear the alumni survey results to know that University of Alberta alumni are eager to give back to their communities. Amrhein, volunteer co‑ordinator for the Alumni Association, has her own numbers to tell the story.

Four of 10 U of A founders have established at least one organization with a primary cultural, environmental or social mission.

“As of late November, we have recorded 1,751 alumni volunteer experiences as part of the Do Great Things Alumni Volunteer Challenge,” she says. “This is way ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point in the challenge. We had hoped to hit this number by June 2014 at the earliest.”

The Alumni Association launched the Do Great Things challenge in April 2013. The goal is to record 2,015 alumni volunteer experiences by 2015 — the association’s centenary.

The Briggs-Jennings survey confirms that U of A alumni make volunteering a priority. A staggering 77 per cent of respondents reported that they had volunteered locally.

Compare that to Alberta’s volunteer rate of 52 per cent, according to the most recent Statistics Canada numbers available, and 46 per cent for all Canadians.

The alumni study also found a trend toward more student volunteering over the decades. Close to 57 per cent of grads from the 2010s reported they had volunteered while at university, compared with 37.6 per cent for the 1970s and 25.5 per cent for 1950s grads.

1in3

alumni-founded organizations have a primary cultural, environmental or social mission.

More than half of those are non-profit.

26 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Amrhein attributes the high volunteer rate among U of A alumni to several factors. Post-secondary graduates are more likely to volunteer, in general, but there is also a real culture of giving back in Alberta. “When you’re surrounded by that energy, and then come up through a place like the U of A, where it’s promoted as an important part of the student experience, volunteering becomes something you do without even realizing you’re doing it,” she says. – Lisa Cook

Seeing Beyond the Bottom Line Long before corporate responsibility became a buzzword, two U of A alumni were building a bridge between financial success and social accountability Andrea Goertz, ’89 BCom, ’95 MBA, is senior vice-president, strategic initiatives, and chief communications and sustainability officer for Telus. Pat Daniel, ’68 BSc(ChemEng), ’10 LLD (Honorary), was CEO and president of Enbridge from 2001 to 2012. These two alumni come from different generations and emerged from the University of Alberta with different degrees, but both joined major national corporations and emerged as leaders in the areas of corporate and social responsibility. (See more on pages 38 and 48).

New Trail invited them to sit down together at Telus Spark in Calgary to discuss corporations taking on social leadership roles, how it drives the bottom line and why the two of them have high hopes for the new crop of corporate leaders coming out of the U of A. Below is a short excerpt. Watch the full video at newtrail.ualberta.ca.

Andrea Goertz: Everyone’s looking for corporations to have a stance on social responsibility and on sustainability. It was something that was very important to me, and something I was able to bring to the company as part of my personal values and instil that in my leadership capabilities.

can do to take a stance on sustainability. When I look at some of the research on what employees look for in a company, there’s a survey that says over 80 per cent of new recruits want to work for a company that’s environmentally responsible.

Pat Daniel: … personal values, that’s a very good one and I think new graduates now are very focused on the issues of corporate responsibility and how the organization fits in with the rest of society.

PD: I think it’s very important now that we transform our industry, and that’s why we need the new young leaders coming out of places like the University of Alberta to transform an industry like ours to be one that is very acceptable going forward.

AG: You know, it’s so true.

There are so many different things that companies

AG: I think it’s really important for new entrepreneurs or grads

starting up in various businesses to ensure they are following their passions and make sure they are making a statement about what they believe is important for their communities — whether that’s on the environmental front or on the social responsibility front. Even if they’re starting out at a lower level in an organization or at a mid level, it’s important to be part of some of those efforts and to be part of leading something, leading a change.

PD: I agree fully, and I must admit I find that the new grads coming out today are far, far better equipped than we were in my day and age.

They come in with a — I won’t

say it’s a value set, because I think our basic values were very much in the right direction there, as well — but they maybe come in with a better understanding of the priorities they’re going to have to put on environmental and corporate issues like that going forward. And that kind of influx of those individuals into a big organization is hugely powerful to empower that organization to grow, to change, to transform over time. So, I’ve said this many times in front of student groups and student forums — the bright, brilliant minds of today are very welcome in big corporations going forward.

More Online Watch Corporate Leadership and Responsibility: A Conversation With Andrea Goertz and Pat Daniel, at newtrail.ualberta.ca.

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UPLIFTING THE WHOLE PERSON

More than just a degree — what you told us university is really about

UPLIFTINGTHEWHOLEPERSON

UPLIFTINGTHEWHOLEPERSON

T

he University of Alberta is clearly a catalyst for its alumni to contribute to their communities and the world. But what is it about the U of A experience that inspires you to innovate and found and contribute?

And what is the university’s effect on its alumni?

The Briggs-Jennings survey asked a similar open-ended question: what experience at the U of A had the greatest impact?

Faculty was the No. 1 answer. Alumni wrote repeatedly in the comments section about how faculty had an impact on their education experience, their careers and their lives.

Perhaps surprisingly, comments about degrees and jobs were less common than comments on personal growth, relationships, leadership opportunities and sports.

Relationships, in general, were the most often mentioned.

After faculty, the top relationships were with friends, students, spouse and staff. Academic experiences came second: learning, research, classes, teaching, library and student aid.

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Third came extracurricular experiences, including social, residence, foreign, sports, leadership, work programs and art.

Degrees, jobs and knowledge ranked fourth.

Only 1.7 per cent of responses were negative.

An alumnus says it best. “The U of A is responsible for the breadth and depth of my knowledge. It opened a closed door to the world of education that included philosophy, art, writing and teaching. Most importantly, it gave me the confidence and the courage to embrace change as a lifelong endeavour,” says Wallis Kendal, ’69 BEd, co-founder of Edmonton-based iHuman Youth Society, profiled on page 44.

The study found dramatic changes over the decades in some non-curricular student activities. From the 1950s to now, research with faculty almost doubled, from 32.9 to 61.8 per cent. Entrepreneurship classes increased from 16.7 per cent to 27.9 per cent. International study jumped from 19.9 per cent to 35 per cent. Involvement in social activities, athletics and student politics has stayed steady over the years.

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

HOW YOUR U OF A EXPERIENCE ENRICHED YOUR LIFE

A New Tune for Teaching Medicine With alumni telling us that faculty had the biggest impact on their university experience, we wondered what drives a professor to go the extra mile to reach students She plays a ukulele and sings about strep throat to the tune of the Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer. Is it any wonder that instructors like Sarah Forgie leave a lasting impact on students? Forgie is a pediatric infectious disease physician at the Stollery Children’s Hospital and associate professor in the U of A’s Department of Pediatrics.

Forgie has earned a 3M National Teaching Fellowship for her unique approach, which she dubs “medutainment.” In fact, she is one of 40 U of A faculty members to have earned this prestigious fellowship. Considered Canada’s highest honour for excellence in undergraduate university teaching, the 3M fellowship goes to post-secondary instructors who embody the highest ideals of teaching excellence and scholarship and who go out of their way to encourage and support their students.

How does “medutainment” help students? My approach involves four big things: simplify the message, involve your learners, take creative risks and then evaluate and refine frequently. When I think back on my own medical training, I remember certain teachers and the teaching methods they used.

If they told stories about

experiences with patients or things they were passionate about, those were the things that would stick with me. So I use “memory hangers,” like stories or pictures or videos or songs.

What are your favourite memory hangers? One of my favourites is the ukulele strep throat song I do to the tune of Psycho Killer.

I wanted to talk about one of the top reasons people visit their family doctors — a sore throat. And there’s such a difference between a bacterial sore throat and a viral sore throat: one needs antibiotics like penicillin and the other doesn’t. You need to take a throat swab to make the diagnosis. I wanted to get that message across.

And does it stick? I was doing rounds with a medical student, a resident and some fellows training to do infectious diseases and microbiology. I got a call from emergency telling me they had a child who grew a certain kind of strep from a throat swab, and I turned to the group and asked them what treatment was required. The med student started singing, “Swab-swabswab-swab-swab-swab-swabswab-swab-swab, I want my penicillin right away!” like I do in the song. So I think that’s cool. It really works.

Can we expect a holiday album any time soon?

I might need to learn how to play the ukulele properly first. – Kate Black new trail winter 2013 29

UPLIFTING THE WHOLE PERSON

Corey Lansdell, ’04 BDes, and Kelly Mellings, ’00 BFA, co-founders of Pulp Studios, reflect on the value of what they learned at the U of A.

Nearly one in five alumni leaves the U of A with an arts degree. Three grads explore where their arts education led them .

THE ARTS EFFECT

Risk, Rejection and Reaching for Dreams For playwright and author Marty Chan, ’90 BA, an arts degree led to a roachfilled Manhattan apartment — and that was just fine with him

As a failed engineering student coming off a year-long dean’s vacation, I questioned whether going back to university was the right thing to do. I wasn’t hard-wired for math and science.

I enjoyed stories. In high school, I dreamed that one day I’d be hunched over an Underwood typewriter banging out a novel in a cramped Manhattan apartment while my roommate, a budding jazz musician, rehearsed saxophone in the next room. My mother had other ideas. She 30 newtrail.ualberta.ca

suggested that if engineering was too hard, I should try something easier: maybe become a doctor.

I disappointed her when I said I wanted an arts degree. Her response? “You can’t do anything with that.”

At first, I wondered if she was right. Would I ever be asked during a job interview about the significance of the white whale in Moby Dick? Were the vocal warm-up exercises from my drama course going to earn me a promotion? Yet, despite my doubts about the direct correlation between my courses and career, I loved how the classes pushed me to think about the world in a different way and to adapt to any scenario.

After graduation, I became Ahab in search of a writing career. I wrote stage plays and queried theatres across Canada. Waves of rejection letters slammed my ego around, but my hope didn’t sink, because my arts degree taught me to adapt. I began to produce my own plays.

Cahoots Theatre Projects took notice of my work and commissioned me to write a play, which they produced in 1995.

Mom, Dad, I’m Living with a White Girl enjoyed great success with a cross-country tour, a CBC radio adaptation and publication.

My happiest memory came in 2004, when a New York theatre picked up the rights to the play

for an off-Broadway run. The producer brought me to New York for the opening and put me up in a cramped Manhattan apartment barely large enough for the non-musical cockroaches that were my roommates. I didn’t care.

On my first night in New York, I pulled out my laptop and started to write a novel. I lived my dream, thanks to my University of Alberta arts degree.

Marty Chan is an author, playwright, humorist and television screenwriter. His plays have garnered several awards, as have his books for young adults.

His newest books Barnabas Bigfoot: The Bone Eater and The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Demon Gate came out in fall 2013.

PHOTO BY RYAN PARKER

IF I KNEW DOCTOR WHO, I’d borrow his TARDIS so I could go back to 1985 and tell the younger me that pursuing an arts degree would be the best decision I’d ever make.

new trail winter 2013 31

ILLUSTRATION BY PULP STUDIOS

UPLIFTING THE WHOLE PERSON

How Happy Are You?

How happy you are

79.7

How satisfied you are with your life

40

THE PLAYERS

How optimistic you are

THE BEGINNINGS

74.7

Ray Muzyka, ’90 BMedSc, ’92 MD; Greg Zeschuk, ’90 BMedSc, ’92 MD; and Augustine Yip, ’90 BMedSc, ’92 MD

The trio met in medical school and became good friends. BioWare began in the basement of Zeschuk’s home in the early 1990s, then moved to a small office near the U of A.

THE IMPACT

80.9

How lucky you are

20

Develops video games, including such highly successful games as Baldur’s Gate and Mass Effect. Incorporated in 1995.

79.4

How open you are to new experiences

0

THE COMPANY

U of A as Catalyst

Alumni were asked to rate their happiness and well-being on a scale of zero to 100.* The results will be the focus of a third report — watch future issues of New Trail for the findings — but here’s a sneak preview.

They developed a number of multimillion-unit-selling video games and sold to Electronic Arts (EA) in 2007. By 2012, employed about 2,000 people in eight locations

78.8 60

80

*All scores represent the average response on a scale from 0 to 100.

100

Uplifting the Whole People: The Impact of University of Alberta Alumni Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Tony Briggs and Jennifer Jennings is based on a large-scale survey of U of A alumni, following the approach of studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Tsinghua University in China.

The survey was emailed to 84,387 alumni in the summer of 2012 and hard copies were distributed in New Trail. Responses were received from 11,229 individuals, with 8,853 surveys completed fully, giving a completion yield of 78.8 per cent.

Some findings are based on scaled estimates.

Additional information about the survey responses and sample and estimation techniques can be found at newtrail.ualberta.ca.

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U OF A ROLE, 1 TO 10

About the Survey

“Ten. My science and medical training at the U of A fostered a lifelong passion for continuous learning and made me aware of how important teamwork and collaboration is for entrepreneurial success. We learned about the importance of a strong team in medicine, which was important in an intellectual-capital business like BioWare.”

— Ray Muzyka

Friends. Spouses. Mentors. Many important relationships form at university. Some of them end up spawning a new organization, product or idea. The University of Alberta is a strong catalyst in the lives of its grads, the survey found, giving them the skills, the confidence and the drive to be innovators and founders. Check out four partnerships that originated at the U of A. — Compiled by Alex Migdal

Maker of the iTClamp, a hemorrhage-control device that stops bleeding in seconds. Founded in 2010.

Focuses on revolutionary point-of-care diagnostic testing.

Founded in 2009.

(Society of Northern Alberta Print-Artists) A non-profit, artist-run centre dedicated to printmaking research and innovation.

Founded in 1982.

Dennis Filips, ’87 BSc, and Ian Atkinson, ’87 BSc, ’88 BSc(SpecCert), ’95 PhD, joined later by Kelly Mottet, ’06 BSc(Hons), ’10 MSc

Jason Acker, ’95 BSc, ’97 MSc, ’00 PhD, ’09 MBA, and David Alton, ’82 BA, ’85 MPM, ’95 MBA, with Shawn Gervais and Will Gibson, who later left to pursue another business opportunity

Marc Siegner, a printmaking demonstration technician at the U of A, and Robin Smith-Peck, ’89 MVA, along with a group of graduate and undergraduate printmaking students

Atkinson and Filips were in the same fraternity and both enrolled in the Faculty of Science. The pair self-funded the company for the first two years.

Acker and Alton met at the U of A in an interdisciplinary research group of scientists, engineers and cancer specialists. Early research led to Aquila’s product concept: low-cost point-of-care diagnostics.

Siegner and Smith-Peck were hired as U of A printmaking technicians and quickly became best friends. They began with guidance from U of A professor Walter Jule (now professor emeritus) and $75 from Smith-Peck’s husband to pay for the incorporation documents.

Worth $26 million and employs 20 people, with offices in Edmonton and San Antonio

Six employees (five are U of A grads), a lab, patent-pending technology licensed from the U of A, and a prototype system that is being tested in the field in Canada and the United Kingdom

One of Canada’s best open print shop facilities with a separate gallery. Supports 1.5 paid positions.

Its artists have created prints that have won international acclaim.

“Ten. The U of A was critical to forming the network that could help us develop our early ideas. The U of A allowed for the formation of close friendships and a challenging environment that pushed us to strive hard to achieve. Friendships developed at the U of A still exist.”

— Dennis Filips

“Ten. The U of A is central to everything Aquila has accomplished to date.”

— David Alton

“Ten. My experiences with the faculty and students taught me how to measure excellence in my field — and to never give up and never give in!”

— Robin Smith-Peck

new trail winter 2013 33

THE THE MPACT IMPACT MAKERS MAKERS

BY JAMES ADAMS, LISA COOK, SHEILA GRAHAM, JENNIFER JENSEN, ALIX KEMP, JESSE SNYDER, ERICA VIEGAS

One person, armed with the gift of a university education, can make a real difference. One person can change a life or save hundreds. One person can reshape how we think, how we do business, how we see the world or how we listen to it. Meet nine alumni who have left their mark on the world around them.

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PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, '04 BA(NativeStuHons), on campus during the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Faculty of Native Studies PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

new trail winter 2013 35

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THE FOUNDER

BETTYJONES BETTYJONES

SHE CROSSES BORDERS TO BRING HEALTH CARE TO SOME OF MEXICO’S MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN

BETTY JONES (MILLARD), ’55 BSc(HEc), ’08 DSc (Honorary), has made connections across three nations. But it is the impact she has had on a smaller scale that makes her truly amazing.

Jones is the founding chair of the Hospital Infantil de Las Californias in Tijuana, Mexico. It’s the region’s first full-service pediatric centre that offers health care to children regardless of their ability to pay, treating the youngest, most vulnerable citizens in this city less than a kilometre from the United States border with Mexico.

Since opening its doors in 1994, the facility has offered more than 350,000 medical consultations, close to 8,500 surgeries and 240,000 hours of education.

Jones first became involved in the community as a volunteer while completing her master’s degree in public health at San Diego State University. She spent two days a week in Tijuana, teaching nutrition to local physicians. The need for a facility like the Hospital Infantil was clear, however, and Jones brought together resources from Canada, the United States and Mexico to get the ball rolling. The facility opened in 1994 with a 2,000-square-foot building housing eight clinics — serving needs from dermatology to orthopedics — and one staff member.

Today, the Hospital Infantil is a 56,000-square-foot facility with 300 staff members, 83 per cent of whom are volunteers like Jones. The collaboration remains one that spans the Americas, with several of her friends and colleagues from Alberta still involved. Some of Jones’s U of A classmates have sat on the board.

Jones continues to play a hands-on role, making the drive once a week from her home in San Diego to the facility. –Lisa Cook More Online Spend a day with Jones at the Hospital Infantil in this online exclusive slideshow, newtrail.ualberta.ca.

PHOTOS BY THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/SANDY HUFFAKER

new trail winter 2013 37

THE INNOVATOR

ANDREAGOERTZ

ANDREAGOERTZ

SHE LEADS AN INNOVATIVE WORK-FROM-HOME PROGRAM THAT MOTIVATES WORKERS, SAVES MONEY AND SPARES THE ENVIRONMENT

ON ANY GIVEN DAY, nearly half of all Telus staff members aren’t in the office. But that’s not good enough for Andrea Goertz, ’89 BCom, ’95 MBA. As head of the company’s innovative flexible work initiative, Goertz wants to see even more Telus employees telecommuting.

Goertz is senior vice-president, strategic initiatives, and chief communications and sustainability officer for Telus.

She’s also head of the company’s Work Styles program. The program launched in 2006 when flexible work arrangements were still a relatively new idea. In the seven years since, Work Styles has saved the company $40 million a year and — by reducing its leased office space by nearly one million square feet — made a major dent in the company’s environmental footprint. In just the past two years, the company has reportedly reduced CO2 emissions by 20,000 tonnes, coming in at No. 10 on Corporate Knights magazine’s 2013 list of the Best Corporate Citizens in Canada.

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In an era when Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer made headlines by cancelling the company’s work-from-home program, Goertz is leading a drive to have 70 per cent of eligible Telus employees in major urban centres telecommuting at least part time by 2015. The program has had more than an environmental impact: Telus reports greater employee productivity and 80 per cent overall employee engagement in 2012 — the highest for a Canadian employer and in the top one per cent globally.

In 2012, Goertz was honoured by the Financial Post as one Canada’s most powerful women. – Lisa Cook

More Online Andrea Goertz talks about the Work Styles program and what other corporations could learn from its success, at newtrail.ualberta.ca.

Also, Goertz and former Enbridge CEO Pat Daniel come together for a video conversation about corporate leadership and responsibility.

new trail winter 2013 39

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THE CREATORS

JANETCARDIFFANDGEORGEBURESMILLER

JANETCARDIFFANDGEORGEB THIS SUPERSTAR PAIRING OF THE CONTEMPORARY ART SCENE FORMED AT THE U OF A. NOW THEY TRAVEL THE GLOBE CREATING ‘ALTERNATE WORLDS OF SOUND, SPACE AND TIME’

IT’S NOT HARD TO name couples, past and present, in which wife and husband have each excelled in the visual arts. Think Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, Dorothy Knowles and William Perehudoff, Rachel Feinstein and John Currin. But couples who have functioned or function as artistic teams?

They’re much rarer. Foremost among the species in Canada are Janet Cardiff, ’83 MVA, and George Bures Miller, who have been close collaborators since 1981 when both enrolled as master’s candidates in what is now the Department of Art & Design at the U of A. She was 23 at the time, an aspiring printmaker from southwestern Ontario; he was 20, from Vegreville, Alta., and keen to paint and sculpt. Today, married 30 years with a six-year-old daughter, Aradhana, they’re among the few Canadians berthed in the upper echelons of the contemporary international art world. And they’ve done it not through painting portraits or silkscreening prints but by building what Kitty Scott, contemporary and modern art curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario, calls “alternate worlds — of sound, space and time — that viewers can, at least for a few moments, lose themselves in and become time travellers, space explorers.” Theirs is “a unique ability,” she enthuses, “offering us challenging, beautiful, immersive experiences.”

Scott recently co-curated at the AGO a critically acclaimed and wildly popular mini-retrospective of sorts of the couple’s technology-driven, mixed-media oeuvre, a labyrinth of seven dimly lit, often spooky rooms, collectively (and evocatively) titled Lost in the Memory Palace. Included in the exhibition PHOTO BY BIRTHE PIONTEK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

on another floor was perhaps Cardiff’s most famous solo work, The Forty-Part Motet. Conceived in 2001 — the same year the couple shot to international attention by winning the 2001 Biennale di Venezia Special Award for a multimedia installation called The Paradise Institute — it featured 40 mounted loudspeakers arranged in an inward-facing ellipse.

Each speaker “contained” the voice of a single chorister singing his or her parts in Thomas Tallis’s 16th-century masterpiece of spiritual exaltation, Spem in Alium. Visitors either hunkered down by one speaker or wandered from sound source to sound source or, as was most often the case, sat in the middle of the ellipse to bliss out on the polyphony ricocheting around them.

After lengthy stints in Toronto, Lethbridge, Alta., and Berlin, home for the last eight years has been “out in the middle of nowhere.” This would be Grindrod, a village near Salmon Arm in the B.C. Interior. There they’ve built a large studio where they work, undistracted, with two full-time studio assistants and four part-timers. Of course, being international superstars creating intricate installations and site-specific events that require their personal attention means you’re more likely to find them in Paris or Kassel, Madrid, Brumadinho or Istanbul. Indeed, the duo have enough commissions to take them well into 2016. Luckily, their imaginations remain engaged and stockpiled with a seemingly limitless flow of ideas. As Bures told the New York Times last year: “We’ve been trying to escape reality for, like, 35 years. It’s been going OK so far.” – James Adams, ’71 BA new trail winter 2013 41

THE PIONEERS

HELENHAYS

HELENHAYS SHE HAS DEVOTED HER CAREER TO IMPROVING CARE AND EASING PAIN FOR PEOPLE AT THE END OF LIFE

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WE HONOUR DOCTORS FOR healing the sick and wounded, but doctors who care for those who cannot be healed deserve perhaps a particular regard. Helen Hays, ’71 MD, has spent her life treating people with terminal illness, pioneering new approaches to end-of-life care and researching methods to ease chronic pain.

As a child in Cornwall, England, Hays wanted to be a doctor like her father. But female physicians were a rarity in the 1950s, so she graduated in nursing. It wasn’t until coming to Canada with her husband in 1967 and being urged by the U of A’s dean of medicine, Walter C. Mackenzie, to become a doctor that she followed her dream.

Her interest in palliative care was spurred by a patient in her private practice in Edmonton — a young mother dying of leukemia. Hays realized her medical training had not prepared her to deal with the complexities of end-of-life care and she set out to change that.

She was recruited in 1982 to lead the new palliative care unit at Edmonton General Hospital, the first of its kind in the region. She tended to the special needs of palliative patients and their families and researched pioneering techniques to ease her patients’ suffering.

She also launched an ambitious campaign to educate the

province’s doctors about pain management and palliative care.

Palliative care was a relatively new discipline at the time, and most doctors had little to no training. Despite her introverted nature, Hays toured Alberta to lead forums and workshops in cities and small towns. She also mentored many young physicians in her role as associate clinical professor at the University of Alberta.

In 1988, Hays became medical director of palliative care services at Edmonton’s Misericordia Hospital, where she championed an interdisciplinary approach to end-of-life care that is now in common use. It involves not only doctors and nurses but also social workers, chaplains and therapeutic specialists.

She and Marion Boyd, ’81 BScN, ’87 MEd, a nurse, founded Edmonton’s Pilgrims Hospice in 1994. Still operating today, the hospice offers practical and emotional support for people with terminal illness and their families through outpatient programs and services.

Hays returned to private practice shortly after opening Pilgrims Hospice in order to focus on her research. She was responsible for several groundbreaking studies on pain medication, including the first study to demonstrate potentially lethal side-effects of methadone. – Alix Kemp

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

new trail winter 2013 43

THE PIONEERS

WALLISKENDAL

WALLISKENDAL HE HAS TRANSFORMED COUNTLESS LIVES WITH HIS BELIEF IN THE PROMISE OF EVERY YOUNG PERSON

TUCKED IN AMONG THE pieces of artwork at the iHuman office in downtown Edmonton are standing bundles — beautifully decorated stacks of twig and ribbon. Each was created by an at-risk youth to be burned in a ceremony. Hidden within the bundles are stories and memories these young people are ready to release: painful photos, old clothing and handwritten letters.

Bundle by bundle, life by life, Wallis Kendal, ’69 BEd, has helped countless inner-city youths transform their circumstances and move toward a better future. Kendal, co-founder of iHuman Youth Society, has helped young people without judgment for more than 30 years. He understands the needs of a youth dealing with addiction or caught in the kind of lifestyle that is almost certain to end in prison or death.

Jamie Courtorielle is a former iHuman participant who will celebrate five years clean in January. “Wallis works 24/7 and stops at nothing to provide the needs and essentials that youth require,” Courtorielle says. “He is one of a kind.”

Kendal has earned the trust of these young people. His cellphone number is distributed for use at any time, day or night. He would take a knife for them.

And sometimes has.

He’s most interested in helping young people use their life experiences to learn in unique ways. When he co-founded iHuman in 1997 with Sandra Bromley, ’79 BFA, the idea was to serve inner-city youth through art mentorship.

Projects like the bundles subtly hide a lesson in writing, for example — proving skills can be learned outside the traditional classroom. This passion for creative education attracted the attention of the Harvard University Native American Program, which has asked for his help reinventing learning initiatives for First Nations and Métis nations, as well as high-risk youth. Harvard students visited Edmonton last winter to interview inner-city young people and families, examining the barriers and obstacles that lead to self-imposed exclusion from traditional school programs. A final report to be presented at Harvard could have an extraordinary impact on school systems. A pilot program will be launched in a northern Alberta community based on the findings.

“It will be a new type of education metrics on reserves and in at-risk communities. We want to invite families in to teach cooking. We want them to do ceremonies together and learn in a community,” explains Kendal.

His work already has had a profound impact. “Every few weeks I receive an email from a youth who tells me that they are all right, they have a family and job now, and asks me to thank Wallis for saving their life,” says Bromley. “He has made, and still is making, a most memorable mark.” – Erica Viegas 44 newtrail.ualberta.ca

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

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THE RISK-TAKERS

DEREKNEPINAK

DEREKNEPINAK HE HAS STEPPED ONTO THE NATIONAL STAGE WITH A NEW VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF ABORIGINAL CANADIANS

HE ENDS HIS TALK with an apology.

“I’m sorry if I seem adversarial in what I’m saying but these are real serious issues, my friends.”

Derek Nepinak, ’04 BA(NativeStuHons), is speaking from the front of a classroom on the U of A campus. This is his first time back to the U of A since he graduated, and he is returning as grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. His talk is part of a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Faculty of Native Studies, but many in the audience are here because of his controversial ideas of sovereignty. This is the man who has been making headlines for publicly throwing his Indian Act status card in the trash, calling both the card and the Assembly of First Nations relics of the past.

Nepinak didn’t set out to be the face of a new movement. Following his graduation from the U of A, he worked with two Dene communities near Fort Smith, N.W.T., and earned a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan.

He was enrolled in the Aboriginal Governance Master’s Program at the University of Winnipeg when he was called home to become chief of the Pine Creek First Nation in Manitoba, where he’d grown up.

Those are the words in his official bio: “called home.”

“It was the women in my family who said, ‘You go be chief now,’ ” he tells the U of A audience.

He answered the call and within nine months had completely overhauled the finances of the community, bringing it out of third-party management and into financial stability. Now, as grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, he works to improve health and education in all of Manitoba’s First Nations communities.

Nepinak draws on a spiritual core and a belief in tradition that he says found their beginning while he was at the U of A. The local Cree community showed him the way back to his traditional spirituality. He says this made him a better student and, ultimately, a better person.

Now he has come to believe that First Nations people in Canada are at a crossroads and the only path to a sovereign future is one he calls decolonized and depoliticized. He now stands as the face of a movement that wants to split with the Assembly of First Nations and reject the Indian Act. Some think his ideas are divisive; others see his vision as the path to empowerment.

As he speaks, it becomes evident that he feels, once again, that he has been called. – Lisa Cook with files from Jung-Suk Ryu 46 newtrail.ualberta.ca

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

new trail winter 2013 47

THE RISK-TAKERS

PATDANIEL

PATDANIEL

THE FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE TOOK A TRADITIONAL PIPELINE COMPANY AND MADE IT SOMETHING BIGGER

IT IS NOT TYPICAL to see the highest-ranking executive of Canada’s largest oil pipeline company toiling under the hot Costa Rican sun. It is not typical that such a man would be wearing rubber boots, using hand tools to install a solar panel for a family that had never before had electricity in its home, never flicked on a light switch. But Pat Daniel, ’68 BSc(ChemEng), ’10 LLD (Honorary), former chief executive officer of Enbridge, isn’t exactly typical.

Daniel is a rare kind of leader who can take a multibilliondollar company and quadruple it in size, which he did while at the helm of Enbridge between 2001 and 2012. But he is also known for his philanthropy. In December 2008, he started a foundation within the firm called energy4everyone, an international initiative to bring affordable electricity to underprivileged families in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Daniel did more than launch the foundation. Many of Enbridge’s top executives were placed on the foundation’s board of directors, and Daniel’s hands-on approach included installing light bulbs, solar panels and battery chargers. “He believed it was the people at the centre of the company who needed to be on the ground doing the work,” says Joanne Gardner, executive director of energy4everyone.

When Daniel took over as CEO in 2001, Enbridge was a relatively small company in the pipeline and infrastructure market. Today, it is Canada’s largest transporter of crude 48 newtrail.ualberta.ca

oil, with a network of pipelines stretching more than 24,000 kilometres and transporting roughly 65 per cent of western Canadian crude oil. During his tenure as CEO, Enbridge’s total market value increased more than fourfold, from $6.8 billion to $30.1 billion.

The fact that Daniel led a company the size of Enbridge for 11 years is, in itself, an exceptional achievement. Rarely does a top-level executive in the oil and gas sector retain power for long. Oftentimes the industry’s most influential leaders are forced to change companies, to merge with other firms or to step down — sometimes in dramatic fashion.

Daniel always made a point of having boots on the ground.

When the company’s Line 6B pipeline ruptured in July 2010 near Kalamazoo River, Mich., the company faced intense public backlash. But Daniel was on a plane that afternoon to meet with residents and government officials in order to facilitate the cleanup.

Today, Enbridge is among the industry’s largest investors in alternative energies. Daniel is a rare leader who was able to see both the necessity of conventional energy now, and where the industry needs to be years down the road. – Jesse Snyder More Online Pat Daniel and Telus executive Andrea Goertz chat on video about corporate leadership and responsibility, at newtrail.ualberta.ca.

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

new trail winter 2013 49

Evan (left) and Shane Chrapko 50 newtrail.ualberta.ca

THE RISK-TAKERS

SHANEANDEVANCHRAPKO

SHANEANDEVANCHR WITH IDEAS LIKE TRANSFORMING SEWAGE INTO POWER, THESE CLEAN-ENERGY INNOVATORS WADE IN WHERE OTHERS HESITATE TO TREAD

TAKE A COUPLE OF Alberta farm boys, put a fire in their bellies and just watch what they can do.

At times there wasn’t much other than fire and Kraft Dinner in the stomachs of Evan, ’88 BCom, and Shane Chrapko, ’90 BSc(Ag). In the late ’90s, the brothers from Two Hills, Alta., were living on the cheap while trying to develop the first web-based system for storing and sharing files. Fewer than three years later, they sold DocSpace for a staggering $811 million. The pair could have cashed in and checked out, but ambition burns hot in these two. So sleeves were rolled up again as they plunged into a number of new startups and turnarounds in the tech sector.

As successful as they’ve been as entrepreneurs, it’s in clean energy that their impact is really being felt. Their Growing Power Hairy Hill bioFuel plant near Vegreville, Alta., turns tens of thousands of tonnes of manure and other waste into green energy each year. Another of their companies, Himark bioGas, owns all of the patents on their unique refining process, which is proving that creating cleaner energy can be energy-efficient and cost-effective.

“The Chrapko brothers are truly innovators,” says John Kennelly, ’80 PhD, dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences at the U of A. “[They] are to be commended for providing leadership in the development of new technologies that have application in livestock production as well as in the biofuels sector.”

Those technologies are attracting interest in Canada, the United States and other countries, including in the developing world, where access to affordable, renewable energy can be a first step toward raising the standard of living. One of their projects in Pakistan will convert sewage into electricity, and the potential to help people in other areas is enormous.

That potential is taking the two all over the world, with Evan in charge of technology and patents and Shane spearheading sales. Yet their roots remain deep in Alberta, where they credit their rural upbringing for their strong values. Often seen in cowboy hats, they call Edmonton home and rent lab space at the U of A’s Agri-Food Discovery Place, bringing in local scientists and grads to do research. Just a couple of local boys who have already made good. And they’re just warming up. – Jennifer Jensen PHOTO BY MICHAEL HOLLY

new trail winter 2013 51

THE FUTURIST

DONTAPSCOTT

DONTAPSCOTT

ONE MAN’S MISSION TO MAKE SENSE OF OUR FUTURE IS CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK ON A GLOBAL LEVEL

WHEN PEOPLE STILL REFERRED to it as the “World Wide Web” and there was no Google, Facebook or iAnything, Don Tapscott, ’78 MEd, ’01 LLD (Honorary), channelled global anxiety into excitement. As the world entered a brave new millennium, his books The Digital Economy (1995) and Growing Up Digital (2000) defined the Net Generation, and his research calmed readers with the possibilities of the Internet.

Tapscott became, quite simply, the world’s leading authority on the impact of technology.

His work continues to explore the seismic impact of worldwide information sharing. He is a member of the World Economic Forum, an elite group of business, government and civil society leaders who meet to consider the major global issues of the day and to brainstorm solutions. His book Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World (2010) has been described as “nothing less than a game plan to fix a broken world.”

52 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Preferring the term “the age of networked intelligence” to the Information Age, Tapscott uses humour to drive home his findings. “These kids [of the current generation] have no fear of technology … sort of like I have no fear of a refrigerator.”

And although it has been said that he can predict the future, Tapscott has declared, “The future is not something to be predicted, but rather something to be achieved.”

His latest, Radical Openness: Four Unexpected Principles For Success (2013), co-authored by Tapscott, looks at how secrets and privacy are being shed by major corporations as they release patents and share intellectual property.

In November, Thinkers50 listed him as No. 4 on the list of the most important business thinkers in the world, and honoured him with the Global Solutions Award.

Once again he’s telling us that every facet of our lives — from the way we do business to whom we choose to govern us — is changing. We would do well to listen. – Sheila Graham PHOTO BY KRIS KRUG

VOL UNT EER From our campus to our communities, U of A alumni are doing great things through volunteerism.

Make your time count. Be part of the Alumni Volunteer Challenge and contribute to 2,015 alumni volunteer experiences by 2015.

To get involved, visit ualberta.ca/alumni/volunteer or call 780-492-3224.

do great things

54 newtrail.ualberta.ca

by ALEX MIGDAL

Kevin Jenkins,

’80 LLB

The chance to make a difference in the lives of the world’s poor prompted a move to World Vision after more than two decades in business For 25 years, Kevin Jenkins was all about business. He served as president and CEO of Canadian Airlines and, later, the Westaim Corp. In 2009, a change of heart prompted him to join London, England-based aid organization World Vision as CEO and president. Jenkins talks about working in developing countries, giving back to communities and his fascination with contracts.

PHOTO © WVI 2013

Tell us about the impact you have through World Vision. We sponsor about four million children, so we’re by far the largest sponsorship organization in the world. We also advocate for change in underlying systems in countries, such as getting children out of trafficking and implementing mandatory schooling. Our overarching goal is to contribute to the well-being of 150 million of the world’s most vulnerable children by 2016. That’s about 25 per cent of the children who are living on less than $1.25 a day.

What’s your favourite part of this job? When the average person goes to visit a country in the developing world, they’ll see poverty around them. I get to go to those people’s houses and meet their children and talk to them about their dreams. That has been a rich gift.

You’re dealing first-hand with issues like poverty and illness.

How do you handle it? I remember being in northern Kenya at a food distribution centre where there was a famine. Two hours later, I was on an airplane and back in a restaurant in Nairobi. I could barely deal with the contrast in less than 12 hours. I don’t pretend it’s easy, but it’s part of being called to tough places. I think anyone who comes into humanitarian and development work has a strong heart to make the world better for people who don’t have a voice in the world.

You had 25 years of experience in business before joining World Vision. What prompted you to make the jump? The essence of it was moving from a successful business career to doing something of more significance, which was motivated by my Christian faith.

How did the U of A have an impact on your career? The U of A had a huge impact on me. At the most basic level, it gave me a good undergraduate education and a good law education. That held me in good stead, first as a lawyer and then as a business person. The U of A also gave me a strong sense of community. I was

involved with student government at law school and that was a great way to bridge students, faculty and administration. It made me grow up.

Were there any professors or faculty at the U of A who inspired you? One of them was a sessional instructor who taught business law. His name is Bob Phillips, ’71 BSc(ChemEng), ’76 LLB. I really started thinking about my career path at 19 years old when I was in his class. Ultimately, I articled at his law firm. Another one was Bob Nozick, my contracts professor in my first year of law. He made contracts so interesting to me and such a puzzle to be solved. Much of my career has subsequently focused on contracts.

Our alumni impact survey shows that a considerable portion of U of A alumni volunteer locally and internationally. Why do you think that’s the case? I definitely got a strong sense at the U of A of education — and the opportunities it opens up — being a gift, and some of those gifts need to be given back. Obviously, an organization like World Vision wants people to think increasingly about international volunteerism. I’m encouraging people to think about the global village, meaning everybody in the world is your neighbour. new trail winter 2013 55

ALUMNI EVENTS

VOLUNTEER EVENTS UNWIND-YOUR-MIND HEALTHY SNACK HANDOUTS | DEC. 3-13 Everyone remembers the stress of exams and wrapping up the semester before a much-needed break. Hand out healthy snacks to students who are on campus preparing for and writing exams.

FAMILY EVENTS

SHARE THE CHEER | DEC. 23-27 Share the joy of a Canadian holiday meal with international students spending the December break in Edmonton.

This program invites alumni to extend an invitation for a minimum of two international students to join their family for a traditional holiday dinner.

EDUCATED SERIES

U SCHOOL | JANUARY TO APRIL The Senate’s U School program is looking for volunteers to share the university experience with students from Grades 4 through 9. Volunteers can help in the classroom or even share a passion and teach a class. For more information, visit uschool.ualberta.ca.

DEADLINE TO REGISTER AS A JOB SHADOW WEEK MENTOR | JAN. 8 UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA ANNUAL JOB SHADOW WEEK – MENTOR A STUDENT! | FEB. 18-21 U of A Job Shadow Week, hosted

by CAPS: Your U of A Career Centre, allows you to give a student a behind-thescenes look at your career and the value you bring to the Edmonton community.

This is a flexible mentorship opportunity for those who can commit to volunteering for anywhere from an hour to a full day.

CABANE À SUCRE | MARCH 2 EASTER EGGSTRAVAGANZA | APRIL 19

Learning doesn’t end when you get your degree. Sign up for our Educated Alumni programs and meet fellow alumni, gain new skills and keep the joy of learning alive.

THE EDUCATED LUNCHEON Join us for lunch and hear from top faculty members about some of the amazing work being done at the University of Alberta. For $10, enjoy a hot lunch and the opportunity to learn and network with fellow alumni.

Chris Andersen, ’05 PhD, Faculty of Native Studies, Jan. 15 Graham Plastow, Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, “Feeding the World with Canadian Beef?”

Feb. 12 Inga Moeck, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, “Shaping a Green Future: Tapping Geothermal Energy” March 12 April 9 – TBD

Dates are subject to change; events are added daily. For more or to register, visit

56 newtrail.ualberta.ca

THE EDUCATED PALATE Go beyond peanut butter and jam and expand your culinary horizons. This series offers alumni the chance to learn more about Edmonton’s food culture, sample new flavours and meet other U of A grads. We’re confirming the details for this season and more information will be available on our website soon. Events will take place in January, February and March.

THE EDUCATED REEL IS BACK! Black History Month | February Cooking with Stella | March TBD | April International Day Against Homophobia | May This alumni film club's meeting takes place at Garneau Theatre in Edmonton, home to Metro Cinema. Enjoy independent and mainstream movies and thought-provoking discussions by filmmakers and experts.

ALUMNI WEEKEND 2013 1

1. “This is where I met a wider world,” the Right Hon. Joe Clark, ’60 BA, ’73 MA, ’85 LLD (Honorary), former prime minister of Canada, told fellow alumni at the Alumni Weekend Dinner & Dance. He attended the event as a member of the Class of 1973, celebrating his 40th class reunion.

2

2. Volunteers Kate Austin, ’11 BA (left), and Heather Renaud, ’77 BSc(HEc), get ready to Do Great Things serving cinnamon buns.

3

4

3. Sophia Radovanovic tucks into a cinnamon bun at the Tuck Shop Tent, erected in Quad for Alumni Weekend.

She attended with her mom, Chelsey Cabaj, ’03 BSc(Pharm).

4. Classmates from the first dental hygiene class to graduate from the U of A and the program’s first director, Margaret Berry MacLean (first row, second from left), reunite at Convocation Hall for the Cap ’n Gown ceremony.

5

6

5. Bob Brower, ’49 BA, ’53 LLB (right), and his son Bob Jr., ’79 BA(Spec), celebrate at RATT Redux. Bob Jr., who works in San Diego, was back in Edmonton to celebrate his father’s 60th anniversary of his law degree.

6. High school teacher Tom Yonge, ’04 BEd, ’04 BPE, talks to students and former students who came out to see him honoured at the 2013 Alumni Recognition Awards ceremony at the Winspear Centre.

new trail winter 2013 57

CL A SS NOTES

1940s

’40 Gerald Hutchinson, BA, ’43 BDiv, was ordained into the ministry of the United Church of Canada the spring after earning his bachelor of divinity degree. He went on to a long career working at the local, provincial and national levels of the church in Toronto; Calgary, Edmonton, Edson, Grande Prairie and Telfordville, Alta.; and Grenada. Gerald developed a keen interest in the history of the Canadian West, especially the lives of early missionaries. His research in Canada, England and Australia led to the publication of several papers and books. He was also instrumental in the establishment and development of Rundle’s Mission at Pigeon Lake, Alta. Throughout his career, he worked to foster and improve relationships between the church and Aboriginal communities. In 2013, Gerald celebrated his 70th year as an ordained minister. ’48 Karl L. Erdman, BSc(Hons), ’49 MSc, wrote recently to reflect on a CBC news item about his scientific activities. He celebrates his 65th anniversary of graduation this year, and as one of the originators of Advanced Cyclotron Systems Inc., which designed the cyclotrons — a type of particle accelerator — featured in the CBC report. “The grounding in science and in life in general that began with my enrolment at the U of A has culminated in the production of a medical tool that I could not even have conceived to be possible when

I first became interested in the nuclei of the atoms of which all matter is constituted. I am particularly pleased that the University of Alberta was one of the first to recognize the value of producing isotopes for medical use on this campus and, by purchasing one of our systems, ensured that we could proceed with our R&D, which has culminated in this achievement. I can now leave a memorial of the end results of my studies at the university where it all began, even if it is buried in a concrete bunker not accessible to the general public.” ’48 Victor Mark, BCom, has mainly been involved in accounting-related activities since graduation. He earned a chartered accountant designation in 1963 and a doctor of business administration in 1972, qualified as a chartered business valuator and started a public accounting practice, which grew to include offices in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Victor spent seven years as an associate professor of accounting at the University of Calgary, followed by two years at Mount Royal University, and has also taught at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT Polytechnic). He has been a member of the Men’s Canadian Club and the Knights of the Round Table.

1950s

’53 Robin Harvie, BCom, worked in her father’s chartered accountancy office until her marriage to Neil Harvie, ’53 BSc(Ag), and their move to a working cattle ranch, Glenbow Ranch, west of Calgary. They raised four children, and for many years Robin did the ranch’s bookkeeping. She has belonged to the Glendale Women’s Institute for 57 years and sat on the boards of the Glenbow Museum, the Western Heritage Centre and the Cochrane and District Community Foundation.

Robin and Neil moved to Cochrane in 1997.

Neil died in 1999, and Robin continues to live in Cochrane, enjoying her children, 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, who are spread out from Cochrane and Calgary to Edmonton. ’58 Tibor Fekete, BSc(PetEng), wrote to tell us the Class of ’58 in petroleum engineering celebrated their 55th graduation anniversary in August at a luncheon in the La Chaumiére restaurant in Calgary, which included their professor, George Govier, ’45 MSc.

From left to right: Tibor Fekete, David Bowman, Larry Davidson, George Govier, Ed Wichert, Khalid Aziz, Al Bowkiw.

’48 Gwen Molnar, Dip(Ed), ’49 BEd, ’78 BA, and Barbara Hartmann, ’86 BA, are excited to announce the publication of their picture book Hazel’s Rainbow Ride. The book follows an adventure Hazel creates for herself and her pepper-red cat. Barbara’s illustrations were to be shown at the McMullen Gallery in the University of Alberta Hospital in November and December.

58 newtrail.ualberta.ca

’59 Richard Bide, BSc, ’61 MSc, studied at the University of Aberdeen from 1961 to 1964, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar. He then held a number of research positions in Chalk River, Ont., Lethbridge, Alta., and Saskatoon, as well as with the Canadian Forces in Suffield, Alta., and retired in 2005. He has been involved with Scouts Canada for 20 years and has been heavily involved with various service organizations, including Rotary.

Campus Tower Suite Hotel, adjacent to the University of Alberta campus, offers impeccable and spacious, smoke-free accommodations with a selection of diverse floor plans. Choose from a studio, one bedroom or two bedroom suite with rates designed to meet your individual or group accommodation needs.

Maurice Stewart stopped by the alumni relations office at the downtown U of A campus in the former Hudson’s Bay building. “I remember the first escalator I ever saw in my life was here, in the brand new Hudson’s Bay store.”

’54 Maurice Stewart, BSc, ’55 MSc, visited his hometown of Edmonton and the U of A campus this summer from his home in Portland, Ore. He explored the campus and dug through back issues of New Trail at Rutherford South Library looking for news of former classmates. Maurice noted how much the campus — including the trees — had grown since his student years, when the U of A had about 3,500 students. He was particularly curious to look at the terrazzo floor in the foyer of the library. “When the library opened and everyone was raving about the beauty of the building, I.F. Morrison, who was a famous engineering professor at the U of A — there’s a lab on campus named after him — pointed out to us that the floor is going to crack, here and here and here. And sure enough, the cracks are just where he said they’d be.” Maurice moved to the United States when he was 26 and spent 41 years teaching physics at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., before retiring in 1999 as professor emeritus. – Karen Sherlock

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new trail winter 2013 59

CL A SS NOTES

1960s

’63 Lynne Duigou (Zakariasen), BSc(HEc), ’91 MEd, began her teaching career in Drumheller, Alta., where she married Lou Duigou, ’64 BEd, in 1966. Lynne taught full time until her children were born and then taught part time. Lou was a school superintendent, and the family lived in Three Hills, Peace River and St. Albert, Alta.

Lynne returned to teaching full time in 1985 for Edmonton Catholic Schools and later became an assistant principal. She was involved with the Alberta Teachers’ Association Home Economics Specialist Council and, in 1998, received the ATA Award of Excellence for Teaching Home Economics. Lynne retired in 1997 and a year later began work for the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton as co-ordinator of the Together in Ministry program, working in adult education.

In 2001, Lynne took up a position at the U of A in secondary education as a sessional instructor in career and technology studies. She taught for six years at the U of A and then retired again in order to be able to enjoy winter travel more fully. ’63 Sharon Platt (Van Orman), Dip(DentHyg), worked as a hygienist for 10 years, then returned to school and earned a bachelor of education from the University of Calgary.

Sharon has eight children and raised five others.

She spent five years in Apia, Western Samoa;

WE LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU’RE DOING Tell us about your new baby or your new job. Celebrate a personal accomplishment or volunteer activity, or share your favourite campus memories. Submit a class note at ualberta.ca/alumni/ classnotes or email alumni@ualberta.ca.

two years in Mongolia; 18 months in Guyana; and 18 months in Surrey, England. She has lived mainly in Barnwell, Alta., for 46 years and served as mayor of Barnwell from 1998 to 2003. Sharon and her husband celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in July 2013. ’65 Walter Lazaruk, BEd, was awarded the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques by France’s national ministry of education for developing French secondlanguage education in Alberta and, by example, in Canada and for the expansion of international French-language examinations and recognition across Canada. Other awards include the Prix Robert Roy Award from the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers for distinguished service in teaching, research, writing and dedication to the improvement of second-language teaching and learning in Canada, and the Pierre and Madeleine Monod Award from the Second Languages and Intercultural Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association for significant contribution to second-language education in Alberta. ’68 Newell Hudson, BEd, was hired by the Edmonton Public School Board in 1968 as

a special education teacher and taught for the board until 1995. In 1979, he earned a master of science degree in psycholinguistics from the State University of New York in Albany. In 1989, he was named one of the 100 most outstanding teachers in Alberta by the province and, in 1992, the Edmonton Public School Board named him a Master Teacher. Since retirement, Newell has volunteered with various social development organizations, including Sombrilla, serving as president for two years, and Action for Healthy Communities, helping organize its multicultural gatherings. He continues to support a variety of organizations. ’69 Adrian O’Sullivan, MA, reports that in April, 10 days before his 72nd birthday, he was admitted to the degree of doctor of literature and philosophy at the University of South Africa in Pretoria. His subject was intelligence history, and he graduated with a thesis on “German Covert Initiatives and British Intelligence in Persia (Iran), 1939-1945.” He writes to us: “May my achievement be an encouragement to others of my generation to pursue academic goals relentlessly and to believe in the efficacy of lifelong learning.”

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CL A SS NOTES

1970s ’73 W. James Beckett, BSc(ElecEng), became president of Engineers Canada in June for the 2013-14 term. He will lead the board of Engineers Canada in support of the provincial and territorial engineering regulatory bodies, representing more than 250,000 members of the profession. James has served the University of Alberta on the board of governors, the Senate and the engineering advisory board, and has served as president, vice-president and faculty adviser for the U of A Alumni Association. He retired in his 37th year of working with Atco Group after rising to the position of executive vice-president, regulatory and chief regulatory officer, and is now principal at Beckett Consulting. He is a life member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, was president in 2009-10 and has represented the association on the Engineers Canada board since 2010.

’73 David Gray, PhD, worked for 20 years as a research scientist with the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa and has now undertaken a number of independent projects.

He has continued a focus on Arctic topics through exhibits, websites, books and, more recently, filmmaking. He recently completed five documentaries about early immigration from India to Canada. This summer, David launched a successful expedition to retrace the steps of the 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition on Banks Island and notes that

62 newtrail.ualberta.ca

his 40th anniversary of graduation coincides with the 100th anniversary of the CAE. More information about the expedition can be found at canadianarcticexpedition.ca. ’73 Sandra Hunt, BMus, ’80 MMus, is the music director for the Unitarian Church of Montreal and has raised two musicians. She enjoys making music with them and with her husband, cellist Gary Russell, along with his colleagues in the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

Sandra also enjoys teaching, yoga and travelling.

’73 Helen Khan, BA, ’00 Dip(Ed), joined the U of A staff a few years after graduation, working in supervisory positions in Financial Services. Helen took early retirement in 2008 and now lives in Pakistan, where she works to bring positive change to the lives of the poor through education and food programs. ’74 Susan Burwash, BA, ’79 Dip(RM), ’91 MSc, ’13 PhD, wrote recently to tell us that she is an assistant professor in the occupational therapy program at Eastern Washington University in Spokane, Wash., and spends her summers in Edmonton with family. ’75 Kenna McKinnon, BA, wrote with the following news: “I am delighted to announce that my young-adult/middle-grade fantasy Bigfoot Boy: Lost on Earth was to be published in print by a traditional small press, Mockingbird Lane Press of Arkansas, in October 2013 and subsequently in ebook. It was a lot of fun to write and is a companion to my previously published book SpaceHive, a middle-grade sci-fi/fantasy released in 2012 in print and ebook by Edmonton traditional press Imajin Books.

I also have two self-published books, released in 2012 and available in print and ebook: Discovery – A Collection of Poetry and The Insanity Machine, the latter co-authored with Austin Mardon, ’11 LLD (Honorary).

All are available on Amazon and in select bookstores and libraries. SpaceHive is also available on Smashwords. My blog/website is kennamckinnon.blogspot.com.” ’75 Ken LeLacheur, BEd, is thrilled to have been chosen as a trustee for the Association for Middle Level Education and looks forward to serving this international organization for the next three years. He writes: “I fully support the tenets of providing developmentally appropriate learning for those students ‘in the middle’ of their formal educational careers. Where I can, I will share my knowledge and also hope to learn even more about best practices for the education of early adolescents. The Association for Middle Level Education has been, and continues to be, a strong voice for doing what is right in education.” ’75 Kirk N. Lambrecht, BA, ’79 BA(Spec), recently published his second book, Aboriginal Consultation, Environmental Assessment and Regulatory Review in Canada. His first book, The Administration of Dominion Lands, 1870 to 1930, was published in 1991. Kirk also recently joined the Edmonton law firm of Shores Jardine LLP. ’76 Simon Wan, BSc, '78 MBA, is now chairman and chief executive of Cornerstone International Group, a global human resources and leadership development organization with 70 offices worldwide.

’79 John Smyth, PhD, wrote to say he has published a book, Living on the Edge: Rethinking Poverty, Class and Schooling. It draws upon positive examples of schools that are succeeding in engaging marginalized young people, providing worthwhile forms of learning and improving young lives. John describes the book as a “must-read” for anyone concerned about or implicated in the struggle for more socially just forms of education.

’77 Randy Rodger, BA(Spec), ’86 BEd, was recently awarded his PhD in educational administration from the University of Saskatchewan. Randy was a teacher and education administrator in Alberta and Saskatchewan for 31 years. He taught undergraduate classes in education at the University of British Columbia and the University of Saskatchewan and has done consulting work for the latter. Randy and his wife, Deborah — also a retired teacher and a lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan — are in the process of relocating to Victoria. ’78 Bette Petry, BScN, writes to tell us she worked for a few years for the Correctional Service of Canada (Edmonton Institution), and conducted research at various penitentiaries before becoming the assistant director of nursing and then the director of nursing at the hospital in St. Paul, Alta. During that time, she completed her master’s degree and served on a number of provincial boards. She then retired except for her part-time real estate business.

Since 2005, Bette has spent her winters in Sarasota County, Fla., which gives her “the best of both worlds, since Alberta is lovely in the summer.”

’76 Janet Lee Hamilton, BEd, ’94 Dip(Ed), has written and published a book called Maddy the Curious Builds a House. The story was written for her goddaughter, Madeleine, and is about Maddy waiting on “pins and needles” to begin her first day of kindergarten.

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CL A SS NOTES

1980s

’83 Drew Barnes, BCom, was elected a member of the legislative assembly of Alberta in 2012 for the Cypress-Medicine Hat constituency, representing the Wildrose party.

Drew finds life as an MLA very busy, but he enjoys being active in his community. Drew and his wife, Frances, have three wonderful sons, Matthew, 21, Davis, 19, and Blake, 13.

Drew wishes all his old classmates well. ’83 Sock M. Teo-Koh, BPE, ’86 MSc, president of Special Olympics Singapore and an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University, was honoured with two Singapore 2013 National Day Awards conferred by the president of the Republic of Singapore — the

’83 Marvyn Machura, BA, ’90 MEd, wrote to announce the release of his new book, Wonder: A Collection of Poems. He describes it as “a collection of poetry about spring, summer, fall, winter, youth, age, society and love, and about those moments of clarity that come to us sometimes when our experiences transcend the human case in which our lives are bound, and we catch that all-important glimpse of truth/beauty.” The book is available in print and pdf format at marvmachura.com.

Public Service Star for contributions through the Special Olympics, and a Long-Service Medal for service to education. Sock is a longtime alumni volunteer in Singapore. ’84 Donald Bruce Dingwell, PhD, ’12 DSc (Honorary), who is serving as the third secretary-general of the European Research Council, has received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Donald provided an excerpt of the citation, translated from

German: “In the citation of his achievements, the minister of research of the Free State of Bavaria paid special emphasis, next to his prodigious record, to Professor Dingwell’s tireless efforts between science and the public during the volcanic ash crisis for civil aviation of 2010, his central role in advancing geosciences within Bavaria, Germany and Europe, and the global importance of his service as the third secretary-general of the European Research Council.”

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’88 Michele Marik, BSc(ElecEng), moved to the Netherlands a week after her last final exam and spent eight years there, first in optics, then in bipolar IC design and later in software engineering. During the next five years, she worked in telecommunications for a startup in Vancouver. More recently, Michele has returned to Edmonton to raise her family while working as a systems analyst. ’88 Joseph Ostermann, BCom, and his wife, Nadine, have four children: Nova, 22, Carmen, 21, Theodore, 19, and Monique, 17. Joseph and Nadine just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and Joseph retired recently from Procter & Gamble, where he was a finance director. ’88 Carla White, BScN, has lived in Fort McMurray, Alta., for 21 years with her husband, Stewart, ’87 BCom, ’90 BA(RecAdmin), whom she met in residence at the U of A. They have three children: Sianna, 14, and twins Rylee and

’84 Lynn Hamilton, BA(Spec), ’88 MBA, ’89 LLB, was one of 30 international endurance riders to compete in August in the world’s longest and toughest horse race: the 10-day, 1,000-kilometre Mongol Derby across the rugged Mongolian steppes. Lynn, who was raising funds for juvenile diabetes, crossed the finish line on Day 8 but was “timed out” after staying behind to ride with other riders in distress and getting caught in a flash flood. Only 18 riders completed the race. Lynn raised $12,212 in donations through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to fund research at the University of Alberta into Type 1 diabetes, which affects two of her five children.

Lynn received a master of laws degree from the London School of Economics in 1990. She is the in-house lawyer as well as president and CEO of two companies that she owns: Air Spray Aviation Ltd. and Beacon Hill Properties Ltd. She is vicechair of the Alberta Diabetes Institute and is involved in numerous other community boards and activities. She was named Global TV’s Woman of Vision for September.

Shaelyn, who are 12. Carla is the founder of Crisp Connections, a human-potential training company. Through seminars, workshops and retreats, she helps professional women

reconnect with happiness, health and harmony.

The corporate training division includes communication and leadership training and team-building workshops.

new trail winter 2013 65

CL A SS NOTES

1990s

’91 Chris Turnbull, BA, released his book Your Portfolio is Broken: Who’s to Blame and How to Fix It in July.

The release was timed to coincide with new reforms by Canadian securities regulators and is intended to help investors identify problems and better manage their investment futures.

’91 Grant J. Venables, BEd, has recently completed and e-published another novel, The Meaning. He describes the novel, available through Amazon: “A boy grows to be a man; a majestic lake is his childhood home, a small

66 newtrail.ualberta.ca

’95 Jennifer Quist, BA(Hons), has written a book of fiction called Love Letters of the Angels of Death. She notes the book “examines the joys, fears, hopes and heartbreaks of love, marriage and parenthood and, in turn, reveals the shadowy place where the ordinary and the otherworldly intersect, giving new meaning to ‘Till death do us part.’”

town his surrogate mother, a lonely girl his only true love. An odyssey, an education, a departure, the East, confusion, meaning … fathers and sons, friendship, fidelity and the face of a woman he cannot shake. All these force him to try to find the meaning.” ’98 Diana Davidson, BA(Hons), ’99 MA, has launched her debut novel, Pilgrimage.

Published by Brindle & Glass, it is a tale of four interconnected people who live in Alberta’s Lac Ste. Anne settlement in the 1890s.

Previously, Diana won the Writers’ Guild of Alberta Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Prize and was long-listed for the CBC’s Canada Writes

creative non-fiction prize. In 2011, she was chosen as one of Avenue Edmonton magazine’s Top 40 Under 40. ’98 Blake Reid, BSc(EnvSci), was one of six artists selected by the Canadian Country Music Association to participate in its Discovery Program. He spent a week in Toronto in June and performed at the CCMA Awards in Edmonton in September. As reported by his manager and fellow alumnus, Lorne Petersen, ’95 BSc(Ag), Blake wrote a song to benefit southern Alberta flood victims called Hell or High Water, with all proceeds donated to the Red Cross. Find it at blakereid.ca.

PRO F I L E

DINNER WITH HISTORY An unexpected meeting with a notorious former head of state for the brutal Khmer Rouge brings Cambodia’s past a little too close for comfort Michael Barton, ’91 BA(Hons), ’93 MEd, sought a career overseas after completing his master’s degree and wound up in Cambodia. He had a number of fascinating experiences — including the one described below — before returning to Canada with his wife and two children.

MY LAST POSTING IN CAMBODIA was as a project manager for an agricultural development project in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin near the Thai border. Pailin had remained an “autonomous zone” after a 1998 deal that saw the Khmer Rouge forces — which had held a brutal reign of terror in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 — integrate with Cambodian government forces.

Launching the agriculture development project in March 2006 in this remote border town involved a full day of workshops that culminated with an evening of dining at a restaurant owned by the head of the Pailin ministry of agriculture, a former Khmer Rouge commander. At the restaurant, I sat at a table with the governors and other government officials from three different provinces that were participating in the project. We were all enjoying a refreshing beer and casual conversation when an elderly gentleman and his entourage entered, and everyone stood and acknowledged him as “Your Excellency.” I was taken aback, as I didn’t recognize him from the workshop. I tried to place him among the other delegates.

Then it struck me. This was the notorious Khieu Samphan, who was head of state under the Pol Pot regime that held control from 1975 to 1979. Samphan’s entourage steered toward our table, and he and his wife ended up sitting directly across from me and my Cambodian

Michael Barton’s Cambodian friend and interpreter, Thuy Chanthourn (left), poses with Khieu Samphan.

Khieu Samphan, former Khmer Rouge head of state, greets guests at a dinner in Pailin, Cambodia.

interpreter and good friend, Thuy Chanthourn.

Khieu Samphan’s wife poured him a Coca-Cola as we all raised our glasses of beer for a toast.

He turned his gaze to me and I instinctively clinked glasses with him, looked him in the eye and blurted out in Khmer, “Sokapheap L’or,” which means “to your good health.”

Immediately, the only thought going through my mind was what an inappropriate thing for me to say to a man of his ilk.

As I sat there in something of a daze, I couldn’t help but wonder what the other Cambodians in the room were thinking. I knew that as young boy, my friend Chanthourn — who was sitting beside me — had witnessed his father being taken away by Khmer Rouge soldiers, never to be seen again. He had also told me of the time his grandmother was asked by the Khmer Rouge to attend a meeting and never returned. I could only imagine that he had some very profound feelings at that moment, but to my surprise, he leaned over and asked me if I thought it would be OK if he took his camera out to take a picture. He whispered, “This is history.” An opportunity presented itself when the secretary of state for the ministry of agriculture pulled out his camera, and my friend

generously offered to take some photos of the group at the table. In the end, my friend had two photos taken posing with Samphan.

Samphan was eventually arrested in his little house in Pailin by the Cambodian government military in November 2007 to be tried for crimes against humanity, along with his Khmer Rouge comrades, at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh. His case is still before the tribunal. – Michael Barton

Michael Barton lived in Cambodia from the mid1990s until 2010, mainly in Phnom Penh. As someone with a sociological bent, he found it fascinating to witness Cambodian society transition from a brutal civil war into the 21st century. He worked on a number of projects with Canada’s International Development Research Centre and the Canadian International Development Agency, helping to manage natural resources, protect the culture of indigenous groups and build the capacity of civil-society organizations. new trail winter 2013 67

CL A SS NOTES

WE LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU’RE DOING Tell us about your new baby or your new job. Celebrate a personal accomplishment or volunteer activity, or share your favourite campus memories. Submit a class note at ualberta.ca/alumni/ classnotes or email alumni@ualberta.ca.

2000s

2010s

’03 Lian Chang, BA, writes that she graduated in May 2013 from Harvard Graduate School of Design with a master’s degree in architecture and is currently the director of research and information at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. Lian lives in Cambridge, Mass., with her husband. ’03 Megan Jones, BA(Rec/Leisure), worked after graduation as a consultant, creating master plans for community recreation facilities, parks and open spaces. In 2009, Megan pursued her master’s degree in urban and regional planning at Queen’s University. Since then, she has worked as a planner for the Healthy Canada by Design CLASP (Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention) initiative in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region. She has continued to lead fitness classes in Edmonton, Kingston, Ont., and Regina, which she finds to be a very rewarding part-time job. She has fond memories of the U of A. ’07 Lauren Mah, BSc, and Jeffrey Charles Holtz, both of Edmonton, recently announced their engagement. They plan to marry in 2014.

’06 Stephanie Lilley (Buddle), BPE, ’09 MBA, has started a contemporary dance company in Edmonton, Viva Dance Company, which put on a show at Edmonton’s Fringe Festival this summer.

’08 Matthew Neufeld, PhD, recently published The Civil Wars After 1660, a book that examines the conflicting ways in which the civil wars and the Interregnum were remembered, constructed and presented in 17th- and 18th-century England. The book is available through Boydell Press.

’12 Jeremy Bryant, BCom, emailed about a non-profit he founded: “After I graduated, I worked at a large accounting firm in audit for six months but decided I wanted to have more of an impact on the world through my work. So last summer, a good friend and I launched a non-profit called Mealshare. We partner with restaurants and designate certain items on the menu ‘Mealshare items.’ When a customer orders a Mealshare item, a portion of the money is donated to a partner charity — in Edmonton, it’s Hope Mission — to provide a meal to someone in need.

“We’re working with three restaurants and expect to expand to eight early in November. We hope to sign up 30 or 40 restaurants in Edmonton and hundreds more across Canada.” Read more about Mealshare at newtrail.ualberta.ca. ’12 Trevor Rockwell, PhD, wrote a chapter for the book Spacefarers: Images of Astronauts and Cosmonauts in the Heroic Era of Spaceflight.

The book is available from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

’13 Mackenzie Catherine Lees, MD, is following in the footsteps of her father, Gordon Mitchell Lees, ’72 BSc, ’74 MD, and her grandfather, John Mitchell Lees, ’38 MD, both of whom went on after graduation to establish surgical practices in Edmonton and to hold clinical appointments at the university. Mackenzie is continuing a family tradition by doing her residency in general surgery at the U of A Hospital.

Mackenzie and Gordon Lees

68 newtrail.ualberta.ca

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new trail winter 2013 69

IN MEMORIAM

The Alumni Association notes with sorrow the passing of the following graduates (based on information received between July and September 2013)

’36 Lillian Fishman, BSc(HEc), of La Jolla, CA, in August 2013

’47 Helen Raymonde Raboud, BScN, of St. Albert, AB, in July 2013

’50 Lloyd Edwin F. Snow, BSc(ElecEng), of Calgary, AB, in July 2013

’53 Isaac Klassen, BEd, ’63 BSc, of Sherwood Park, AB, in August 2013

’60 Edward William Kortes, BEd, of Victoria, BC, in June 2013

’40 E. Clare Bluetchen (Reed), BA, of Stony Plain, AB, in April 2013

’47 Norman Gordon Sproule, Dip(Pharm), of Calgary, AB, in July 2013

’51 Arthur John R. Bergquist, BSc(PetEng), of Edmonds, WA, in June 2013

’53 Archie Richmond Ryan, BSc, ’56 LLB, of Courtenay, BC, in April 2013

’60 Roger John Powlik, BSc(Pharm), of Calgary, AB, in July 2013

’40 Gord Eldon McLure, BSc(MiningEng), of Saskatoon, SK, in July 2013

’48 Jean Marie Maschio, Dip(Ed), of Medicine Hat, AB, in July 2013

’51 Edwin Harry Bradley, BSc(PetEng), of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’53 Wallace W. Yake, MD, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’41 Bernice Adell Empey, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’49 Margaret Catherine Matheson (Johnson), BSc(HEc), ’80 BA, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’51 Peter Kozakewich, BSc(ElecEng), of West Vancouver, BC, in June 2013

’54 Joyce A. Wontner, Dip(Ed), of Calgary, AB, in August 2013

’62 Constance Patricia Briggs (Johnston), Dip(Nu), ’63 Dip(PHNu), ’69 BScN, ’84 BA, in August 2013

’41 Anne Amelia Evans (Gair), Dip(Nu), ’47 Dip(PHNu), of Vancouver, BC, in July 2013

’49 Arne Rudolph Nielsen, BSc, ’50 MSc, of Calgary, AB, in July 2013

’51 Fred Lobay, BSc, ’55 MD, of Smoky Lake, AB, in August 2013

’55 Henry Keith Bowers, BSc(CivEng), of Saskatoon, SK, in May 2013

’42 Cecil Oscar Anderson, BSc(Ag), of Kathyrn, AB, in August 2013

’49 Louise Charlotte Palm, Dip(Ed), ’51 Dip(Ed), ’53 BEd, of Camrose, AB, in June 2013

’51 Alexander Kenneth Noble, BSc(ElecEng), in February 2013

’56 Jack Cleveland Calkins, BEd, ’69 Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’43 Benedict Verne Benedictson, BSc, of Courtenay, BC, in July 2013

’49 Gordon Alexander Ross, BSc(Ag), of Victoria, BC, in June 2013

’51 Nicholas Ogrodnick, Dip(Ed), ’63 BEd, in July 2013

’57 Edmund George Kluczny, BEd, ’78 BA, of BC, in August 2013

’65 Sam Masami Hoshizaki, DDS, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’43 John William Brian B. Reesor, BSc, of Kelowna, BC, in August 2013

’50 Harry Chalmers Duguid, BSc(CivEng), of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’51 Austen Bell Robson, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’57 Walter Gordon Kupchenko, BSc(Pharm), in August 2013

’65 Sharon Elaine Lyseng, BSc, of Cochrane, AB, in July 2013

’44 Harry Hole, BSc(CivEng), of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’50 John Robert Harms, DDS, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’52 Robert Henry Andres, BSc(ChemEng), of Sarnia, ON, in April 2013

’58 John Edward Anselmo, MD, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’65 Sylvester Petryk, BSc(MechEng), of Senneville, QC, in June 2013

’45 John Sparby Colter, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’50 Wilda Mackenzie Hurst, BSc(HEc), in August 2013

’52 Roland Aime Lambert, BEd, ’59 MEd, ’62 PhD, of Calgary, AB, in August 2013

’58 Cynthia C. Downe, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in August 2013

’65 John James Towers, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’46 Robert Douglas Low, BSc(CivEng), of Cardston, AB, in March 2013

’50 Earle Jardine Klohn, BSc(CivEng), ’52 MSc, of Surrey, BC, in July 2013

’52 Dennis Edward Thompson, BA, ’61 BEd, of Calgary, AB, in July 2013

’60 Robert Paul Christensen, BEd, ’72 BA, ’78 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’66 Margaret Abbie Cawsey, Dip(Nu), ’69 BScN, of Victoria, BC, in July 2013

’46 Eleanor Lois J. Reikie, BSc, of Camrose, AB, in July 2013

’50 Gordon William Schwann, BEd, ’55 DDS, of Calgary, AB, in August 2013

’53 Osborne A. Clark, BSc(Ag), of Sherwood Park, AB, in April 2013

’60 George T. Dwernychuk, BEd, ’69 Dip(Ed), of Spruce Grove, AB, in May 2013

’66 Ross James Johnston, BEd, ’68 MEd, ’81 MEd, of St. Albert, AB, in August 2013

70 newtrail.ualberta.ca

’62 Rajendra Prasad, BEd, ’65 Dip(Ed), of Atherton, CA, in July 2013 ’63 John Leonard Aubin, BPE, ’77 BEd, of Qualicum Beach, BC, in July 2013 ’65 Leonard Vincent Hills, PhD, of Calgary, AB, in August 2013

’66 Jean Simonson (Davies), BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’72 Shirley Chapman, BEd, ’81 MEd, ’89 PhD, of Victoria, BC, in July 2013

’79 Rosemarie T. Riddell, BScN, of North Vancouver, BC, in July 2013

’67 Alexander Kaburda, DDS, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’72 Ralph Ellis Valgardson, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’82 Howard Graham Rasmusson, BEd, of Edson, AB, in July 2013

’68 Irene Voris Stadnick, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’73 Lilly Ann Ewasiuk, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’83 Gary William Ewasko, BA(Spec), ’86 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’68 Frederick Franklin Sweet, PhD, of St. Louis, MO, in March 2013

’73 Robert Lee Greig, BCom, ’74 MBA, in July 2013

’84 George William Botchett, Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’69 Othniel Stewart Bishop, MSc, of Saint Michael, Barbados, in June 2013

’73 Ruth H. Hayden, BEd, ’81 MEd, ’85 PhD, of Calgary, AB, in July 2013

’88 David Bruce Matthews, BA(Hons), ’90 MA, of Ottawa, ON, in April 2013

’69 Neil John McPherson, BEd, ’71 Dip(Ed), of St. Albert, AB, in August 2013

’74 Joan M. Arnold, BA(Hons), of Ottawa, ON, in July 2013

’90 Carla Jeanne Badick, BSc(Ag), of Calgary, AB, in July 2013

’70 Clifford William Eliuk, BEd, of Winfield, AB, in July 2013

’74 Steven Bushrod, MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’90 Cassie Lorraine Chuklinski, BScN, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’70 Donna Betty Rediger, MEd, of Calgary, AB, in July 2013

’75 Maurice Andre Chauvet, BA, of Legal, AB, in August 2013

’95 Ross Owen Corrigan, BSc(CivEng), of Vancouver, BC, in June 2013

’71 William James Birse, BA(RecAdmin), of Red Deer, AB, in July 2013

’75 Laurette Evelina Dropko (D’Aoust), BEd, ’83 PostgradDip, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’96 Trevor Lee Steinbring, BCom, of Barrhead, AB, in July 2013

’71 Barbara Jean Biollo (Clarke), BA, in August 2013

’75 Peter Bennett Noden, BA(Hons), ’76 MA, ’99 MBA, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’03 Carmen Miche Atienza, MA, of Edmonton, AB, in July 2013

’71 Donald Joseph Demers, MA, ’78 PhD, of Victoria, BC, in March 2013

’76 Nancy Scott Brydges, BLS, of Nobel, ON, in May 2013

’09 Clare Ann Riley Patershuk, BSc, ’13 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’71 Allison Jimmy Yarmoloy, BEd, of Claresholm, AB, in August 2013

’77 Darrell Sawchuk, BPE, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2013

’10 Adam Francis Cope, BFA, of Calgary, AB, in July 2013

CORRECTIONS The following incorrect listings appeared in the Autumn 2013 issue of New Trail. We apologize for any inconvenience.

We incorrectly noted that Robert W. Rimmer, ’46 BSc(Hons), ’48 MSc, passed away in Edmonton in June 2013. In fact, Mr. Rimmer was living in Wilmington, Del., at the time of his passing, in 1981.

Armand Denis Mercier, ’93 BCom, was mistakenly included in In Memoriam.

Submit remembrances of U of A graduates by sending an email to alumni@ualberta.ca.

Tributes are posted to the In Memoriam web page at ualberta.ca/alumni.

new trail winter 2013 71

WHEN YOU COME TO UNIVERSITY, it’s not just a degree you get, it’s a beginning — or so goes the philosophy of Jim Edgson, ’66 BSc. For Edgson, life changed as he waited for the Ring 4 bus at the top of what was then Radio Hill. At the bottom of the hill stood a young woman. She wore a kneelength winter coat and had her hair swept up in a beehive hairdo. He walked down the hill and struck up a conversation.

It was noon on March 15, 1963, and it was the day Edgson found his beginning.

72 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Exactly 50 years later, at the stroke of noon, Anne and Jim Edgson sat at a table in the food court of the Students’ Union Building, which was built over the spot of that Ring 4 bus stop. Edgson and his wife had driven through a blizzard to be on campus and celebrate the moment of their first meeting.

Despite a winter much snowier than the one back in 1963, the pair wandered around campus. Back in the days when they were on a student budget, long walks were common dates. On other

evenings, Edgson would invite Anne to his Athabasca Hall building. Women weren’t allowed in the residence at the time, so the pair would sit in the foyer to play canasta — and the occasional bit of footsie.

“I left the U of A with a bachelor of science. I ended up with a lifetime partner,” says Jim. More Online Listen to Edgson recount the moment of their meeting and see which item in Athabasca Hall brought the memories flooding back, at newtrail.ualberta.ca.

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

JIM AND ANNE — A 50-YEAR LOVE STORY

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