Guelph The Portico Magazine, Summer 2008

SUMMER 2008

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The need for life insurance is one of life's most important lessons.

Whatever life brings, make sure the people wh o count on you wi ll be well taken care of.

With your Alumni Term Life Insurance plan, you may give yo ur loved ones the finan cial security to continue living the life you dreamed of fo r them, no matter what.

What will life teach you?

UNIVERSITYA W'"GUELPH

lumn 1路 ASSOCIATION

mJ Manulife Financial Underwritten by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company jManulife Financial)

the portico

Summer 2008

2 - letters • 5 - president's page • grad news - 29 • passages - 36

- 10 cover story

in and around the university

THE GAPING GENERATION GAP Business professor Sean Lyons discusses the issue of generational co nflict in the workplace and answers the age-old question: "Why ca n't we all just get along?"

0

AC names a new dean, the University renews its partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and OVC begins a new era in veterinary m edicine. In addition, U of G students and facu lty co ntinue to earn kudos for their innovative ideas .

14

STRANGE BREW U of G researchers create "lakes in tanks" to study biodiversity in ecosystems from th e Great Lakes to Africa 's Serengeti Plain.

18 on the cover Prof. Sean Lyons immerses himself in the stereotypes of today's workfo rce.

Illustration by Am.anda Duffy Photo by Ross Davidson-Pilon

WHO SAYS PHYSICS CAN'T BE FUN? Guelph grad and Illinois physics professor Mats Selen has a classroom, a laboratory, a travelling " physics van" and his own television show - all part of his effo rt to inspire a new generation of scientists.

20 MENTORING SUCCESS Who understands the rigours of Guelph's DVM progra1n better than our students? OVC graduates, of co urse!

alumni matters

A

s U of G prepares to host Alumni Weekend, the camp us remembers alumni leaders who shaped our history and honours those who are defining our present and building our future.

We also celebrate the accomplishments of Gryp hon athletes and report on a recent survey of alumni opinion.

Squadron pictured A CO PY OF yo ur m agazi ne, Th e Portico, fea turing the military histo ry at the University of Guelph was loaned to my fa ther-in-law. As he read it. he was surprised that the squ adron grad pi cture show n in the arti cle \\路a 路 that of his squ adron.

Du ring a recent trip to a reuruon of his N o.4 Wireless School gro up, he pulled us into the ca mpus to show us th e m em o ri al plaq ue th at th ey had dedicated to th e Uruversity. H e was ve1y p ro ud . The g roup has also held a co uple of their reuni ons at Guelph. To date, he is still in contact with several of that grad uatin g gro up.

R OBE RT SMITH W INDSOR, ONT.

Wing's Parade Locating Burtch Airfield THI S IS JU ST A SHORT NOTE to thank you and H erb Shovell er for the grea t article about the campus mjlitary history.

During my studi es at G uelph, I se rved as a par t- time rese rvist in th e 11th Field R egiment, Royal Ca nadian Artillery, which was a ho me away from ho m e for m e and m any o th er O AC stud ents over the yea rs.

While reading th e arti cle, l noted two references to Burtch airfield being "south of G uelph at Burlingto n" and later " near H amilton." Burtch airfield is 11 kilometres so uth of Brantford, and aft er th e wa r, beca m e part o f th e Ontario priso n sys tem kn ow n as th e Burtch R eformator y o r th e Burtch C orrec tional Facili ty.

Keep up the good wo rk.

ED PA NCOE, B.S c . (A GR. ) ' 7 0 BR ANTFO RD, O NT.

Portico passed on M y GRA NDDAUG HT ER, M ichell e Bassie Brow n (B. Comm. '92) and her husband, Wm. Drew Brow n (BA '92), gave m e a copy of yo ur magazine, The Portico , w inter edition , no tin g th at it

2 TH E P ORTI CO

would be o f special interest to m e.

It was, indeed, as I and approximately 80 other hopelitl yo ungsters became the 55th Entry at N o. 4 Wireless School. It was O cto ber 1942 . The course to o k seven months to co mplete. Learrung to receive and send Mo rse code, plus procedure, too k th e lo nges t tim e as we started o ff at fo ur wo rds per ni.inute.

Profi ciency was 25 words per nlinute, although 20 was passable.

During the co urse, we we re promoted to Leading Aircraftman and had a propeller sew n o n our arm and a w rute fl ash to wea r o n our wedge caps denoting that we we re air crew, defenders of the land, and to be mu ch admired by one and all!

During my tim e at Guelph, I m et a yo un g g irl fro m nea rby G alt, and we were marri ed th e day after I gradu ated as a winged Sgt. (W.A.G.) from bombing and gunnery in Jarvis.June 26, 2008, will be o ur 65th annive rsary.

I have fo nd m em o ri es o f G uelph and the college. In additi on, my granddau ghter m et her husband-to-be there and th ey have g iven M ary and I two lovely great-grand children.

E UG ENE L OC KAR D

They rank by class, qfficers.

Th e band strikes up tl1e King.

T he s1m creeps overhead.

A nd with a n111stac/1ed n.od T he air 111arshal fi 11nbles T he coveted wings into place.

Silken manlwod pinned crookedly over the hea rt .

Editor's Note: "Win g's Parade" is one poem in a collection called Ti路ainer written by English grad Peter Taylor, BA '76, and published in 1980 by Paget Press.The collection of poems is based on the British Commonwealth AirTrairung Plan, 19391945, and follows the chronological experi ence of his fa ther's logbook throu gh ilight trajnjn g and service overseas with the RNVR(A) during the Second World War. Several ofTaylor's poems and accompanyi ng photos are published in T71e Portico o nlin e editi o n - along w ith more detail fro m other letter-writers - at www. uoguelph.ca/ theportico.

Guelph's unique approach to education I READ WITH INTE REST Dr.Alastair Summerl ee's editorial in the last Portico.

I~- ~; I

I graduated from U ofG in 1970 and moved out to British Columbia co do my di eteti c internship. The west coast had captured Ine as a wonderfol place to live. It was not until

thportico

m any yea rs later, during th e 1980s, when p eople started to include community development in health care here in B.C. that I truly began to appreciate th e edu ca tion l had received at Guelph . 1 had the chance to speak with one of my professors when I attended a di eteti c conference some years later to say " thank you."That was when I discovered that th eir approa ch to making th e edu ca tion e.>..'Perience so ri ch was very deliberate.

I have noti ced over th e years that my colleagu es who graduated from Guelph also have a uniqu e approach to our profession .We appreciate what you have done for us and hope that yo u continu e for many more years to come.

Beverly Grice, B.H.Sc. '70 VancoLiver, B.C.

Prof. Ceboratev remembered THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME the recent Portico. l enjoyed reading th.rough it and keeping LI P with events in GLielph . I was disappointed, however, that th ere was no noti ce of the death of one ofU of G's beloved professors, Nora Cebotarev; one of the found ers of both the Women's Studies and International D evelopment StLidies programs.

She taught rura l sociology at U of G begiiming in 1970, became professor em.erita in 1994, sLipervised almost 100 graduate stLidents and still had three stud ents w hen she passed away in ALigList 2007. A tribLite to Nora was set up by Prof. Kris Inwood at www. nora-cebo tarev.org.

Although Nora was my cousin, and I was aware of her activities, [ did not reali ze the full impac t of her work Lintil I heard the tribmes to h er at the celebration of her life that was held in the Arboretw11 Oct. 14. The impact she had on the lives of ii1dividL1al people from all walks of life, both close by GLielph and aro Li nd the world, was amazing.

H er entire estate went to a U of G sc holarship for women from. developing COLintries, and a tree was planted in the ArboretLim by her family and stLidents in her memory.

Nora never had . the time to seek OLit

Surnmert 2008 •

VOLUME

40

ISSUE

2

Editor M ary Dickieson Director C harles C unningham Art Direction Peter Enneson Design In c.

Contributors Barbara Chance, BA '74 D eirdre H ealey, BA '01 Lori Bona Hunt Wendy Jespersen R ebecca Kendall, BA '99 H erb Shoveller SPARK Program Writers Andrew Vowl es, B.Sc. '84

tribmes. Even as she lay dying, she told me she didn't have time to ]je in the hospital as she still had so mLi ch to do! She was devoted to changin g th e sitLiation in th e world one step at a time, particularly by einpowering women. The University of Gue lph has lost an ama zing and wonderfu l professo r with Nora 's passing.

JOHN BuRKA, M.S c . '74 AND PHD '76 ATLA NT IC V ETER INARY COL LEGE C HARLOTT ETOWN, P.E . I .

Advertising Inquiries Scott Anderson 519-827-9169 Di reel nil other correspo11 de11ce to: Communicatio ns and Public Affairs University of Guelph Guelph , On tari o, Canada N 1G 2W I E- m ail m .dicki eson@exec. uoguelph. ca W\Vw. uoguelph. ca/ thcporti co/

171e Portico magazine is published three ti.mes a year by Communi catio ns and Public Affairs at the University of Guelph. Its mission is to enhance the relationship bet\.veen th e University and its alumni and friends

Tribute to Jeanne Burton MY HU SBAND AND I received Th e Portico last week and were sa d to see that Dr. Jea nn e Burton had passed away. In the obits she was listed as having a B.Sc. She in fact received three degrees from Guelph and was a di stinguished scientist and associate professor at Mi chigan State University.

She was an outstanding perso n who left a lasting ill1pression on everyone she met. These websites outline her career and her passing: www. newsroom. m s u. e d u I site / inde xer/ 3156/ content.htm and www.newsroom. msLI .edu /site/indexer/3 156/ content. htrn.

TANN!S (ARMSTRONG) N EHELI, B.S c . '8 1 BEAM SV ILLE, ONT.

and prom ote pride and commitm ent within the University community. All material is copy ri ght 2008. Id eas and opin io ns expressed in the articles do not necessarily refl ect the ideas or op inio ns of the University or th e editors.

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ISSN 17 .14-8731

To update your alumni record, contact: Alumni Affairs an d Development Phon e 5 19-824-4120, Ext. 56550 Fax 519-822-2670 E-m ail alumnirecords@uoguelph. ca

job opportunity?

Connect with our students & alumni today

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519.824.4120 x. 52323 recruit@uoguelph.ca

_U_QEG USES INFLUENCE TO CHANGE LIVES AND IMPRQ_V___.....__.---+_

into a puddle and wa tch the ripple. It's a ritu al we've all don e time and time again to pass th e time, or p erhaps to teac h a simpl e physics lesson. And because o f it, we all und erstand what it mea ns to cause "a ripple effec t."

I always think of this analogy as summ er convo cation draws near. A fa culty colleague or an invi ted speaker will invariably make reference to the ripple effect we as teac hers have had on the lives of th ese new graduates, and by extension, on th e pro fessio ns they pursue and th e communities they se rve as citi ze ns.

There is power in th e pebbles of knowledge we toss to students in our classro oms and in th e scholarship and resea rch discoveries we produce. A good example of the Uni versity's reach is th e rece nt renewal of o ur partnership with the Ontari o Ministry o f Ag riculture, Foo d and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

Leadin g up to th e signin g o f a new 10-year agreement, we learned from an economj c analysis by Deloitte and Touche LLP that the partnership return s about $20 in provincial economj c impact fo r eve ry $1 invested by OMAFRA; a total return of over $1 billion per yea r.

D eloitte and Tonche also interviewed a number of industry stakeholders who said th e edu ca ti o n, resea rch and se rvi ce programs we provid e are esse nti al to th e development of agricultural innova tion in Ontari o.They pointed to our work in the genetic improvement of livestock and crops, best-man agement practi ces o n Ontario farms and resea rch in fl o ri culture and neutrace uti cals.

It see ms eve n an egg can ge nerate an impressive rippl e throu gh th e agri - fo od industry, th e O ntari o eco no my and the health of Ca nadi ans .. . if it's an O m ega-3 egg developed at Guelph.

Earlier this spring, another pebble dropp ed on campus w hen th e Ontario Veterin ary Co ll ege turn ed sod o n a new bu ilding - important in itself, but m ore so beca use it's th e first step in a 1nassive redevelopment of fa cilities and programs at the college. Future veterin arians will train at a new OV C H ealth Sciences Ce ntre w here th e releva nce of veterinary m edi cin e to human and environmental health will adva nce in step with its contributio ns to th e health and welfare o f anima ls. It's a move in dica tive of th e trem endous effect veterinary edu cation and researc h can have in areas such as publi c health and can cer research.

We know th e importance of the work we do in all co rn ers o f th e Uruversity and the opportuni ty we have to generate ideas and disc ussio ns that ca n improve the way we live and the way we trea t oth ers.When we host th e annu al President's Di alogue o n Jun e 11 , we w ill

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R O P A P E BBL E

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5z invite parti cipants and audi enc e memb ers to co nsider th e to pi c "Hum an Ri ghts and Human Wron gs ." T he dialogue begin s at 10 a.m. in Ro zanski H all. It is free and open to the publi c becau se we believe the Un iversity of Guelph has a responsibili ty to encourage di scussion o f the important issues of our time.

The guest panel fo r this event vvill include Inuit enviro nmental acti vist Sh eila Wan-C louti er, fo rm er U.N .

Force Commander in R wanda R omeo D allaire, Afghan sc holar and political adviser Ashran Glia ni , and Ca nadi an dipl o mat and U of G chancell or Pam ela Wallin.

T heir experi ences w ill chall enge us to defin e human ri ghts in times of crisis and remind us of th e power of an idea - mu ch li ke a pebbl e - how easy it is to toss and how powerless we are to stop th e waves th at form .

Th ere is a lesso n here beyo nd th e prin cip les o f physics. And th at, of course, is the ripple effect we hope to crea te.

AL AS T A IR SU MM E R LEE PR ES I DEN T

Summer 2008 5

people • research• highlights

WELVE YEARS AFTER earning his PhD at U of G, Robert Gordon is returning to campus as dean of the Ontario Agricultural College. His fiveyear term begins Aug. 1 Gordon, who studied here in the Department of Land Resource Science, is now a professor and dean of research at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC).

He holds the Canada Research Chair in Agriculnual Resource Management, which focuses on identifying adaptive resource managern.ent issues at the farm level.

He has been at NSAC for nine years and has also headed the environmental management section of the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and served as the province's climatologist. " ! am truly looking forward to returning to the University of Guelph and the Ontario Agricultural College," be says."! have always recognized the important and evolving role that OAC plays in providing innovative educational programs, outreach services and research in globall y supporting our enviro1m1ent, agriculture, food and rural communities.

T

..

U of G, OMAFRA renew partnership The University of Guelph and th e Ontario Ministry of Agri culture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) recen tl y signed a 10year contract to renew tl1eir edu cation and research partners hip.

T he Unive rsity will receive $300 1nillion in th e first half of the co ntract, with a review aft er five years . "T hi s renewed partnership gets to th e hea rt of what the future of our agri-food sector is all about: resea rch and innova tion to better protec t our health, econo my and environm ent," said Leona Dombrowsky, ininister of agriculture, food and rural affairs.

Agriculture is Ontario's second-largest industry, co ntributin g $30 billion to the provin ce's eco nomy and employing more than 700,000 people.

U of G and OMAFRA first entered into an enhanced partn ership agree ment in 1997. Und er th e agreement the Unive rsity man ages researc h and edu ca tion programs and related faciliti es, including the three regional campuses at Alfred , Ridgetown and Kemptville.

MAKING IT WORK of G enginee ring stud ents Andrew Morris, Anina Sakaguchi, Micha Wallace and Katie Bell won the inaugural James Dyson Design Awa rd for up -a nd-coming Canadian inventors. Their development of a single-hand ed bicycle braking lever went on to finish second at the international level of the co mp etition, whjch was judged by Dyson himself, the inventor of one of the 6J(f) world 's most famous vacuum clea ners.T he ~ one-handed braking system was inspired by ITl a nine-year-old Guelph girl w ith a disabled _J fr: hand. It ca n be used o n any bike and m ay ~ ultimately prove useful for other cycli sts ill w ith disabilities or those who often have to brake with a single hand, such as police offii[ cers and bicycle co uriers.

U

§

6

THE PORTI CO

From left: Dyson Canada president Andrew Robinson, Micha Wallace, Sir James Dyson , Anina Sakaguchi, Katie Bell and the students' faculty advisor John Runciman, School of Engineering.

Andrew Moore was studying in Scotland and unable to attend the awards ceremony.

I

KUDOS • Physicist

Carl Svensson

has

received an E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, considered one of Canada's premier science and engineering prizes. Svensson is known internationally for his experimental work and for leadership in designing and building tools needed to probe the inner workings of atoms.

• Svensson is the PhD supervisor for grad student Paul Finlay, recipient of this year's Brock Doctoral Scholarship. Funded by OAC graduate Bill Brock and his wife, Anne , the scholarship is U of G's largest. It will enable Finlay to continue work at TRIUMF, Canada's national laboratory for nuclear and particle physics.

• Drama professor Judith Thompson won the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for her political play Palace of the End. She is the first

Canadian to receive the $20,000

A

SOD-TURN I NG

cere1nony Feb. 29

U.S.-based award, which recog-

surgical and diagnostic servi ces .

at th e Ontario Veterinary College

The large-anima l iso lation unit is

marked the start of a major construction

fund ed through infrastru cture gra nts

proj ect and a new era at the college.

A large-animal isolation unit i s th e

from the federal and provincial governments, with support from U of G.

nizes an outstanding woman playwright each year.

• A student company that plans to distribute biodegradable plastics

first " bri cks and mortar" component in

I t's part of a packa ge that also sup-

products placed in the top four in

a series of irutiatives that will anchor th e OVC H ealth Sciences Centre - what

ports constru ction of a new building to house th e Department of Pathobiology

the Nicol LaunchPad $50K regional competition held in Waterloo in

dean Elizabeth Stone describes as a bold

and th e Animal Health Laboratory.

March. College of Management and

new vision for th e co llege that wi ll

Completion of that proj ect in 2010 w ill

Economics students Kwasi Danso

transform the OVC Teaching Hospital

clear th e way for a major expansion of

and Jonathan Wolff made their busi-

and shape th e future of th e veterinary

the teacrung hospital.

profession.

Th e health sciences centre will focus the college's efforts on several key ini-

ness pitch for plastic made with an

"Many of our clients already see the

additive that allows microbes to

OVC hospital as a Lind of' Mayo Cl in-

break it down . They will compete in

aru-

May in the national competition in

ic' or ' Hamilton Health Sciences' for

tiatives, including a new educational

mals," says Stone. "The creation of the

centre in primary health care and animal welfare; an anjmal cancer care cen-

OVC Health Sciences Centre captures what we do and what we want to do in

won gold as the best university

tre; an equine performance and repro-

health-ca re education, research and ser-

website in Canada in a competition

duction centre; and other improvements

vice delivery."

that w ill enable the hospital to continue to deliver leading- edge medical,

Read more about OVC expansion plans at WW\v.ovc.uoguelph .ca.

Ottawa.

• The University of Guelph website

sponsored by the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education. Go to www.uoguelph.ca.

Summer 2008 7

U of G leads project to bar-code marine life U 0 1° G PROJ ECT that aims to identify and catalogue th e estimated 230,000 species of things living in and around the world's oceans has received $1 milli o n to acce lerate th e proj ect by barcodin g up to 85,000 specim ens in four major muse um collec tions around the world. The grant from th e Alfred P Sloan Foundation includes $240,000 for U of G's role in co-ordinating th ese field projects.

Post-doc Dirk Steinke is principal investigator for th e international Marine Barcode of Life project. H e'll oversee th e initiative from th e Ca nadi an Centre for DNA Barcoding at U of G's Biodiversity Institute of Ontario. Both are initiatives of Integrative Biology professor Paul Hebert.

In the last two years, th e marin e proj ec t has ca talogu ed 8,000 species . Organizers hope to co mpl ete bar codes for at leas t 50,000 species in the database by ~ 2010.The specimen collections to be ana~ lyze d are housed at th e Florida Muse um G of Natural History, the Muse um NationCfJ ~ al d'Histoire N ature! in Paris an d Quee ns~ land Muse um in Brisbane, Australia. :2' >B esid es cataloguing ocean crea tures , ~ Guelph scientists work on similar projec ts @involving animals, fun gi, plants and one6: celled organisms.

A

8 THE PORTI CO

Canada Not Doing Enough to Ensure Water Security

D

ESPITE WALK ERTO N, cli mate change and recent water e:x"Port controve rsies, most provinces and territori es have yet to introduce measures needed to address threats such as water scarcity and environmental flows.

That's the finding of a two-year assessm ent by Prof. Rob de Loe , Geog raphy, w ho says the co untry needs to do more to ensure o ur water sec urity. " In Ca nada, we are sti ll ca ught up in the myth of abundance. We think we have lots of water, but we are not immune to water sca rcity. Shrinking water suppli es are a problem across the globe, and in Canada we aren't deali ng with it very well,'' he says.

Th e study found that, although som e jurisdictions in Canada are gath ering ecological information, water allocation policies are being developed at th e municipal level in most provinces and territories .

Rob de Loe

The study reco mmends a national discussion of water allocation in Ca nada with representatives from First Nations, nongovernmental orga niza tions, muni cipaliti es, and federa l and provincial gove rnments. This wo uld allow jurisdi ctions to share experiences and learn from each other, says de Loe, and would help us di vide responsibilities sensibly and appropriately.

For a co py of th e report, visit the G ue lph Water M anag e m ent Group website, W\vw. uoguelph.ca / gwmg/ gordon_WS.htm.

THE PORTICO ONLINE

• Hockey players suffer from dehydration

To read these stories, visit

• Today's volunteers know what they

www.uoguelph.ca/theportico: • U of G announces a new master plan for athletics facilities

want from the experience • Project Soy produced soy fortune cookies, pizza, pasta and candy.

NOTEWORTHY

International prize recognizes ecologist '

• A graduate student referendum at U of G this spring mirrors a com-

'

mitment made by undergraduate students in 2007 to contribute roughly $20 a year in new fees for energy conservation measures on

P

KLIRONOMOS,

campus. Over the next 12 years,

Integrative Biology, has received a prestigious Humboldt Research Award, one of the top international prizes recognizing cuttin g-edge achievements in science. The Guelph ecologist was chosen for his pioneering research on th e relationships among plants, fungi and other organisms in the soil.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which was established in Berlin in 1860 in memory of the famous scientist and explorer, grants up to 100 research awa rds annually. They are intended as a lifelong tribute to the outstanding impact of internationally recognized sc ientists and sc hol ars on th eir area of study.

It's an impressiye ac hieveme nt for

the two student groups will con-

ROF.

JOH

someone as young as Klironomos, who joined th e U of G faculty in 1996 after completing a PhD at the University of Waterloo and a post-doc at San Diego

tribute more than $5 million to be matched by the University and earmarked for energy conservation

State University.

The award is valu ed at close to $88,000 and allows recipi ents to carry out research projects of th eir choice in Germany for up to a yea r in co-operation with Germ.an colleagues.

For Klironomos to be noni.inated by German scientists for this award speaks volLm1es about the calibre of his research, says CBS dean Mike Em es. "We are m.1ly proud of his achievements."

Klironomos will spend tlu-ee months this summer and next in Germany working to complete a book on plant ecology. He's also working with German collaborators on resea rch projects in mycorrhi zaJ associations, or interactions among plants, soil and fungi.

measures.

• Beginning this fall, the University of Guelph-Humber will offer a new undergraduate degree program to prepare graduates for work as personal trainers, kinesiologists, wellness consultants and fitness practitioners. More than 430 students applied for the first 60 spots in the program.

A three-year, $1-million donation from Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corp. w ill create a research and teaching partnership between U of G and several Brazilian institutions . The Canada-Brazil network will include student and facult y exchanges, joint cou rses and research projects, particularly in

Study finds way to detect ovarian cancer earlier Prof. Jim Petrik, Biomedical Sciences, and his colleagues have discovered a protein

natural resource management. almost immediately in mice after the can-

• Tannis Slimmon, a technician in the

cer cells interact with the ovary. The next

Department of Integrative Biology,

step is developing a screening test, which

released her second solo album in

Petrik says could be as simple as a blood

January. Called Lucky Blue, the

test.

album was produced by fellow

This research is supported by th e Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

musician Lewis Melville, also a technician in Integrative Biology.

• U of G President Alastair Summer-

expressed by ovarian cancer cells that

lee is serving as 2008 campaign

may act as an identifying marker at the

chair for the Guelph and Wellington

onset of the disease.

United Way. U of G holds the largest

"Finding a marker that can help in detecting ovarian cancer in the early

United Way drive in Guelph, donating more than $424,000 last year.

stages is probably the most important

• An operetta called Earnest, the

component of beating this disease," says

Importance of Being by University

Petrik, who worked on the project with

professor emeritus Eugene Benson

Prof. Roger Moorehead and PhD student

had its world premiere in February

Jim Greenaway. "It's a very treatable dis-

at the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toron-

ease if you can catch it in time."

to. Benson, worked on the operetta

The protein they identified is expressed

with noted composer Victor Davies.

Sununer 2008 9

Dem9graphics yo::::i;;: !y I n the ~n~:~;cca ::~::7te Workplace¡ Diversity Derlion you get along with the boss and whether or not you will one day be the boss

•

Illustrations by Amanda Duffy I Photography by Ross Davidson-Pilon

ow WAS YOUR WORK DAY? Did you spend time planning your next career move? Go to the gym at lunch? Get or give a pat on the back? Did you text message your co-workers, or arrange a face-to-face meeting to solve a problem?

Whatever your job or the challenges you faced today, the way you approach your work day has a lot to do with when you were born.

Yo u've probabl y experi enced that, says Guelph business professor Sean Lyo ns, if yo u wo rk with or m anage a wo rkforce of people who va ry in age fron1 twenty-so methin g to qu ali fy in g fo r a seni or's di sco unt. T hose differences are ca using major headac hes fo r empl oyers w ho are, for th e first time in history, managing th e wants and needs of fo ur separate and di stin ct age gro ups: matures, bo rn befo re 1945; baby boo m ers, bo rn between 1945 and 1964; generation X, born betwee n 1965 and 1979; and mill enni als, bo rn fro m 1979 and on.

"There's trem endous new interest in chis

10

TH E P O RTI CO

as the millennial generation is starting to enter the workfo rce," says Lyo ns, w ho j oined the new College of Management and E conomics in January. " I knew this was go ing to happen beca use as a professo r I've seen some of these sam e changes in the classroom in terms o f attitude and values . I kn ew this tsunami was going to eventually hit the workplace."

For the past year or so, his phone has been ringing off th e hook and e-mails have been filling up his inbox as employers grapple with o ffi ce iss ues res ultin g from differences in wo rk attitudes . Som e o f th ese calls fo r help are co ming from empl oye rs w ho have n't

do ne any maj or hiring in 15 yea rs and are now having diffi culty with new employees.

"They're recruitin g this new generatio n, but don 't kn ow how to m anage th em .

Employe rs think millennial employees are so different and harder to please," says Lyons. " N either group knows th e other's expectations, and this has crea ted a situation w here help is needed to bridge the gap."

M any of th e differences and dil emmas being enco untered can be attributed to the political and economic realities people grew up in, says Lyo ns, w ho hails from Windso r.

Th e for mati ve experi en ces of th e o ldes t

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Generation gap makers Each generation's attitudes are shaped by the major personalities and events experienced during their formative years.

workers included the Great D epression, the developm ent of m edicare and th e Seco nd World War. T heir ge nerati on rebuilt after economic disaster, and they have always been know n as hard- wo rking, di sciplined and industrious.

Baby boomers had a very different exp erience. They were born amid an explosive population boom and entered the workforce alo n gside an unpreced ented n umb er of

to choosing th e University of Guelph partly because he and his wife liked the city and its location - close to fri ends in Toronto and a reasonable drive to visit their fa milies in Windsor and O ttawa.

W hen ge neration X entered the Canadian workforce in th e 1980s and 1990s, the national economy was weak, and as a result, they had a m ore difficult time ge tting their caree rs established, he says.

sa me-age wo rkers. T his m ade them hi ghly con1petitive and success-o ri ented , so wo rk often took priori ty over family. Boomers are a generation th at values com.pany loyalty and beli eves in staying w ith o ne employe r fo r their entire caree r. This generati on was also the fi rst to see unprecedented mnnb ers of women entering the workforce, divorce rates sky-rocket and birth rates plummet, says Lyons.

Watchin g all this family brea kdown and work stress unfold was generation X . At age 35, Lyo ns is a m ember of this group. " Generation X was never signing up for that deal;' he says . " From th e beginning, Gen X - ers have always been about work-life balance."

With three sm all children, Lyons admits

"With co rp orate downsizing squeezing people out ofjobs, th ey fo und th emselves in co mp etiti on w ith baby boo m ers. E ntrylevel j obs were being fill ed by people with a lot more experience, so generation X went back to sch ool and tn any o f them took underemploym ent jobs in order to make do."

This res ulted in a highly edu ca ted and underemployed generati on, he says . Social realities such as distrust of authority and govermnent, the HIV I AIDS epidemi c and an ailing planet also had effects on this gro up and gave th em a stron g se nse of independence and individualism .

And m ost recen tly, th e millennials have m ade their entrance in to th e wo rk wo rld.

T his gro up has largely been taught by their

Matures (also called the silent generation) Sports figures: Cassius Clay, Jackie Robinson

Movies: Singing in the Rain, Rebel Without a Cause, From Here to Eternity Music: Rogers and Hammerstein, big bands, Bing Crosby

Inventions: Transistor, splitting the atom, a house in the suburbs

Television: Only a few people had one Big deals: Sputnik, Cold War, Korean War, rising divorce rate

Baby boomers Sports figures: Rocky Marciani, Mickey Mantle

Movies: Psycho, Rocky, Sound of Music Music: Elvis, the Beatles, Woodstock Inventions: Hula hoop, Salk vaccine, heart transplant, Barbie dolls

Television: Neil Armstrong walks on the moon, Archie Bunker

Big deals: Martin Luther King assassinated, Dr. Spock, Dr. Seuss

baby-boom er parents to be independ entmi nded, to qu estion authority and nego ti ate w ith th eir pare nts and teac hers rather than listen to authority. " They're the product of the self- esteem parenting movement and have received a lot of positive attenti on thro ughout th eir lives," says Lyons.

Although seerningly harmless, this has had extreme co nseq uences, incl uding a generation th at has an extremely high sense of self-

Meet the Millennials Visit The Porth .o web version to read about these Guelph millennials: Dr. Hanif Jamal , B.Sc. '02, and Saroop Bharwani, B.Sc.(Eng.) '03, two of six

millennial friends who take a new approach to charitable giving; Kristin Pristupa, BA '06, working 1n

Zambia with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines; Matthew Duffy, B.Comm. '06, a com-

petitor in the Food Network's reality show, Chef School; Kristin Roe, BA '03, marathon swimmer

and fundraiser for the Stephen Lewis Foundation; David Kranenberg , B.Sc. '03, and Leisha Zamencik, BAS '07, the

national team for Meal Exchange; Melanie Mullen, B.Sc.(Eng .) '07, interim

female deputy leader of the Green Party of Ontario; Cameron Wagg, B.Sc. '05 and M Sc.

'08, a Commonwealth Scholar studying at the University of Ghana. www.uoguelph.ca/theportico

estee m th at's no t ro o ted in any so rt of achi eve ment o r prove n success, he adds.

"When yo u teach people to have high selfesteem fo r no reaso n, it leads to narcissism .

T hey're concerned v.rith self-admiration, selfcenteredness and self-regard, w hich are never co nsidered to be positive personali ty traits."

As a res ult of differences between th ese groups, each generation wants different things from their work. "That's the biggest findin g from my studi es," says Lyo ns. "Matures wa nt to be respected for th eir loyalty and wa nt to continu e to be releva nt, even as they m ove toward retirement. Baby boomers are looking for balance and meaning in their working lives as they head imo the late stages of their careers.

"Looking to the ÂŁinure, these two gro ups

are conce rned that generatio n X and th e millennials do not have th e dedicatio n and dri ve needed to take over th e rein s from th em , so giving up th e comp any reins is likely to be difficult for them."

When advisin g empl oyers on how to handle th e myr iad person ality types and offi ce players, Lyons asks th em to view generational valu e differences as a legitimate fo rm of diversity and treat eac h ge neration's co ncerns, needs and challenges as valid .

"There's often an impulse to assume that yo ung people think and act th e sa me way we did wh en we we re th eir age, but the world in which today's yo ung people live is ve ry different and has shaped th eir view of th e world differentl y. They're not wrong o r naive, just different."

Lyo ns also reco mm ends th at baby boo mers begin to see th at th eir view of what's good, bad and normal must be adjusted to include other perspectives. " N ow th at they are being confronted by a new set of valu es and ex pec tati o ns, boomers wond er w hy youn ger people don't do thin gs no rmally, rath er than co nsidering that w hat's normal has changed," he says .

Lyo ns also has advice for th e yo unge r co horts, includin g the impo rtance of having realisti c expectatio ns abo ut th eir careers and li ves.

"We've bee n to ld by o ur parents th at we ca n be anythin g and do anythin g, but success in the ' real wo rld' requires a realisti c assess me nt o f o u r ow n stre ngths and wea kn esses."

He also asks nl..iliennials and Gen X ers to remember that baby boo mers sti ll largely sit at th e top of th e corp orate foo d chain and says it's important fo r youn ger emp loyees to try to und erstand the va lu es and perspectives of more experienced co-workers. Generation X and millennials must also recogni ze th e existence of nega tive stereotypes abo ut th eir ow n age gro ups and shou ld actively work to dispel th em, says Lyons.

Equally important, Lyo ns warns younger workers about comparin g th eir own careers with th ose of baby boo mers, w ho generally joined the wo rkforce ea rli er in life and didn 't carry the debt load of today's university and college graduates. " It's not reaso nable to assume that you can achi eve the san1e wealth and success by th e sa me age as your parents," he says. •

Generation X Sports figures: Mike Tyson, Wayne Gretzky Movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Silence of the Lambs Music: Michael Jackson, Madonna, MTV Inventions: Rubik's Cube, Game Boy,

latchkey kids, mobile phones Television: Muppets, The Brady Bunch , Oprah Winfrey, Seinfeld Big deals: Star Wars, Berlin Wall crumbles,

AIDS, Cell phones, Challenger explosion

Millennials (also called the Echo Generation) Sports figures: Michael Jordan, Mark

McGwire, Cassie Campbell Movies: Titanic, Braveheart Music: Spice Girls, Britney Spears,

Kanye West Inventions: Play Station, cloning, genetic

engineering, Canadarm Television: The Simpsons, OJ trial, reality

shows, American Idol Big deals: Text messaging, Facebook,

Princess Diana, terrorism, George Bush and Iraq x2 , volunteering

BREWING beer now on the U ofG campus?That's what you might think after a glance at the six stainle s-steel tanks standing upright in a two-storey room in a new building on the west side of campus.

You'd be half-correct.Those are modified .beer vats - indeed, the research team using them called on Sleeman Breweries to help design them - and they're brewing up something here using micro-organisms. But it's not beer.

This is the University's world-renowned Biodiversity [nstitute of Ontario (BIO) . And inside those new steel tanks, Guelph ecologists plan to create experimental ecosystems - think "ponds in tanks" - to help us better understand the complex natllral world.

Early this year, a Guelph research team completed installation of the limnotron ("lirn.no" is Greek for "lake") at the south end of the BIO Building. That building opened in 2007 on the site of the University's former seal research facility. Headed by integrative biology professor Paul Hebert, the BIO includes th e limno tron as well as the Ontario Agricultural College's insect collection and hcrbarium (th e latter two fac 1li ncs arc housed nearby in re centl y renova ted quarters in the Bovey 13uilding and Zoology Ann ex I, respectively) .

The BIO brings together ecologists and biologists studying biodiversity, or the variety of living things on Earth. Most of the offices and lab in the building are devoted to the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding, a central node for national and international etforts to use technology developed at Guelph for identifying species of organisms using a telltale bit of genetic material.

As more of those species creep towards threatened or endangered status - the BIO website says we're in "a global biodiversity crisis" - it's important to catalogue the Earth's existing diversity. But Prof.John Fryxell, Integrative Biology, says we also need to understand what sustains the range of living things on the planet, how that diversity itself shapes life and what might happen if we continue to lose certain species - a critical aspect of that biodiversity crisis. Contrasting his neighbours' work in species identification with the ecosystem studies planned in the limnotron's steel tanks, Fryxell says: "They're developing new ways to measure biodiversity. Our challenge is to figure out what it all means to real ecosystems."

He's getting the limnotron ready along with departmental colleagues Profs. Kevin McCann, Denis Lynn, Tom Nudds and John Klironomos,

Summer 2008 15

as well as post-doc Neil Rooney. By early February, the six upright vats - each 15 feet high and 12 feet across - had been installed, filling most of the two-storey space. (Each tank - all 2,400 pounds worth - was swung in horizontally through a roll-up garage door, then manoeuvred upright during a

sists of a cleaning ball and solvents and works a bit like a dishwasher, or indeed like a beer vat between batches.

The brewing analogy is more than just rhetorical. When the team began looking aro und for equipment, they realized that what they wanted was somethin g like a fermenting vat. Fryxell knew w here to go for that. A neighbour at home in G uelph is Doan Bellman, w ho studi ed microbiology at U of G before joining Sleeman Breweries about 20 years ago. Now technical vice-president with

LIMNOTRON TRIVIA: Each of the Llmnotron's six tanks holds more than 48,000 litres.

pas de deux involving two forklifi: trucks and careful attention to Archimedes' principle of the centre of gravity.) Installed later this winter were a catwalk connecting the tanks and plumbing, and pumps to run the freshwater systems inside them.

Opening a chest-high sealed door in one tank, Fryxell points out a giant metal propeller inside to stir the vat's contents. "Combine beer-vat technology with your mom's Mixmaster," he quips. That door will also allow workers to slip inside the empty tank for cleaning or maintenance. In addition, the tanks have a self-cleaning system that con-

16

THE PORTICO

the company - he was previously brewmaster for an eight-year stretch - Bellman knows all about designing brewing tanks (although adding growth lights at the top of the vat was a new twist).

Speaking of the beer-brewing operation, he says: "We have to provide an optimal environment for our yeast organisms so they ferment and metabolize at the proper temperature and conditions" - something not far off the idea of a limnotro n. Bellman ended up reviewing the researchers' plans and offering advice. He also hooked up the team with a Quebec supplier that made the tanks.

Eyeing a tank in the new BIO space, Fryxell says: "This is a modified beer-vat design.

Running a beer operation is like running an ecosystem.."

A series of portholes down the side of each tank will allow researchers to pull out samples from the top to the bottom of their "lake in a vat." A quick glance at a water san1ple might disappoint a casual visitor looking for something exotic. It'll be mostly, well, water. But then Fryxell points out yo u wouldn't exactly find your bucket teeming with fish if yo u simply dipped it into, say, Lake Sin1coe. What's important is what you can't see: the teeming populations of critters that become visible only under a microscope.

T hink algae, bacteria and other invertebrates such as copepods (mini-crustaceans with legs like oars) or rotifers (creatures whose heads

bear rings of beating hairs that look like spinning wheels).Although the l.imnotron co uld eventually support larger invertebrates and even fish, the scientists plan to start out small, in both critter size and model complexity.

But even with only a few populations of tiny organisms, the Guelph researchers expect to learn a lot about prey-predator relationships and other aspects of ecosystems. By observing their "world in a vat" and using sophisticated mathematical models of ecosystem dynamics, they hope to understand inore about how those relationships work and change. Ecologists have long studied those ideas in the field, but there remain huge gaps in our understanding of nature's workings, says McCann.

Take food webs. Experts have long believed that webs with lots of species are inherently more stable - more able to withstand and recover from disruptions - than less diverse systems. But McCann says that scenario contains plenty of unknowns. How big does an ecosystem have to be? Which comes first: diversity or stabili ty? Are large ecosystems more stable because they're big or because they're more diverse? Besides providing more information abo ut those systems, the answers can help us better understand our own impacts. In a study published two years ago in Nature, he and his colleagues found that top predators in a complex ecosystem - the animals most threatened by human activity - are most important in holding that food web together, or in destroying it. Fish the oceans clean of tuna and you affect not only their prey species but everything else down to phytoplankton as well. Speaking in 2006 about their st udy, Rooney said :"It indicates that top predators keep food webs in check and that if you remove them, the systems w ill unravel."

Fryxell has looked at the same kinds of questions by studying lions and w ildebeest on Africa's Serengeti Plain. He has found that ecosystem stability depends on animals' social groupings. Drawing on decades of observations of prey-predator interaction, he and his international colleagues effectively overturned a nearly century-old model that ignores social groups, assmning instead that predator and prey individuals are evenly spaced over the landscape. In their paper published in Nature last year, the scientists explained that understanding group dynam-

ics rather than indi viduals alo ne is most important in d etermining interactions between hunters and hu nted. And that's useful to know in understanding the effect of humans - the m os t social of predators on those systems and the need to curb activities that disrupt animals' social stru ctures .

"Anything that tends to fragment aggregates of animals could work against the protec tion that group fo rmati on provides, threa tening th e stability of th e w hole fo od web," says Fryxell.

It rnight seem like a long way from ocean tuna and Serengeti lions to mostly invisible inve rteb rates swimming in a va t of fres h water. But the resea rchers say th ere's a lo t to lea rn from simple systems that may apply to macro-world interacti ons. Besides, for all its benefits, fieldwork takes place in messy realwo rld conditio ns that m ake it diffi cult for resea rchers to run uncl uttered experi1T1ents or to alter variables in a systemati c way. Ask Prof. Karl C ottenie, Integrative Biology, w ho has studied kelp fo res ts in California and is now looking at po nd zoo plankton in the Canadian tundra. "Yo u ca n't co ntrol everytlung,'' he says, referring to varying field co nditions that may play havoc with th e most ca refull y designed experiment. Alth o ugh most of !us early work will take place in th e N ortl1, he expects to use tl1e limnotron eventu ally to complement th ose studi es .

In a se nse, th e new fa cility w ill give ecologists a way to brin g th e fi eld into the lab. Call it a "wa ter-world " ve rsion o f th e co ntrolled-enviro nment growth chamb ers nearby in tl1e Bovey Building or atop U of G's new science co mpl ex . In th ose sys tems, researchers vary temperature, light and pressure to lea rn abo ut land plants grow n in anything from ea rthbo und g ree nh ouses to food-produ cti on systems fo r a potential Mars colony. In the limn otro n, scientists w ill be able to co ntrol co nditi o ns for temperature, light, acidity, salinity and other aquatic factors.

So phisti ca ted temp era ture co ntrols, fo r example, will all ow them to n'lin'lic real- life conditions that occ ur in lakes, right down to making a therm ocline - a warm-cool dividing line in th e wa ter column .

Lynn plans to stu dy co mmmuties of bacteria and fla gellates and ciliates (single- celled creatures with w hips and hai rs). "We've built the l.imnotron so we can pe1fo rm e>..'}Jeriments on ecosystems tl1at approach in size real-world

systems, but at the same time ones tl1at we can co ntrol in relation to the physical variables influ encing them - light, hea t, nutrient inpu ts," he says. "The research will touch the world outside ilie campus by giving us insights into the fac tors that control the functioning of aquatic food webs. It w ill enable us to test conclusions of how natural ecosystems nught fi.mcti on that were previously based on field obse rvations and experiments."

T hat m akes sens e for ciliates living in water. But w hy wo uld the limnotron draw Klironomos, who holds ilie Canada Research C hair in So il Biology? U sing mostly old fi elds, far ms and fo res ts, he studies fungi below gro und that affect plant populations.

H e explains that it's the basic qu estions about dive rsity and fo o d webs that matter, not w here th e system exists. "We still don't un de rstand how terres tri al and aquatic ecosys tems wo rk," he says, addin g th at the l.inmotron makes sense for Guelph, given the University's long-standing research strengths in aquatic ecology. "Most ecologists are interested in in fo rmati o n that's transferable."

Besides lea rning more about how things wo rk in nature, the U o f G team hopes to help und erstand w hat nught happ en when

land o r in the water - will form the basis fo r any resource managem ent or environmental decisions we make outside those vats.

M cCann nods, adding that he hopes th e l.imnotron will help m1derline ilie benefi ts we gain from o ur natural life-supp o rt system .

Think about clean air and wa ter. Consider how nature detoxifies and decomposes waste

LIMNOTRON TRIVIA: Inside each tank 1s a giant metal propeller to create underwater currents.

th ey do n't wo rk , o r wh en system s brea k down und er such things as pollutants, in vasive species or climate change. In the linmo tron va ts, they ca n warm o r cool the wa ter, add carbon di oxide, inj ec t different nutri ents, alter "seasons" or introdu ce inva ders. "This happens around us all the time, and we lea rn inadvertently," says Fryxell . " We ca n pre-empt nega tive experi ence."

Fru stration edges his vo ice as he talks abo ut how little we really kn ow about basic natural processes, a gap th at too often leads to nusguided attempts to manage nature. By now, he says, we sho uld be improving our predictions and designi ng better experiments w hose results can help guide public debate and policy-m aking. Kliro nomos says identifying the factors that drive ecosystems - on

material, and how the Earth's sys tems regul ate climate, regenerate soil fe rtility and produce all that biodiversity in th e fir st place. We m ay no t thi n k abo ut them mu ch, he says . Th ere's no market fo r trading these serv ices - "ecosystem servi ces" in ec o-parlan ce th ese days - but th ey 're vital commodi ties all the sa m e.

M ay be, says M cCann , th e n ew U o f G fac ili ty w ill help us start to put a price tag o n so m e of thos e se rv ices, a step toward helping us better preserve and manage Limnotron Earth. •

Sununer 2008 17

Story by Rebecca Kendall E I SN'T TRYING to change the laws of physics, but Mats Selen is certainly trying to change the way it's taught. For the past 15 years, this University of Illinois professor has been developing new ways to engage people of all ages with physics .

Teaching was the furthest thing from Selen 's 1nind when he came to U of G in his first yea r, and physics wasn't even on his radar. He knew he liked science, had taken some chemistry co urses in hi gh sc hool and thought ve terinar y m ed icin e mi ght be a good fi eld to pursue. This plan was shortlived, however, after he enrolled in first-year zoology and soo n reali zed that m emorization wasn't one of his stron g suits. He bega n to reconsider his options an d sea rch for something he could excel in. Selen says Prof.

Jac k M acDo nald, then chair of the D epartment of Physics, helped him find that. " H e's th e reason I'm in phys ics," adds Selen. " H e was a rea ll y g rea t teacher, and that's what 1 think made m e interes ted in teach ing, too.With physics I didn 't have to m emori ze anythin g. Any g ive n top ic in physics is usua ll y bu il t o n o ne or two key co ncepts from which the rest just sort offollows. It's logical." It vv.1s also logical for MacDonald to hire him in the summ er of 1979 to help crea te some of the electroni c co mponents for th e ph ysicist's researc h lab.

Selen also praises retired physics professor Inn es MacKenzie for inspiring his interests in learning and teaching, and with these two G uelph m ento rs, he co mp leted an und erg rad uate degree in 1982 and a master's degree in 1983, fo llowed by a PhD at Princeton University in N ew Jersey.

Now at the University of Illino is at Urbana-Champaign (U IU C), Selen runs a research lab related to particle physics and cosmology. Ultimately, though, teaching is where his heart is, and this co mmitm ent has been recognized throu gh a numb er of teac hing awards from U l UC for his work on camp us.

H e developed" Ph ys ics 123," a course designed for stud en ts in U IUC's teac hertra.ining program. Teaching future edu cators how to foster a love of science an d tec hnology in children is imp o rtant, he says.

C hildren are born w ith a natural sense of curiosity and often have a strong interest in

H

18

TH E

P o 1n rco

* In Star Trek Episode 7, Season 1, Scotty displays a stroke of genius, when he is able to change the laws of physics in under an hour to save the science in elem entary school, but in many cases, this interest drops when puberty hits.

It doesn't help that som e teachers make science and physics boring and harder than it needs to be beca use they don 't know how to teach th e m aterial well, says Selen. This results in stud ents hating science.

"The key to increasing the number of scientists and engineers is to offer kids a better e::qJerience," he says.

no t all a bun ch of we ird w hite guys w ith funny hair."

In addition, he's been bringing physics into the homes of earl y risers in the Urbana area as the host of Whys C11y, a weekly television spot that has aired for six yea rs on W C IA's Mol'lli11g Show.What bega n as a one-time booking to discuss the laws of physics on Galileo's birth-

Enterprise and its crew, but not before declaring to Capt. Kirk: "Ya can't change the laws of physics! I've got to have thirty minutes!"

Selen has bee n crea tin g bette r ex peri en ces sin ce 199 4 usin g th e Ph ysics Van , a travelli ng science show th at uses university stud ents to run experim ents and lead ac tivities in assembly-style fas hi o n. " We do big, n oisy, messy stu ff, and th e kids just love it," he says. " It's impo rtant to find ways to make kids remember w hat they saw, show them that stud ents w ho do science are cool and remind th em that we're

day quickly grew into a weekl y gig for Selen. " I've bee n th ere so lo ng, I've o utl as ted eve ry one of their newscas ters," he says .

H e's eve n reac hin g no rth of the bo rd er through the i>clicker, a hand- held device he helped develo p at lllin o is. For mally called audi ence in- class respo nse systems, cli ckers have rece ntly bee n adopted fo r in- class use

by U o f G and a number o f oth er Ontari o universities.They're used in a number of ways: to po ll stud ent opini o ns, as a fo rm o f pee r teac hing, to help th e instru cto r determin e whether key concepts are being understood, and in some cases, as an in-class grading tool.

"The best way to teach in big lectures is to get students involved in the classroom;' says Sclen. "The idea is to ask them a question, discuss it and have them vote on the answer. For yea rs I had them raising th eir hands or cards with A, B or C written on th em. This never reall y worked all that well beca use l couldn 't keep track and stud ents co uldn 't answe r anonymo usly. The tec hn ology we use in th e i>clicker is simple, and th at's th e best part. It can be used straight out of th e box."

B esides being a p ro ud entrepreneur, as well as a husband and fa th er o f fo ur, Selen takes pride in simpl y kn owing th at people think he's a good teac her. " It makes me feel like I'm doing something good in the world.

I really want to give kudos to Jack and lrmes for being the grea t guys th at th ey are.When I was a student and still we t behind th e ears, I could tell they liked me and cared whether I di d well or no t, and th at made a hu ge diffe rence to me. An y measure of success I've had is beca use of th em, and I try to emulate th eir approaches to teac hin g and research."

He says it's been years since he's been in touch with M acDonald, wh o now lives in N ew Z ealand , but he ran into M ac Kenzie last year w hil e visiting U o f G. " H e's still as acti ve as ever," says Selen. "Every once in a w hil e I'll get a hand- w ritten letter w here he's outlining some grea t new idea he's had.

He's just brilliant and always has been. H e's such an inspiratio n to me." •

Summer 2008 19

Noone understands the challenges of becoming a veterinarian better than the graduates of ave ... and no one makes a better mentor for current students Story by Barry Gunn

20

THE PORTI C O

E

ach September, about 110 hi ghly accomplished and enthusiasti c stud ents are welcom ed to th e Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) and into the veterin ary pro fessio n at a ce remo ny held before fri ends and fa mjl y gath ered in War M emori al H all.

Beaming with pride as they receive their stethoscopes and signature blue lab coats their dreams coming to fruiti on after years of effort - few can truly appreciate that getting into veterinary scho ol was perhaps the easy part.Thriving in th e four-year DVM program - well, th at can be something else entirely.

Fo rtunately, OVC stude nts have access to a lot of help - not just from fac ul ry and taff, but also fro m alumni wh o volunteer th eir time in a va ri ery o f ways. Fro m teachin g and coac hin g in th e " Art ofVeterin ary M edi cine" co urses to building o ne-on-one relatioruhips as mentors, alumru provide students v.rith a lifeline to th e outside world.

"They've bee n throu gh similar experiences . They may have eve n taken the sam e classes with the sam e professo rs," says Peter Conlon, OVC's assistant dean of student affairs.

"They can offer advi ce that's based on empathy and grounded in real -world experi ence."

Alumni volunteer as mentors in a variery of ways that take into account their avaiJabi Ii ry and interes ts, fro m o fferin g ca ree r advice via e-mail to providing j ob shadowing opportunities to stud ents, to maintaining regular contact as practi ce- gro up m entors assign ed to a gro up o f stud ents.

Life inside the OVC bubble is an intense and intensi ve existence. The ry pi cal wo rk wee k of a first-yea r DVM student involves about 24 hours of class and lab time compared to 15 hours for most full-tim e

undergradua te smdents rakjng five co urses - and they're expected ro pend at least an hour hitting the books for eac h hour of classroom instruction, says C onlon.

On top of that, there are virtually endless opportunities for college-related volunteer and extracurri cular ac tivities . And th e wo rkl oad increases over four years until they

Summer 2008 21

j o in th e ranks o f th e ro ughl y 10,000 w ho have gradu ated fro m OVC since 1862.

So perhaps th e mentors' most important co ntributi o n is reminding stud ents th ere i life o utside of ve t sc hool. " I think l o ffer students a window into th e ' rea l wo rld ' o utsid e OV C as well as a pro fe ssio nal co ntact they kn ow will always b e ava ilabl e fo r t hem," says Kim Pascos, DVM '99, w ho has been a practi ce-group mento r sin ce 2005. " I fe lt it was a great oppo rtunity to ge t invo lved w ith OV , to make new co nta cts and to renew old ones. I am fommate; the snidents I am working with are incredibly di\路er.e. interesting and highly motivated indi\路idual :路 Practi ce- group m entors are draw n fu. 111 th e ranks o f rece nt gradu ate \\ 1th111 th路 last seven yea rs) and assigned co a _roup of approximately ni ne first- Ye tr ud nc wi th wh o m th ey remain in coma c th ughom th eir fo ur years at the oil .! l'rJc ti cegro up m entors mu c c mmlt co regul ar co ntac t, m ostl y b\ e-111;11). and meet faceto-face with th eir ;ro 1 at ann ual di nn ers and as ti me allow .

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pl y accepting th at one ca n't possibl y lea rn everythin g - a di fficult ad.mission for some. " N ow we're at th e po in t w here she is g iving mo re li fe advice," said Parr. "Kim's no t ve ry long o ut of th e program so she re m emb ers th e stress of it all. She's been trem end o us th at way. She's in tune with

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" Wh at is rewa rdin g fo r m e is I fee l in vo lve d in th eir p rog ram ," says Pascos, "guidin g th em and enco uragin g th em , to sec eac h of th em emerge with new co nfi dence aft er eac h se1nester."

O ften the biggest challenge is opening th e lin es o f co mmuni catio n, and keeping th em ope n.The students are typically high ac hi evers who may be reluctant to adm it when they need help and w hose program is highly regimented.They can look at their schedules and kn ow what th ey'll be doing virtuall y eve ry ho ur of every day until th e end o f the yea r. " [ find it important to tou ch base w heneve r pos ibl e to try to provid e a fo rum of di scu ssio n th at is rewa rding fo r eve r yo ne w itho ut being overw helm.ing," says Pascos .

Third-year student Jaq ueline Parr says the nature of th eir relationship has evolved since she first met Pascos in 2005. During first and seco nd yea r, th ere was a lo t of aca demi c advice, like how to cope wi th th e first " bell rin ger" exa m (testing in a lab setti ng where students move fro m station to station answering questi ons within a lim.ited tim e) o r sim-

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what stud ents are up to."

For Tony Mu tsaers, DVM '97, and a PhD ca ndidate in medi cal biophysics at th e University ofTo ronto, the challenge has been to co nn ec t w ith stud e nts w ho te nd to be fo cused on clini cal practi ce rath er than ca ree rs in resea rch o r aca demi a. A ca nce r resea rcher wh o also wo rks o ne day a week in th e oncology service at th e O VC Teachin g H os pital, Mutsaers w ill be amo ng th e first mentors to wo rk with th e same student gro up fro m frosh yea r to graduati o n. " l did e mph asize fro m th e start th at if this program was mea nt to introduce a realwo rld perspective to th e students, l may be one of the farth est from th e real world that yo u could get,'' says M utsaers, w ho hopes to wrap up his PhD in th e fall o f 2008 . " !jo ked w ith th e stud e nts at o ur fir st mee tin g that it was go in g to be a race be twee n them and me to see w ho fini shed first. H o nestly, l tho ught I'd bea t th em. But I didn 't because they fini shed in April ."

Phil Meadows, DVM '01, became a prac-

helping his juni or coll eagues network with m embers o f th e professio n to staying current w ith developm ents at O VC. "I offer an car to listen, and in the process I learn how to help th em achi eve th eir academi c and professio nal goals," says M eadows, a dairy health manage ment specialist and partn er in a mi xed-a nimal prac ti ce in south western Ontari o.

"They didn 't have anything like this when l wa in vet school. I made it happen on my own by spending tim e durin g holidays and eve n skipping th e odd sc hool day to spend o n th e road w ith area bovin e ve terin arians w ho all mentored me by so me degree."

Fo r third -yea r DVM stud ent Mi chae l Kim, it too k a w hile to recogni ze th e valu e o f w hat M eadows had to offer.

'Tm seein g th e benefits m o re as I go throu gh th e prog ram and recogni ze that som e of the thin gs Ph.ii has been saying since we we re in fir st yea r are now co min g to fruiti on. Th ere's pl en ty o f supp ort wi thin OV C o n th e aca demic side," he says. '¡The mentors show you the perspective from outside the campus enviroru11ent." â&#x20AC;˘

Surruner 2008 23

Alumni Achievements

Events

uof guelph Share of heart comes first

"G

o rd was o ne of th e fundamental movers and shakers of th e Uni versity. Without his dri ve and pass io n, we wo uld be a very different place."

Those words from U of G President Alastair Summerl ee mi ght be applied to a numb er of peo pl e who helped shape the University of Guelph.

But th e late Go rd o n Ni xo n was certainl y o ne of th e most ico ni c. "Well known on campus for seven decades, he was an inspiration to seve ral generations of stud ents, staff, fac ulty and alumni," says Sun1111erlee.

Even today, many stud ents and recent grads will recognize his name, his photo and his reputation as a quintessential Gu elph g radu ate. Do ze ns of students benefit eac h year from th e Go rdon Nixo n Leadership Awards.

Established by an alumni advisory council more th an 10 yea rs ago, th e cash awards are prese nted annually to help fond student organizations and projects that encourage campus participation.

Nixon graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College in 1937 and spent most of his care er workin g for th e Lightning Fastener Co. Ltd. Ni xon travelled a grea t deal for his employer.

In each city he visited, his evenings

were often spent on th e phone talking to other OAC gradu ates . " That was Gord 's way of staying connected with other aggies and making sure th ey knew that their alma mater valu ed th eir invol ve ment," says Paulette Samson, director of OAC advan cement.

She knew N ixo n for more th an 30 yea rs, and says his motto as a volunteer for both OAC and the University of Guelph was always "share of heart comes before share of purse. Gord followed that principle thro ughout his long association \vi th th e campus," says Samson.

Nixon was a past-president of th e OAC Alumni Asso ciation (OACAA) and former chair of the OAC Alumni Foundation , on whi ch he acti ve ly served as honorary chair until his death Feb. 9. The found ation has established

Gord Nixon in 2007, left , and signing the UGAA constitution in 1968

th e Gordon Nixon Teaching Trust and invites fri ends to remember him with a donation to the trust fund.

As president of OACAA, Nixon led th e effo rt to bring together alumni fro m OAC, the Ontari o Veterin ary College and Macdonald Institute after th e University was established in 196-J..

H e was elec ted the first presid ent of the Uruversity of Guelph Alumni Association (U GAA) and is show n in the acc ompanying photo signin g th e UGAA constitution in 1968.

UGAA president Trish Walker says : " Th e Uni ve rsity of Gu elph Alumni Associati on was bo rn with more than 10,000 members, and Gord was key to

UGAA rewards excellence AC H YE AR

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24

outstanding alumni. The 2008 recipients are: Alumnus of H o nour - Jeff Lozon, BA '76, a m ember of the Unive rsity's Boa rd of Governors and president and CEO of St. Michael's H ospital in Toronto.

Alumni M edal of Achievement - Mick Bhati a, PhD '95, a professo r at M cM as ter University and a recogni zed leader in the field of hum an hematopoietic stem cell bi ol-

TH E PORTICO

ogy and embryoni c stem cells.

Alumni Voluntee r Awa rd Terence Rot hwell , B.Sc. (Eng.) '75 and M. Sc. '96, president of Agri cultu re and Energy Engin eering.

These awa rd winn ers w ill be recogni zed at th e President's Lunch, June 21, during Alunmi Wee kend.

ASSOCIATION

I

Networking U OF G ALUMNI ASSOCIATION alumni@uoguelph.ca

winning their support and reininding the organization of its central mission to engage Guelph alumni in the life and future of the University."

The list of awards Nixon received attests to the amount of work he did on behalf of his aL1u mater: • OAC Centennial Medal, 197 4 • Alumnus of Honour, 1978 • Alumni Volunteer Award, 1994 Member, Heritage Fund Board of Trustees • Lincom Alexander Medal of Distinguished Service, 2000 • Order of OAC, 2002 Guelph was always in his heart. It was on campus that he met the late Joan Nixon, DHE '36 . Their daughters, Nancy Nixon, BA '70, and Catherine Jane McCall um, BA '73, are

BREAKFAST WITH THE BEST om Sawyer, ADA '59 and BSA

T

'64 , chats with student Marijke

Van Andel Feb. 14, when the OAC Alumni Association and the Canadian

Guelph graduates. So are Gord Nixon's son-in-law, Don McCall um, B.Sc.(Agr.) '72; his sister, Mary Walters, DHE '38; and two of his three grandchildren .

Nixon also shared his heart with young people through more than 50 years of service to the 4-H movement; he was a past-president of the Canadian 4-H Foundation. His church in St. Catharines, Ont. , and the Gyro and Kiwanis Central clubs also benefited fron1 his experience, as did the St. Catharines Chamber of Commerce.

One of Nixon's closest friends, Marion Park, accompanied him to campus in 2007 when he was recogn ized as honorary chair of Alumn i Weekend.

The designation was more than a symbolic gesture to NL"XOn, who despite his 92 years, took an active role in planning the event and considered it one more way to strengthen the University's connection with its alumni.

"Gord Nixon wi ll always be an inspiration to his fellow alumni and to University staff," says Joanne Shoveller, vice-president (a lumni affairs and development). "His 70-year conunitment to the University was outstanding, reflected by many other alumni who continue to emulate his spirit and his passion for the University. [ believe he saw U of G as a condu it to the development of young people as capable and caring citizens."

ALUMNI AFFAIRS AND DEVELOPMENT Joanne Shoveller, Vice-President I jshovell@uoguelph.ca Jason Moreton, Director, Alumni Affairs I jmoreton@uoguelph.ca Celeste Bannon Waterman, Director Central Services I cbannon@uoguelph.ca ALUMNI OPPORTUNITIES Alumni Chapters, CME Mary Feldskov I mfeldsko@uoguelph.ca Students and Young Alumni , Arts I Mary-Anne Moroz I mamoroz@uoguelph.ca CBS, CPES, Athletics Sam Kosakowski I skosakow@uoguelph.ca OAC, CSAHS Vikki Tremblay I vtremblay@uoguelph.ca OVC I Kim Robinson I krobin01@uoguelph.ca Alumni Online Community www.olcnetwork.net/uoguelph Events & Communications Wendy Jespersen I wjespers@uoguelph .ca Grad News Updates alumnirecords@uoguelph.ca ALUMNI GIVING Arts I Chuck Ferguson I cferguso@uoguelph.ca Athletics I Gail Kendall I gkendall@uoguelph.ca CBS/CPES I Richard Manning I rmanning@uoguelph.ca CME I Jennifer Barrett I jebarret@uoguelph.ca CSAHS I Karen Bertrand I karenber@uoguelph.ca Library I Lynn Campbell I lynn.campbell@uoguelph.ca OAC I Paulette Samson I psamson@uoguelph.ca OVC I Stephen Woeller I swoeller@uoguelph.ca THE PORTICO Mary Dickieson, Editor I m.dickieson@exec.uoguelph.ca Online edition I www.uoguelph.ca/theportico

Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow hosted a breakfast meeting for industry professionals and students.

U OF G CONTACTS www.uoguelph.ca 519-824-4120

Sununer 2008 25

u of g

alumni matters

UGAA reports on alumni survey o help se t the future directio n of its program s, th e Unive rsity of G uelph Almnni Association (U GAA) launched a web-base d survey to its alunmi .Almost 1,800 alumni responded to questi ons abo ut U GAA affinity progra111s, services and conrnmnica tions.

The U GAA board of direc tors will incorporate the survey results into its planning, and president Trish Walker is already smiling beca use 90 per cent of those who respond ed gave a thumbs-up to U GAA's top prioriti es : p rovide oppo rtuniti es for alumni to reco nn ec t; enhance U o f G's profile; and celebrate alumni achievem ents.

U G AA 's goal to fos ter stud ent/alunmi interac ti o n received a vo te o f co nfidence from more than 77 per cent of respondents.

"We're thrilled to know th at we're o n th e ri ght track," says Walker. "T he survey res ults will help us decide w here to put o ur g rea tes t effort and whi ch prog rams sho uld be evaluated."

U GAA will also be looking closely at the activities whi ch received the highest interest ratings. Homecoming, College R oyal and class reunions have been most often attended by those who responded to the survey.

"These results suggest that our alumni are interes ted in ac tiviti es w hi ch help alumni stay in to uch with on e anoth er, especiall y eve nts held on ca mpu s," says Jason Moreton, director of alumni affairs.

H e notes that more th an 60 per cent of

T

the respondents were interested in opportuniti es for professio nal develop m ent , edu cational eve nts, hea rin g fac ul ty and off- campus speakers, and networking.

The survey also shows that continuing edu ca tion courses and th e onlin e community are am ong the servi ces that alumni are m os t likely to use.

Considering that 45 per cent of the survey respondents were under the age of 45 , Guelph professor Sean Lyons (see story on page lO) mi ght suggest th ese preferences are a G eneration X chara cteristic, says Moreton, " but they certainly fit with U of G efforts to m aintain connec tions with alumni and promote lifelong learnin g. It's important information to help both UGAA and the D epartment of Alumni Affairs and D evelopment with future programming."

H ow w ill we le t grads know about future eve nts? More th an 90 per ce nt of the survey respondents say they are most likely to read The Portico and the monthly A lumni E-News. Th e Portico is mailed to all alumni for whom we have a current address . If you want to receive the electroni c newsletter, send your e-mail address to alumnirecords@uogu elph. ca .

Fo r information on the online community, go to www.alumni.uoguelph.ca/ services/services_benefits_olc. More results from the UGAA alumni survey are available in The Portico online edition: www. uoguelph.ca/ th eportico.

Alumni Weekend

I

T'S WOND ERF UL to see so many reuni on celebrations taking place during Alumni Weekend. The importance of reco nn ecting with former classmates and yo ur alma mater is echoed in th e th em e for this yea r's celebrati o ns - " A C onnectio n th at Matters." With m ore than 30 classes j o inin g th e Alumni Wee kend fes ti vities, th e level of parti cipatio n signifies the importance of re-establishing and maintaining th e fri endships that were made at th e Uni versity o f Gu elph.Welco me bac k to campus.

J OANNE SH OVELL ER VI CE-PR ES ID ENT AL UMNI AFFArRS AND D EVELOP MEN T

HAFA/HTM grads look ahead HE HA FA/HT M Alumni Associati on is looking ahead to the 40th anni versary of the School of H ospitality and To urism M anage m ent (fo rmerly HAFA ) in 2 009. Alumni are inv it ed to participate in plannin g events and fundraising activities. For more information, contact H eidi Wilker at hw ilker@ blessedevents.ca or visit the school website at www. htm.uoguelph.ca.

M aking the connection with future alumni, th e association hosted a career night Jan. 22 at PJ's Restaurant. It was a great night fo r information sharing.

T Lockyer lectures at U of G AMES LOCKYER, fo und er of th e Association in Defence of the W rongly Co nvicted , was the guest spea ker in a political science lecture series launched Jan. 9 at U of G. Lockyer has bee n invo lved in a nu mb er of hi gh-profil e wro ngful co nviction cases and is on e of Canada's m ost prominent lawyers and advocates fo r justice.

H e drew a full house of Guelph stud ents, alumni and community m embers.

J

26 T HE PO RTICO

Make A Connection that Matters at Alumni Weekend June 20 and 21 This year's Alumni Weekend theme is "A Connection that Matters." Many, if not all of us, have a connection with our alma mater -

a University

that continues to change lives and improve life.

We are all looking forward to reconnecting with friends and fellow alumni to rekindle n1emories of the time spent at Guelph and how the experience has changed our lives! I look forward to seeing everyone in June.

WILLIAM BROCK, BSA '58, HON. FELLOW '98, LLD '02, HONORARY CHAIR OF ALUMNI WEEKEND

I

HE OAVC R ED MEN celebrated some of Guelph' greatest athl etic success in 1958 and 1959. C hampionships were won in senior and inter mediate soccer, cross-co untry, tra ck and field, ru gby and archery. The ho ckey, footbal l, basketball and wrestling R edmen also experienced a great deal of success during th ose yea rs. Now, 50 years later, th ei r successes w ill be celebrated by the Depa rtm ent of Athletics this fa ll .

T

The Mooney Years The 1958 and 1959 seasons were memorable for th e OAVC football, basketball and wrestling teams. Their success was du e largely to the leadership of coach Tom Mooney.

H e led th e football team to championships in bo th yea rs and th e bas ketb a!J tea m to a championship in 1959. The w restlin g team also fini shed second ove rall at th e M cG ill se ni or tournament and first in th e Western

tiers intermediate finals in 1958.

"Mooney's legacy may well be that he took charge of a small band of student athletes and demonstrated what determination , teamwork and hard work can do to achieve a co mmon goal - lessons that many of his playe rs li ve o ut to this day," says H arold Grunau, who wrestled and played foo tball under M ooney.

Pl ans are under way to celebrate th e "Mooney Yea rs" at Homecoming Weekend, Sept. 19 and 20. The 1958 football team will celebrate th e 5oth anniversary of their champion ship at a Friday night reception following the Hall of Fame dinner. On Homeco min g Saturday, former athletes, staff and fri ends from th e 1956-1961 era of football, basketball and wrestlin g ,.yj]] honor M oo ney at a breakfast before heading to tl1e Gryphon ga me aga inst McMaster at 1 p.111.

Hockey greats The OAVC hockey tea m skated to a ninewin, one-ti e record in 1958. Coached by Al Singleton, th e team was crowned provincial champi on fo r th e first time in history.

"Coach Singleton was a gentleman , and he knew his hockey,'' says Tom awyer, ADA '59 and BSA '64, a fo rmer team member and one of several alumni co-ordinating the hockey reunion. "You wanted to play for him."

Th ere we re several factors co ntributing to the tea m 's success, including gritty play and th e effort of goa lie George Irving, DVM '59 , a fourth -year ve t tud ent at the tim e. "Yo u kn ew yo u co uld ga mble o n defense," says Sav.ryer, " beca use we had one of the best goa lies aro und to back us up."

M ost of the team's 22 players will attend a U of G reunion Nov. 15 to celebrate th e 50th anniversa ry of th eir championship.

Lasting legacies Director of athleti cs Tom Kendall is enthusiastic about the reunion ac ti vity: "T hese tremendous tea ms and coaches have left a legacy of exce!Jence on which the Gryphon traditions are built. They established a foundation for the building of great varsity tean1S that fo llowed them, an d they will always be remembered for their commianent and loyalty to Guelph 's athletics program s."

â&#x20AC;˘

Life Experiences

uofg COMING EVENTS

From frosh to OAC legends

Rick Richards

S

EVENT Y YE AR S S I NCE th eir graduation from the Ontari o Agri cultural College, the C lass of 1938 w ill ga ther Jun e 21 fo r Alumni Weekend and a reunion celebrati on. Former O AC dean Ri ck Ri chards remembers th eir first days on campus in 1934 when th e world seemed to revolve around the large personahti es of then O AC president George C hristie, registrar Archi e Porter and Dick Sands, who was dea n of men. Little did th ey realize how impo rtam th eir fres hm.an class wo uld be to the development of the college, th e Un ive rsity and Ca nadi an ag ri culture.

T he class in cl ud ed several future G uelph professo rs and depa rtm en t heads, incl uding Ri chards and Frank C hase, bac teriology pro fesso r in th e Departm ent o f Pathobiology. O thers w ho contributed to th e agri-food indu str y we re R o bert Ga ult, m anage r of th e D airy Farmer's of O ntario; Angus Ada ms, a resea rch scientist at Vineland; Tho mas B urn ett, a resea rch scientist with th e Ag ric ul ture Ca nada Central Experim ental Farm, and William Grierso n, professo r emeritus of th e Unive rsity of Florida.

"We did not kn ow how we would be a part of and co ntribute to the grow th and developme nt of o ur beloved alma mater and to ag r ic ulture at ho me and abroa d," says Ri chards. " It has been said, ' th e bend in th e road is not the end of th e road unl ess you refuse to take th e turn .' OAC '38 has been part of ma ny turns, such as helping to purchase Tom.T hompson's The Drive and oth er paintings for the U niversity collection."

Sept. 5 â&#x20AC;˘

N ot all of R..i chards' classmates turn ed to ca ree rs in agriculture. M any j o ined tl1e military and contributed to society in other ways, including surviving classmates Llloyd H ooper, a United C hurch minister; Lloyd Minshall, w ho taught school; G lenn Mo rtimore; and Fraser R ae, w ho was a safety director of the Mines Accident Preve nti on Associati o n.

Summer 2008 29

Hurry, Hard in Ottawa

I spent considerable vol unteer time in farm politics (OFA) with a special intere t in rural urban friction points involving soil, water, ere.''

• Gordon Heaps, OOH '68, is m anager of Ca n no r N urse ri es west of Edmonton , Alta., and breeds and grows orc hids as a hobby. One of his hybrid orchids, Tli waitesamJanet Elizabeth " Fire

The U of G Ottawa alumni chapter held a successful curling bonspiel Feb. 23 at the North Grenville Curling Club in Kemptville, with more

Fire Dancer

than 50 alumni and friends attending. The late Don Fletcher, BSA '39, was a founding member of the Ottawa c hapter, and w ith his w ife, Mary, was a strong supporter of the annual bonspiel. Their daughter, Carolyn Brown, continues the tradition by presenting the Don Fletcher Memorial Trophy to Jim Brown, BSA '53, centre, and his team -

D ance r" was chosen by Canada Post as one of four orchid stamps issued in D ec. 2007 .The photo was taken by his wife,Jan et.

mates Elwood Hodgins, Don Welbanks and Bob McAleese.

1970s 1960 •David Brewster, BA '68, is a professor of pedi atri cs at James Coo k Uni ve rsity School of M edi cine in C airn s, Australia .

H e recentl y move d there fro m th e Fiji School of M edicin e in Suva, where he was dea n.

• Margeree Edwards, B.H.Sc. '64, spurred develo pment of a we b- base d im age bank call ed Gree n Im ages of Canada th at provides environmental, ecological and nature photography for the corporate and non-profi t sectors. She we nt o n aft er Guelph to earn a PhD and later spent 15 years wo rking as a consultant in social marketin g and conununicatio n for health and environment cli ents. Sh e lives in Peterborough, Ont. • Gordon Garlough, BSA, '64, wrote to say that he appreciated th e story abo ut Doug

30

TH E P O RTI CO

Hoffm an, BSA ' 46 and MSA '49, that appea red in the Winter 2008 Portico in a fea ture ca ll ed " A C ampu s on th e M arch." Garl o ugh writes : " In my und ergrad yea rs, D o ug Hoffinan was in the (then new) Soil Science D epartment headed by B. C. M atth ews. Then in th e summ er of 1962, I was fortun ate enough to find summer empl oymeht with the federalprovincial prog ram. that came up w ith th e Canada Land Inventory, a soil capability classification system that is still used, in a modified form , to evaluate the agricultural potential for soil regions. Doug Hoffinan was our boss, but he was as well a teacher and mentor." Garlough also went on to soil sc ience teac hing, th en dairy fannin g.

H e says h e is now " mostly " retired. " In my farnun g career,

•David Beckerson, B.Sc.(Agr.) '76 and M .Sc. '79, heads th e Bec kerson Group in Gu elph , consultants in marketin g, communi cations and fondraisi11g. H e ays: "Life has bee n grand since gradu ating from U of G. There are always the ups and downs, of course, but ove rall w hat a ride."

H e spent many years working in Africa and India + th th e UN Food and Agri culture Organization and other internation al development agencies, then started a consulting company 13 yea rs ago. "I have been blessed workin g and trave lling all over C anada and the world thanks to U of G. Time goes so fast. I am now a grandfather of D ani elle, w ho turned three in D ecember 2007. She is my angel."

•Jerry Bouma, M.Sc. '77, was rece ntl y elected fo r a t\vo- yea r term as president of the N orthlands Boa rd of Di recto rs. T his

volunteer position continues !us co mnutment to N o rthlands as an active volunteer since 1993 .

The non-profit organi zation is o ne of th e largest empl oyers in E dmonton, Alta., with 300 full time and 1,800 part- time staff.

Add more than 900 voluntee rs, and you have the reaso n Northlands can pull off Edmonton 's biggest eve nts, attractin g m o re than four miUio n vi itors every yea r. " Think C anadian Finals Rodeo, Farmfair Intern ational, Edmo nton 's Ca pital EX, th e bes t of horse ra cing, th e Edmo nton Oil ers, hea dliner co nce rts, inte rn ati o nal eve nts and many trade shows," says Bo uma. In addition to his volun tee r pass io n , he is fo und er and se nior partn er with To1na and Bouma M anagement Co nsultants, specializing in strategic and bu siness se rvices to the agri- fo od industry.

• Holly (Jordan) Brown, B.A.Sc. '78, and Randolf Skidmore, B. Sc.(Agr) '76, met four years ago at a triathlon , and now enjoy th eir co mbin ed fanuli es, including fi ve clllidren and one grandchild. Brown is a diabetes edu cator in Orilli a, Ont., and just fini shed a five-yea r vo lunteer positi o n with th e Ca nadian Diabetes Association 's nutr iti o n sub-conunittee, helping to develop the "Beyond tl1e Basics" edu cation materi al. T he working group received th e Frederick Banting Award for 2007. She also works for Primacy's H ealthy Living prog ram found in grocery stores. Skidmore owm alld operates Musko ka Lakes C o nstru cti o n , w hi ch has bee n in business fo r nearly 30 years: cottagebuilddesign .ca .

• Richard Burgis, B. Sc.(Agr.) '71, is ge neral mana ger of th e Hidden Valley Golf R esort in Lethbridge, Alta. H e alld his partner, Sheron , sold the Briar Fox Golf and C ountry C lub in

B ell eville, Ont. , in Ap ril 2006 after 10 yea rs and moved to Alberta wh ere th ey had lived fro ml 976 to 1990 . "We wou ld like to hea r fro m o ur fr iends from the Uni versity and receive their updated addresses and i.ti.fo."

Contact them at lafash@telus.net.

•Jim Fraser, B.Comm . '78, says he has worked 14 yea rs in the private sector, three years selfempl oyed and 14 yea rs teachin g hi gh sc hool at lnnisdale Seco ndary School in Barri e, Ont. " Guelph prepared m e well, for w hich I am ve ry th ankful." H e says he would like to know more abo ut the co ntributio ns of th e late Stanford R eid and retired professo r M ary R ogers.

• Major General Timothy J. Grant, B.Sc. '77, began a career in th e Ca nadi an Fo rces aft e r g radu atin g fro m U o f G. Am o ng hi s no tabl e positi o ns were chi ef of staff, Land Force Western Area, and two tours in N ati onal D efense H eadquarters in th e j o int o pe rati o ns directorate. H e has commanded soldi ers fro m troop to brigade level in Ca nada, Australia and with NATO in Germany. From N ov.

2006 until Au g. 2007, he command ed all Ca nadi an forces in Afghani stan ; fo r th e last six months of this peri od, he comm and ed ta cti ca l o perations of th e Intcrnati onal Security Assistan ce Force 1n Kand ahar province. Grant is also a gradu ate of th e All arms Tactics Co urse (UK), Canadian Command and Staff College, the Ad,·anced Military rudies Course and the ational Security Studi es Co urse. H e was inves ted as an offi ce r in th e Order of Military Merit in 2003 and was prom o ted to his current rank fo llowing his tour in Afghanistan. H e ass umed th e duti es of depu ty co mmander of th e Ca nadi an Expediti o nary Command in Oct. 2007 .

•Denis Rodet, B.S c.(Ag r. ) '79, is m arri ed to Lori Bell, B.Sc.(Agr. ) '82. Th ey import yo ung War m blood horses from E urope and train them for sal e in N orth America. Horse Haven Farm spec ializes in dressage horses, hunters and jumpers.

•Donald F. Smith, DVM '74, is pro fesso r and dean emeritus at Co rn ell University in Ithaca, N.Y. In 2007, he received th e "Veterinarian of the Year Award" fro m th e N ew York State Veterinary Medi cal Society.

•Beverly MacPherson) Sommer, BA '74, is taking early reti.t-ement after 21 years as manager of heritage se rvi ces for th e C ity of Surrey, B.C. She was responsible fo r the re to rati o n of the eight buildings of th e histori c Stewa rt Farm (c 1890); the plaiming, constru cti on and opening of a new 24,000-square-foo t museum in 2005; and rece nt co nve rsion o f the 1912 Muni cipal H ali to the city archi ves building.

1980s •John Campbell, DVM '85, and D. V.Sc. '91, a professor with th e Western College o fVeterinary M edi cine's Departm ent of Large Animal C linical Sciences, has rece ive d th e 2007 C arl Bl ock Awa rd . Presented annually in ho nour of on e of th e fo und ers o f the Ca nadi an Animal Health C oalition , the award recogni zes his commitm ent to the Ca nadian livestoc k industry thro ugh ro bust animal health.

Cam pbell teac hes beef ca ttle herd health production medicine and epidemiology, he co nducts clinica l wo rk fo r beef clients in th e Saskatoon area and he is a memb er of th e coll ege's disease investiga tion team.

• Cynthia Cornacchio, PhD '87, a professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, is also a director of th e Ontari o Histori cal Society (OHS) and one of the organiz-

Don't buy, rent

0

NE 0 1' TH E GRE AT ES T

co ntributing fa cto rs to th e degenerati on of our environment is over-consun1ption, says Jordan Milne, BA '08. "We li ve in a consumer culture, w here we feel we have to own rath er than share our miff.The result of over-consumpti o n is th e exhausti o n of natural reso urces and pollution."

Milne and business partn er Michael La Fleur are trying to change that thrnugh the launch of a web- based rental netv.rork - www.therentclub.co m.

"R entin g instead ofbuyi.t1g is an exccUent first step in co nserving reso urces and building a sustainabl e eco no my," says Milne, w ho describes himself as a social entrepreneur w ho's always lookin g for ai1 idea that will improve th e way we live.

Sc hedul ed to laun ch thi s summer,www.therentclub.com will co nnect individuals, businesses and charities . It's a free se rvice, and those w ho re nt items ca n coll ec t the inco me o r do nate it to a charity. To date, th ey've fund ed th e proj ect th emselves, but th ey hope th e site w ill become self-s uffi cient throu gh adverti sing. ers of th e society's 2008 conference, which will be held June 13 and ·14 at U of G. Her co-organi zer is D ebra N ash-C hambers, BA '77, MA '81 and PhD '88, president of th e Guelph Historica l Society. For informati o n: www.o ntariohistoricalsociety. ca.

• Chris Dudar, B.S c.(H.K. ) '88 and M.S c. '92, is a superviso ry anthropologist at the Nati o nal Mu se um ofNatural History, Smithsonian Institution, in Was hington, D.C. After graduatin g from G uelph, he co mpleted a PhD in anthropo logy at M cM as ter Unive rsity and held a Social Sciences and

Miln e says use rs w ill fi nd th e site to be intuiti ve and easy to use.T here's a feedback sys tem so th at us ers ca n rate the reli ability of th ose th ey rent fro m , and it's integrated with a Faceboo k applica ti on.

This mea ns use rs ca n sea rch for items for rent in th eir networks on Facebook to ensure th ey are fa mili ar with those th ey are rentin g from. l t's so easy, there's no reason not to try th e rental netwo rk , says Milne, w ho moved to France to stu dy intern ationa l business after completi ng his G uelph program in sociology and now resides in London, England . La Fl eur is base d in Kingsto n, Ont. Humaniti es R esea rch C ouncil of Ca nada pos t- docto ral fellow ship at th e Uni ve rsity of Florida. After conductin g fieldwo rk o n a N avaj o reserva ti on, he we nt to the S1nithso ni an as a co nsultin g ph ys ica l anthropo logist in th e repatri ati o n offi ce. N ow he m anages th e repatri ati o n osteology lab. "We are tasked with d oc um enting th e th o usands of N ative Am.erican / First N ati o ns skeletal remains held ill the physical collec ti o ns, determining po tential cu ltural affili ation to a desce ndant co mmuni ty, and ultimately offerin g the remai ns fo r repa-

Summer 2008 31

Make another educated choice ...

Bring your colleagues home

Watch for Sophie's Run H EN H E il M O TH E ll was di agnosed w ith colo rec tal ca nce r, Ni cole C hu chm ach, B. Comm . '02 and MBA ' 07, tri ed to run away fro m her moth er's illness. " As a way of dealing with my gri ef, I ran. And ran, and ran and ran.

Al o ne with only my tho ughts for hours at a tim e, it ali owed me to refl ect on the tragedy ta kin g place in our fa mili y."

So phi e C hu chm ac h's di sease was in an adva nced stage befo re it was di agnosed , co mp o undin g th e tragedy beca use colorectal ca ncer is treatable if diagnosed early. Ni cole lost her moth er in September 2006, but she still ru ns - up to 125 kilometres a wee k - and now she's running to help raise awa reness of th e disease and

W

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32

TH E P O RTI C O

support resea rch aimed at findin g a cure.

Sophi e's Run begins Sept. 1 in Milto n, On t., w here the C hu chm ac h fa mily li ves, and ends O ct. 2 5 in N ew Yo rk C ity. N icole will run the 760-km ro ute in memory of her m o th er. She in vites other ru nners to join her along th e way to help spread th e word about th e importan ce of a health y lifes tyl e and regular testing for those at risk of developing colorec tal ca nce r.There's a map o f th e route at www.sophiesru n. ca .

C hu chm ac h currently wo rks in custom er ervices for Gordon Food Services in M ilron. but her lo ng- range plans include a PhD and teaching in th e hospi tality and food area .

triation to the appropriate federally recognized trib e. It is a very rewarding research career, and one that sees my ac tivi ti es change on a daily basis."

• Stewart Gill , PhD '84, was principal at Emmanuel College, University of Queensland, before being appointed adjunct professor in the School of History, Philosophy, R eligion and C lassics.

H e is also president of the Association of Ca nadian Studies in Australia and N ew Zealand and chairman of the Pacific Asia N etwork in Canadian Studies.

•Gordon Hak, MA '81, is a history professor at Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo, B.C. His book Cap ital and Labour in th e British Co /11mbia Forest Industry, 1934-74 (UB C Press, 2006) was more rece ntl y published in paperback.

• Jitka Janecek, BA '86, li ves with her son and daughter in Port Elgin, Ont., and says she loves working with DL students, which follows her work at Priory Park School in the late 1980s.

•Gregory Klages, MA '0 1, recently finish ed a PhD in history at York University. His webite entitl ed Death 0 11 a Painted Lake: The Th oll'lson Tragedy has been chosen by tl1 e Department of Canadian H eritage to inaugurate its reva mp ed and highly popular Canadian M ysteri es instru ctional website. Klages enlisted Ontario's chi ef forensic pathologist Michael Pollan en to complete a new asse sment of e\'idence . urroundmg the death ip.llmerTomThom n • Janice Gougeon.B. Glen, and sons, ick ( 1- and Brandyn (15).After working 2U yea rs at Nortel, she is now enjoying ea rly retirement.

• Laura Russell Maguire, B.A. c. . r. li\·es in Thorold, Onr. . \ -h h r hu ba nd , Billy,

and sons,Aindriu (12) and Sean (6). She works as a recreation therapist at Niagara's Hotel Dieu Shaver H ealth and Rehabilitation Centre.

• Laurie (Allison), BA '87, and Terry McDonald, B.Sc. '85 and BA '87, and th eir daughter, Allison, are living in Guelph once again after teaching in Tanza ni a and England.

"Our motto for the seven years while we were away was: 'Every day's an adve nture,"' th ey say.

"Each day was a geography field trip in its own way. We were privileged that our experi enc e as geography tea chers was appreciated in both co untries."

• Michael Moir, MA '80, is presid ent of th e C hampl ain Society, the oldest publisher of sources for Canada's history. H e is also an archivist at York University and spoke at U of G this spring about careers in archives and reco rds managem ent to mern.bers of the Unive rsity of Guelph History Society.

• Lorraine Twfik, B.Sc. '80, has recently beco me ass istant dea n of th e School of Edu cation at SUNY Old Westbury, a four-yea r liberal arts college in Long Island, N.Y. She ea rned a PhD three years ago from St. Jo hn 's Unive rsity and says her son is studying engineering as a junior at SUNY Stony Brook, al o on Long Island.

• Deborah (Gol beck) Wilson , B.Sc.(H .K.) · , and her husband, Ken, own an d operate

From Alumni Stadium to the Georgia Dome OM DIMITROFF, BA '90, a former Gryphon football playe r, is die new general m anager of the NFL Atlanta Falcons. H e played five seasons for the Gryphons and ca ptained the team for three years 1987 to 1989. H e was nam ed a second team OUAA AU-Star Ill 1987 . Th e Gryphons adva nced ro Yates Cup championship twi ce durin g Dimitroffs playing yea rs, but finished seco nd both times.

His family roots run deep into Gryphon footbal l as his fa th er, Tom Dimitroff Sr., coached th e Gryphons from 1979 to 1983. His broth er, Randy, BA '86, played for the Gryphons when th ey won the 1984 Vanier C up.

Tom Dimitroff bega n his career as a sco ut in the Ca nadian Football League, moving on to th e World League, w here he sco uted all NFL, CFL and World League rosters. H e served in th e sco uting departments for three different NFL tea ms, landing in Boston with th e N ew England Patriots. Not o nly did he lead tl1ern. to last year's historic 18-0 season, but was also with

T

two mu sic stores: th e Octave Mu sic Ce ntre in Guelph and Grand River Music Centre in Kitchener. They sell instru ments, including pianos, guitars and violins, and mu sic books.

They also oversee music schools at both stores w ith more th an 500 stud ents in total. Formerly co rporate controll er, Deborah rece ntly became director of marketing and promotions.

Co nta ct her at deborahwil so n@th eoctavem c.com or visit www. theoctavemc. corn .

the team as it claimed backto-ba ck Super Bowl victo ri es in 2003 and 2004.

"B eing nam ed a ge neral manager was an oppo rtunity of a lifetim.e, but the fac t that I had to leave before the Patriots co mpleted th e seaso n was tou gh to swal.low," says Dimitroff, who was with th e team for fi ve yea rs, and m ade the trip to Super Bowl 2008 to wa tch them take o n th e N ew York Giants . H e m oved to Atlanta in Janu ary.

For all the stats o n Dimitroff's career and his advi ce on how to get the job yo u reaJJy want, read "An Interview with Tom Dimfrroff," in T71e Portico we b ve rsio n at www. uo guelph.ca/ th eporti co.

1990 •Edmund Abaka, MA '91, is associate master of Mahoney R esidential College, director of the Afri cana Studi es program , and assoc iate professo r of History at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. • Mary (Young) and Rob Baker, both ADA '95, rece ntly moved to southern Ontario. H e is an Ontario Provincial Police officer in Norfolk Co unty; she works for the Simcoe branch of the CIBC. • Paul Dickson, PhD '93, has

Summer 2008 33

published his dissertation research as a book. A Tlioro11glily Ca11adia11 Ge11eral: A Biography of General H. D. G. Crerar was published by University of Toronto Press in 2007.

• Robert Gruber, BA '92, worked 16 years fo r theYM CAYWCA of G uelph before becoming manager of partnerships, community and policy development for the Department of Recreation Services in the Town of Ajax in 2007. H e says: "This is an exciting new positi on that manages corporate and co mmunity fest iva ls and eve nts, comm unity development, co rp orate sponsorsh ip, marketing and revenue generation for the Town of Ajax. After atte ndin g U of G and securin g a position with the YM AYWCA of G uelp h, l made G uelph my home. This new position in Ajax is an excitin g o ne in a g rowing and vib rant

conm1L1nity, but I will miss th e many friends, coll eagues and relationships I built throughout my unive rsity days and my ca reer with th e Guelph Y." • Clark Hargreaves , BA '95, is a project manager with Bell Canada . H e describes three "crazy" weeks in his life in Jun e 2007: "received a promotion, bought my first home and got engaged. Only th e engagement was expected and planned ."

• Wendy Holmes-Jamieson, B.Conun. '96, recently grad uated from Le Co rdo n Bleu C ulinary Institute in Ottawa and now wo rks with her husband, Matthew Jamieson, as a chef at the Royal Victoria Yacht C lub.

• Karen Houle, MA '92 and PhD '02, is a professor in U of G's Department of Philosophy.

She recently published her second book of poetry, D11ring, with Gasperea u Press. She describes the book as "a study

Karen Houle

of continuity, of being in process and of seeing through." Drawing on the diverse combinatio n of influences that characterized her debut 2000 collecti o n, Ballast, she depicts friendships, siblings, marriage, parenting, breakups, work and loss through the obliqu e angles of biology, geology, forestry and philosophy. Ballast was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award in 2001, and Houl e's essay "Doubl e Arc" was published in Dropped Threads 2.

• Wook Kim, B.Sc. '98 and

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34

THE PORTICO

M.Sc. '01, is a post-doctoral fellow at H arva rd University's Center for Systems Biology. H e obtain ed a PhD in microbiology from the University of Calgary and marri ed Sonia Gingues in 2005 and welco m ed th eir baby daughter, Sadie H ava.na, in 2007.They live in Boston, M ass.

H e says: " I miss th e stud ent life in Guelph; contact me at wook .kim3@gmail.com to catch up."

• Jeff Laucke, B.Sc. '93, li ves in Sa rni a, Ont., with his wife, Karen (Ta mborine), w here they are active in "teachin g, coaching volleyball and chasing after o ur fo ur-year-old daughter."

•Heather Lekx, B.Sc.(Env.) '96, was feat ured in the fa ll newsletter of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences. After leaving G uelph, she enrolled in th e sustainable agr iculture program at the Univers ity of California, Davis, and tl1en moved to

Florida for an internship with the Educational Concerns for Hunter Organization (ECHO).

With ECHO, she studied tropical and subtropi cal crops in Honduras and Belize and helped to lead a comm.unity away from slash-and-burn agriculture to more environmentally friendly m ethods. Her next move was back to Ontario to work with a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) farm outside Kingston , followed by a stint as a plant breeding technician at Cornell University. She is now beginning her seventh seaso n with Guelph's Ignatius Jesuit Centre, helping to establish a CSA. •Tyler, B.Sc.(H .K.) '93, and Nancy McPhail, BA '92, operate D.C. Guelph C lassic Tile, formerly D. Centurione Guelph Classic Tile. Before they purchased the business in March 2006, both worked at other Guelph companies. They met at U of G and d ecided to marry and se ttl e in the community.

Their showroom and business serves Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener-Waterloo and the surro unding areas, providing tile products and service to new home builders, renovators and do-it-yourselfers.

•Will Pascoe , BA '93, published A Noble Game:A History of the Negro Baseball Leagues in 2006 with Booksurge publishers and also writes for film and television. He directed the documentaries Noam Chomsky: Rebel Without A Pause and The Three Passions ef Bertrand Russell (TV Ontario and PBS). He has also written for dramatic telev ision. including Degrassi: The 'ex1 Ce11era1io11 . His first comedy fearure film. Charm ing Crace, will be filmed tlu year.

• Kurt Randall B. c. '96 and M.Sc. '02. w;i, m~rned in 2006 to Sarah D1llon. They live in Ottawa, where he- \\ rk a an

entomologist for the Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada.Their first child, Felix, was born Jan. 16, 2007.

•Emily Rose, B.Sc.(H.K.) '99 and M .Sc. '02, returned to her home in Barbados in 2002 and enrolled in an MBA program at the University of Durham business school. She grad uated in 2007 with the highest mark ever awarded for an MBA dissertation at the school. The title was "The Effect of Displays, Display Location and the Moderating Influence of Price, Prorn.otion and Signage on Unit Sales in a Barbadian Supermarket ." She works as a nutrition specialist and food buyer for Super Centre Ltd. • Calum Ross, B.Comrn.. '96, and his wife, Michelle, recently celebrated the birth of their second daughter, Alexis Elizabeth.

Their older daughter is Abigail Mackenzie Victoria. Ross has completed a graduate MBA in finance from the Schulich School of Business, where he also guest lectures and assists foture graduates. He is an executive in the mortgage banking industry, serves on various boards and contributes actively to the financial press and personal financ e sectors. He speaks throughout the United States and Canada and is a regular mortgage columnist in various publications.

• Daniel Sellen, PhD '96, joined the World Bank in Washington , D.C., w hen he left Guelph. He spent the last four years in India and now heads the Bank's office in Cote d' Ivoire, home country of his wife, Madie. H e says he has fond mern.ori es of life at U of G, including serving on Board of Governors, but adds that he can't remember what he studied.

• Edward Snowden, BA '94, completed a history degree at Guelph, graduated from George

No secrets to tell

T

H ERE

ARE

NO

REAL

secrets to a long and healthy life, but Malcolm "Bud" Crozier, BSA '45, believes taking care of matters of the heart has a lot to do with it.

And h e should know. At 87, Crozier has been happily married to his wife, Ruth, for 66 years and counting. They were high school sweethearts, raised four children and watched six grandchildren grow. Last year, they welcomed a great-grandson into their family.

Crozier says he came to U of G because of Ruth and his desire to create a wonderful life with her. They went into business with Ruth 's father, w ho owned a green house in Clarkson, Ont. " We sold cut flowers as wholesalers, and I had tl1e perfect background from Guelph in the biological sciences to succeed," says Crozier. He brought new ideas and technology to th e business, like growing chrysanthemums which were at one time a once-a-year product - all year ro und.

When he was in his early 50s, Crozier spent some time in hospital, and to recover, he began to jog each day in the rows of germinating plants in the greenhouses. This new found love of running spro uted a personal goal to complete a five-kilometre road race.

"At my first race, I met a chap who was a member of

Washington University with a master's degree in project management in Dec. 2007 and began a PhD in Feb. 2008 .

• Kelly Thornton, BA '94, will receive the 2008YWCA Toronto Woman of Distinction Award

the Ontario Masters ofTrack and Field, a group of athletes 40 and older. I joined the group and started running five- and 10-kilometre races, and eventually I built up to 111arathons."

Crozier has run the Boston Marathon twice. He also becam e a member of the Mississauga Track Club, where he still holds reco rds in th e 1,500-, 5,000- and 10,000metre co ntests. In August 2005 , he completed a 5,000metre race in a time of 37 .55 minutes. In addition, he's travelled internationally to compete in the world masters championships.

"Running brought so much to me. I just thoroughly enjoyed it," he says.

Today, after much wear and tear on his body, he's given up running. Instead, he hits the gym five mornings a week, spending up to two hours doing stretches and yoga. 'Tm in the gym at 6:30 a.m, and I'm usually the only one there." for Arts and Letters . Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, she has focused her professional career on advancing the lives of women and girls in theatre.

Her nominators say Thornton has "produced a long list of plays

Summer 2008 35

by, for and abo ut women. The works she produces also challenge the status quo of artistic vision, displacing the centrality of the male experience."

2000 • Matthew Briden and Tara Mikulak, both BA '03 , were married in Oakville, Ont., Oct. 22, 2005. He works fo rToyota as a cost management specialist in finance; she is a sales co-ordinator for a BMW dealership.They live in Waterloo with their oneyear-old daughter,Jada Corinne.

• Melinda and Matthew Bullock, both B.Sc.(Eng.) '02, were married Oct. 6, 2007 in Wind or, Ont. They live in Ottawa and are expecting their first child this fall.

• Kim, BA '00, and Matt

Goodman, BA '01, welcomed their first child, Brendan Alton, o n Jan . 26, 2008.

• Umair Khan, B.Comm. '07, finished his degree in m arketing and management, then attended AdWeek in N ew York City to gain a better understanding of media corporations and emerging trends in digital media, advertising, politics and social networking. He says he is pursuing several job opportuniti es as a result of that networking.

•Chris Leclair, B.Sc. '01, has published a book which began as research at U of G: www.BodyLanguageProject.com.

• Matthew Mackenzie, BA '05, has returned to OEB Enterprise in Toronto as a consultant, after a stint at the Ca nad ian Bankers Association. He says he's

" having a great time working in communications and government relations."

• Heather Mattila, PhD '05, received considerable media coverage in 2007, appear ing on the Discovery Channel's Daily Planet and on CBC R adio 's Quirks and Quarks. Recipient of Guelph's Forster Medal in 2005, her PhD was sup ervised

by Prof. Gard Otis, Environmental Biology. She is now a postdoctoral researc h associate at Cornell University in the neurobiology and behaviour department, where she works with bee biologist Tom Seeley.

• Matt Milner, MA ' 02, earned a PhD from th e Universiry ofWarwick and served as a part-time professor of th e Reformation. H e is a member

of the Elora Singers, a professional choir conducted by Noel Edison.The Elora Singers' CDs are devoted to the music of Estonian Avro Part and have risen to numb er five on the British classical music charts .

(Cotterell), •Vanessa B.Sc.(Env.) '02, and David Schmidt, BA '02, welcomed their first child, Maxim Statton Schmidt, a 7-lb.,15-oz. boy born Feb. 3. Dad says:"Little Max will undoubtedly grow up hearing fond stories about U of G from his paren ts. W e mi ght have a foture Gryphon on our hands."

•Charlotte Woodley, BA '01 , was a guest of the University of G uelph History Society this spring, speaking about her role as arc hivist for the regional municipality ofWaterloo.

PASSAGES Cherry (Booth) Ambrose, BA '82, Nov. 30, 2007 Curtis Anderson, Dip. ' 59, Jan.25,2008 Dorothy Barrales, DVM '52, Feb. 29, 2008 Marjorie (Dickinson) Bleasdell, DHE '38, Nov. 18, 2007 William Boyer, DVM '51,Jan 8, 2007 Clare Brown, BSA '51,Jan . 20, 2008 Jeanne Burton, M.Sc. '86 and PhD '91, Aug. 26, 2007 Gordon Campbell, BSA '42, May 16, 2007 John Cooke, BSA '59, Oct. 27, 2007 Jack deSalis, Dip, '41, June 12, 2005 Robert Dickhout, BSA '63, May 18, 2007 Althea (Burton) Dryden, DVM '47, Feb. 3,2008 John Elliott, BSA '52, Dec. 7, 2007 Robert Freeman, BSA '51, Jan. 17, 2008 Edward Gayoski, BSA '48, Aug, 16, 2007 Bruce Graham, BSA '48, Oct. 7, 2007

36

THE PORTICO

Marie Hardacre, DHE '30, March 18, 2008 Sir Edmund Hillary, HDLa '83, Jan. 11, 2008 Peter Houtmeyers , BSA '61, Feb.15, 2008 James Humphries, BSA '45, Dec. 6, 2007 Pedro Jou, D .V.Sc. '96, Dec. 27 , 2007 Hugo Keller, Dip. '48, Oct. 23 , 2007 Robert Lazariuk, B.Sc. (Agr.)'76, Dec. 11, 2005 Douglas Leach, B.Sc. '73, Feb. 10, 2008 Gabrielle MacHattie, DHE '35, April 19, 2007 Robert McNeill, BSA '37, Jan. 27 , 2006 Kenneth Mitchell, BSA '42, Feb. 13,2008 Clarence Mooney, BA '98, March 2007 Ruth Myers, DHE '53,Jan . 2, 2008 Opendra Narayan, DVM '63, Dec. 24, 2007 Gordon Nixon, BSA '37,

Feb.9,2008 Derick Paquette, B.Sc. '78, Jan. 2, 2008 Vernon Pascoe, BA '71, Oct. 7, 2007 Norman Ritz, BSA '50, April 27, 2006 Joyce Robson, DHE 53, Dec. 3, 2006 Charles Robinson, BSA '41, Jan. 8, 2008 Margaret Salt, DHE '49, Nov. 14, 2007 Patricia Smellie, DHE '53, Sept. 18, 2007 Ian Stevenson BSA '49, April 7, 2007 John Stirling, BA '75, Nov 17, 2005 Philip Taylor, DVM '57, Feb. 2007 Peter Tewsley, Dip. ' 73, N ov. 1, 2007 John Vander Zaag, B.Sc. (Agr.) '81, Jan. 6, 2008 Leith (Crozier) Whitty, B.H.Sc. '52, N ov. 2, 2007 Delbert Wilson, DVM '45, Jul y 3 1, '.2007 Gordon Wright, BSA '33, N ov. IS. 2007 Brenda York, MBA '00,Jan. 31, 2008

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