Alumni News

AlumNight 01 On March 27 the U of C hosted its first-ever AlumNight for recent graduates based in Calgary. Held at the übercool Raw Bar in Hotel Arts, this launched a series of exclusive events designed specifically for Calgary-based alumni who have graduated within the last two years. More than 70 hip and happening alumni dined on a tasty menu created by Chef Duncan Ly and accompanied by wine from the Hotel Arts cellar and the saxophone musings of Jeff McGregor. Learn more and see the pics...

Naming of dinosaur-era sea creature honours alumna One of the oldest and most complete plesiosaur fossils ever recovered in North America – unearthed in a Syncrude mine near Fort McMurray in 1994 – was recently named Nichollsia borealis in memory of the late Elizabeth (Betsy) Nicholls, MSc'72, PhD'89. Nicholls was a renowned palaeontologist credited with discovering the largest-ever marine reptile, a 23-metre-long ichthyosaur, in northern B.C. in 1999. Learn more... Read a Spring 2007 U magazine story on Nicholls...

Alumni donors honour single parent students

All donors have special causes and the challenge of the single parent inspired a group of leading Calgarians and alumni to create a unique scholarship. As a result, the U of C is awarding its first doctoral scholarship for a single parent, with an application deadline of May 15 for Sept. 2008. The $5,000 Dr. Jeannette Nicholls Graduate Scholarship was founded by Dr. Kathleen Scherf, the dean of the Faculty of Communications and Culture who completed her doctoral studies at UBC as a single parent with two young sons. Jennifer Diakiw, BA'91, Bonnie Dupont, MEd'90, Catherine Ford, LLD'05, and Frances Wright, BA'68, were among the contributing donors.

Learn more...

Wharton wins popular vote Icefields may not have won CBC Radio's 2008 Canada Reads competition, but author Thomas Wharton, PhD'98, did receive CBC's inaugural People's Choice Award for garnering the most votes from the public among the five novels in the Canada Reads contest. Thomas is currently writing a serial novel online, featuring Atlantis as an island-city, and you can check in on his progress here.

This just in... 2008 Distinguished Business Leader Award winner

The Haskayne School of Business is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2008 Distinguished Business Leader Award is George H. Brookman, the CEO and owner of West Canadian Industries Group, and president and chairman of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede board.

Learn more, and register to attend the May 29 DBLA Gala...

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For more alumni news: http://www.ucalgary.ca/alumni

Your Alumni Stories

Alumna guided young voices in Ghana Seeking real-life experience after graduating with her degree in International Relations, Barbara Kelly, BA'06, worked in a secondary school for a year in Quebec. "It was enough to tell me that I wanted my future to involve youth and education," she says. Kelly participated in a six-month internship in Accra, Ghana with Voices of the Voiceless (VoV) International Health Development Organization. Learn more...

Alumni in the News

Calgary Herald columnist Valerie Fortney, BA'86, profiled Janice Eisenhauer, BA'99, and the organization she co-founded, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. Read more...

Rebecca Northan, BFA'96, put on a production called Blind Date at Calgary's Loose Moose Theatre and the Calgary Herald profiled the talented drama grad. Read more...

The 1996 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, James Gosling, BSc'77, LLD'99, of Sun Microsystems, was the focus of a feature in the Sydney Morning Herald. Read more...

Mike Eggermont, BA'94, and Michael Owens, BA'98, were featured in a Calgary Herald article about the software company, Blatant Media, they co-founded five years ago. Read more...

Has the media profiled you lately? Email us a link and we'll note it in the next issue!

U of C News

Industry, government fuel new energy research chairs Cutting-edge U of C research that promises to unlock new stores of natural gas from deep inside the Earth's crust and dramatically reduce bacterial corrosion of oil and gas pipelines received a major boost thanks to funding from the federal government and the private sector. Four new research chair positions, including one for petroleum engineer Roberto Aguilera (left), have been created through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Industrial Research Chairs program with $3.4 million in new funding. Learn more...

New scholarship creates global citizens

The Choquette family, led by Pierre and Brenda Choquette, BA'93, is helping U of C students become better global citizens. The family has committed a gift of $250,000 to establish the Choquette Family Foundation Global Experience graduate and undergraduate awards. Five scholarships worth $10,000 apiece will be awarded each year for the next five years to students interested in pursuing an international experience.

Learn more...

Cracking the Norwalk virus code An international team led by U of C researcher Ken Ng has determined the detailed structure of the enzyme the Norwalk virus uses to make copies of its genetic code in order to replicate itself. The information is crucial to developing drugs that could be used to treat outbreaks of Norwalk and other related viruses. Learn more...

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Campus and Alumni Events

Dance with the stars at the Rothney

April 12: Spend an evening with U of C astronomers and learn more about the stars, planets, asteroids and Alberta's beautiful skies at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory's first open house of the season. Lectures will take place and the doors to the observatory will be open, giving a glimpse of what the astronomers can see. Cost is $10 per car and the event will run from 8 to 11 pm. Similar open houses will occur in the evenings of May 10, June 14, July 12, Aug. 9, Sept. 6 and Oct. 4.

Learn more...

Dr. Bob's lecture of a lifetime

April 16: As a 35-year professor at the Haskayne School of Business, Dr. Bob Schulz has taught thousands of students about business and leadership. Now it's time to share life lessons he has learned through his extraordinary career at the 2008 Lecture of a Lifetime, presented by the Senate of the University of Calgary. Cocktail reception: 5:00 p.m.; lecture 5:30 to 6:15 pm in EDC 179 (Education building, main floor). Park in Lot 1 or Arts Parkade. All are welcome but seating is limited.

Learn more and RSVP...

FP's Francis writes on the future of Canadian business

April 18: The Haskayne School of Business hosts a book launch luncheon celebrating Who Owns Canada Now, the latest publication by award-winning Financial Post columnist Diane Francis. Register by April 14. It will take place from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm in the Garden Patio, Delta Bow Valley, 209, Fourth Ave. SE. Tickets are $40.

Learn more...

Nursing alumni: spring for lunch and auction

May 31: The Faculty of Nursing is hosting its Alumni Spring Luncheon and Silent Auction with the theme "Dare to Care...for Yourself". Emcee and special guest is Breakfast Television's Tara McCool. Everyone welcome. Calgary Winter Club, 4611-14 St. NW. For ticket info please contact Judy Hanson or Pat Rosenau at (403) 220-6285.

For more events, go to http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/

In Memoriam

Lindsay Leigh Kimmett, BSc'04, and a second-year student in the Faculty of Medicine, died Feb. 17 in a car accident just steps from her parents home in Cochrane, AB. Lindsay's parents established the Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Memorial Fund in her honour, supporting future youth scholarships, facilities and projects in Cochrane as well as to purchase teaching and medical equipment for the U of C's medical school and area hospitals. A celebration of Lindsay's life was held in Cochrane on Feb. 23.

Learn more...

After being asked the question, "Why can't someone make this easier to operate?" first-year Schulich School of Engineering design students came up with 30 great answers to help people with limited dexterity. Narrowed down from a total of 175 possible projects by more than 700 students, 30 prototypes for innovations everyone can use were selected as the best engineered, most useful, practical innovations that had been prototyped as part of a class project. Learn more...