Three UBC professors honoured with CUFA BC’s Distinguished Academics Awards

Three UBC professors have received this year’s Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA BC)’s Distinguished Academics Awards.  These awards are presented annually by CUFA BC to recognize faculty members at B.C.’s public universities who use their research and scholarly work to make contributions to the wider community.

UBC’s Prof. Benjamin Perrin will receive the 2011 Early in Career Award Sponsored by Scotiabank for his work in documenting the prevalence and severity of human trafficking in Canada, and using that work to raise awareness and change laws.

UBC’s Prof. Jim Anderson will receive the 2011 Academic of the Year Award for his work in creating the Parents as Literacy Supporters (PALS) and Literacy for Life programs to help immigrant, Aboriginal and low-income parents to better support their children in improving their literacy.

UBC’s Prof. Rabab Ward will receive the 2011 Paz Buttedahl Career Achievement Award for her pioneering research in signal processing, which has resulted in improved picture quality for cable television, a sophisticated brain computer interface to allow people with mobility impairments to control various devices, and an improved method of processing mammograms that results in 70 per cent of cancers being identified a year earlier than was previously possible.

“Professor Perrin, Dr. Anderson and Dr. Ward are outstanding examples of faculty members at BC universities who use their research to benefit the wider community,” said David Mirhady, President of CUFA BC.

“Professor Perrin’s success in translating his research into tangible public policy is inspiring,” Mirhady continued. “Dr. Anderson’s effort to tailor literacy programs to meet the needs of specific communities is an example that should be taken up in other fields. Dr. Ward’s research proves that theoretical work and practical applications are two sides of the same coin.”

CUFA BC represents 4,600 university professors, instructors, academic librarians and other academic staff at the province’s five doctoral universities ­ SFU (Burnaby, Vancouver and Surrey campuses), UBC (Vancouver and Kelowna campuses), UNBC (Prince George, Terrace, Fort St. John and Quesnel campuses), UVic and Royal Roads University.