The more than 5,000 students taking part in Spring Congregation
this year will usher in a new era for UBC’s annual rite of passage
when they receive their degrees in the Chan Centre for the Performing
Arts May 25-30. The 23 separate ceremonies spanning six days mark
the first held in UBC’s stunning new centre.
Ceremonies on Sunday, May 25 will be at 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6:30
p.m. The remainder of the ceremonies take place Monday through Friday
at 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Undergraduate and graduate degrees are conferred on students from
12 faculties. Ten honorary degrees will also be conferred.
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts is located at 6265 Crescent
Road.
Parking is free of charge and is available in the Rose Garden Parkade
located adjacent to the Chan Centre on Northwest Marine Drive.
Below are story ideas about 13 UBC students graduating later
this month.
Sketches of this year’s honorary degree recipients are also
available.
From frogs to forests: Tales of UBC graduation
1997
The accomplishments of UBC graduates extend beyond the degrees
they will receive this month. From diverse backgrounds and involved
in a broad range of community activities, they include leading-edge
scholars, entrepreneurs, volunteers, activists and, above all, exceptional
role models.
Here are just a few of the more than 5,000 students who will graduate
from UBC this spring:
Heart and basketball help convey doctor’s message
The first aboriginal woman to graduate from UBC’s Faculty of Medicine,
Nadine Caron also volunteers her time to travel to remote communities
throughout B.C., where she encourages First Nations’ school kids
to further their education. She often brings with her a pathology
lab to dissect a cow’s heart. Later, the former basketball star
gives the same kids a clinic on the finer points of the game.
- Contact: Nadine Caron, Faculty of Medicine, (604) 736-9765
From Oxford to the Prince Albert penitentiary
Law graduate Debra Parkes’ academic career has taken her to Oxford
University, where she studied history on an overseas scholarship,
and to the maximum security penitentiary in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
There she conducted research interviews with female inmates held
in a men’s facility, a situation she feels is unjust. Parkes is
looking forward to becoming involved in test case litigation and
other advocacy work for the advancement of women’s equality in Canada.
- Contact: Debra Parkes, Faculty of Law, (604) 738-9222
Dentist pitches in on Vancouver’s East side
As a fourth-year Dentistry student, Rocky Bozak joined other classmates
in volunteer work at a Ministry of Health dental clinic on Vancouver’s
East side. The patients are often in pain, many don’t speak English,
and treatment is sometimes complicated by HIV infection or intravenous
drug use. It is an “eye-opening” situation for UBC dental students,
Bozak says.
- Contact: Rocky Bozak, Faculty of Dentistry, 604.822.2130
Helping to keep city employees healthy
Karen Mountifield has left an indelible mark during four years
in UBC’s School of Human Kinetics. A Wesbrook Scholar, Mountifield
was recipient of the Harry Logan Memorial Scholarship and Harold
B. and Nellie Boyes Memorial Scholarship recognizing academic excellence
and an ability to “serve, work with and lead others.” Her extracurricular
work has included volunteering as an event and program coordinator
for the Lion’s Society of British Columbia and the Sport Medicine
Council of BC. She is currently arranging health activities, seminars
and workshops for 8,000 City of Vancouver employees.
- Contact: Karen Mountifield, Faculty of Education, 604.822.0107
Lifelong frog fascination takes grad to Indiana
Aneil Agrawal’s interest in science began with an early infatuation
with frogs. As a six-year-old Richmond resident, he walked out of
a restaurant that listed frogs on the menu and initiated a letter-writing
campaign to city officials to save frogs in roadside ditches. Agrawal
eventually transplanted hundreds of frogs into a ditch he dug in
his parents’ backyard. During his four years at UBC, Agrawal has
studied learning patterns of Rufous hummingbirds and the body armour
of Stickleback fish. Agrawal turned down an offer from Harvard and
will attend Indiana State University in July to begin his PhD looking
into the evolutionary biology of, you guessed it, arrow-poison frogs
in Costa Rica.
- Contact: Aneil Agrawal, Faculty of Science, (604) 274-1391
Pharmacist blends business and health care
Bernard Leung joins a long list of health care professionals in
his family. He is proud to be the only pharmacist. Leung, who already
has a BSc in biology from UBC, worked in sales and marketing for
two years before returning to his alma mater for four more years
in the pharmacy program. He says pharmacists enjoy a unique position
in the community because they are at the juncture of business and
health care. He plans to apply for a 12-month B.C. Hospital Residency
Program to learn more about the clinical roles pharmacists can play
in a hospital setting.
- Contact: Bernard Leung, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
(604) 266-0769
Engineer works to build bridges to profession
For a long time, Sundiep Tehara believed that engineers built bridges.
Period. It’s easy to understand where she got that idea as her father,
an engineer, does in fact build bridges. Eventually Tehara realized
there was more to the profession and entered chemical engineering
at UBC with an interest in waste-water treatment. While at UBC she
was active in promoting engineering as a career to high school students
and appeared in an award-winning video on engineering produced by
the Faculty of Applied Science for a high school audience. She will
enter graduate school next January. In the meantime, she is working
with the National Research Council in Ottawa on a scholarship aimed
at encouraging women to pursue graduate studies in engineering.
- Contact: Sundiep Tehara, Faculty of Applied Science,
(613) 567-7621
More to MBA’s busy life than work
Judy Spunt, among the first graduates of UBC’s revamped Master
of Business and Administration program, is quick to point out that
there’s much more to her life than work. Now working for Andersen
Consulting on Internet-related projects, Spunt continues to make
time for her hobbies, particularly dragon boat racing, a sport she
became involved in while working in Japan on an engineering research
scholarship. Spunt, who has an engineering degree from the University
of Toronto, came to UBC in 1995 to do her MBA after determining
the 15-month program best suited her needs. While at UBC, Spunt
took advantage of the MBA’s exchange option and spent her last semester
studying in Hong Kong.
- Contact: Judy Spunt, Faculty of Commerce and Business
Administration, (604) 688-5255
Artistic expression goes multicultural
Evan Lee is a fine arts graduate whose artistic expression includes
painting, drawing, photography and playing guitar in an art band
called Orphans. The name reflects their disavowal of musical antecedents
and also their cultural situation. While acknowledging their roots
— Lee is Chinese-Canadian and fellow arts student and band member
Mohamed Somani was born in Sweden to Indo-African parents — Orphans
freely mixes any number of cultural influences, from Latin text
read by a computer-synthesized voice to Japanese avant-garde music.
- Contact: Evan Lee, Faculty of Arts, (604) 650-6146
Conservation key to First Nations’ forester
Lenny Joe is on the verge of becoming the first First Nations person
in the province to receive the designations of Registered Professional
Forester and Registered Professional Biologist. A graduate of the
Faculty of Forestry’s conservation program, Joe decided to enter
forestry after someone suggested to him that, in a few clearcuts,
a forester could undo a decade of conservation work done by a biologist.
A member of the Shackan band in Merritt whose father and grandfather
have served as band chiefs, Joe is now working in the industry ensuring
logging operations conform to government regulations.
- Contact: Lenny Joe, Faculty of Forestry, (250) 378-5286
Leading B.C. mining companies among graduate’s clients
One week after Jay McNee graduates with a PhD in Geochemical Oceanography,
he will celebrate the first anniversary of Lorax Environmental Services
Ltd., a consulting company that he and two partners founded to provide
highly specialized environmental services to mining companies. The
company, which already employs eight people and lists some of the
province’s leading mining companies as clients, is the result of
years of research in the area of the natural cycles of trace metals
such as cadmium, copper, lead and zinc.
- Contact: Jay McNee, Faculty of Graduate Studies, (604)
688-7173
Nurse tackles ethical dilemmas
As an ethics consultant at Vancouver Hospital, Rosalie Starzomski
is regularly confronted with ethical dilemmas. And, as a nurse with
a background in nephrology — the science of the structure and function
of the kidney — and transplant nursing, she is acutely aware of
those dilemmas concerning transplants. Now, with a PhD in Nursing,
she has some pretty good ideas about how to tackle ethical issues
that confront health care providers and consumers on a daily basis.
Starzomski is one of the first three individuals to graduate from
UBC’s School of Nursing’s PhD program.
- Contact: Rosalie Starzomski, School of Nursing, (604)
875-5845
Creativity takes grad back to the land
Jackie Teed was looking for a way to channel her creative instincts
into a practical field, and discovered just the thing — landscape
architecture. As winner of the gold medal for top student in her
class, Teed’s graduating project looked at how the township of Langley
can develop the Willoughby-Willowbrook area into a home for 35,000
people while maintaining its rural character. Her plans, which may
influence future development, includes free-runnning streams and
roads with the feel of country lanes.
- Contact: Jackie Teed, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences,
(604) 730-7169
Leading provincial court justice Alfred Scow among
UBC honorary degree recipients
UBC graduate and retired B.C. provincial court Judge Alfred Scow is among 10 distinguished individuals to be awarded
honorary degrees by UBC during this year’s Spring Congregation.
Scow was the first aboriginal person to earn a Bachelor of Laws
(LLB), practice law and receive a judicial appointment in British
Columbia. He is credited for performing a major role in educating
non-aboriginal people about the legal, cultural, social and historical
issues facing First Nations. Scow receives his honorary degree on
Friday, May 30 at
5 p.m.
Prominent in the professions and the community, honorary degree
recipients are recognized for distinguished achievements and for
their contributions to the life of the university and the betterment
of society.
Other honorary degree recipients include:
Sally Aw Sian, an international newspaper
publisher and philanthropist (May 26, 2:30 p.m.); acclaimed conductor
Mario Bernardi (May 25, 6:30 p.m.);
Cheung-Kok Choi, a major contributor to education in B.C.
and abroad (May 25, 4 p.m.); Haig Farris, a leader in promoting science and technology
education and research (May 27, 2:30 p.m.); Clarence
(Manny) Jules, chief of the Kamloops Indian Band (May 29,
5 p.m.); pre-eminent organic chemist Raymond
Lemieux (May 28, 8:30 a.m.); arts patron David
Lemon (May 26, 11 a.m.); Masateru Ohnami,
president of Ritsumeikan University (May 30, 8:30 a.m.) and Roy
Taylor, internationally respected for his work in the field
of botanical gardens and arboreta (May 28, 2:30 p.m.).
Biographical sketches of these honorary degree recipients follow.
Biographical sketches of UBC’s Spring Congregation 1997 honorary
degree recipients
Sally Aw Sian, an international publisher
and Chair of Sing Tao Holdings based in Hong Kong, has published Chinese
and English language newspapers in Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, the
United Kingdom and the United States since 1972. Aw is also recognized
for her long standing interest and participation in community service,
health support and education. She has been a major supporter of the
establishment of the Sing Tao School of Journalism at UBC.
Mario Bernardi has made enormous
contributions to the musical life of Canada. Bernardi, conductor
of the CBC Vancouver Orchestra since 1983, has long been known to
champion the works of Canadian composers either by premiering piano
works or conducting orchestral works.
Cheung-Kok Choi has built a successful
career as an industrialist, businessman and philanthropist in China,
Hong Kong and Canada. Choi’s long-standing commitment to education
has had a significant impact on students around the world. A long-time
friend and supporter of UBC, he has established numerous fellowships,
bursaries and prizes in several faculties, including the C.K. Choi
Fellowship in Business Administration and the C.K. Choi Scholarship
in Engineering. The new C. K. Choi Building for the Institute of
Asian Research is an important research facility at UBC made possible
through his vision, dedication and generous support.
Haig Farris is a leader in raising
awareness of science and technology, promoting the knowledge-based
industry in B.C. and bringing university research to the marketplace.
He was instrumental in the creation of Vancouver’s Science World.
Active in the community, Mr. Farris is a director of the Vancouver
Opera, chair of the Science Council of B.C., an advisory board member
of the UBC Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Research Centre
and member of the Premier’s Advisory Committee on Science and Technology.
Clarence (Manny) Jules, born and raised
on the Kamloops Indian Reserve, has served as the spokesperson for
his community for more than 20 years. Chief Jules has demonstrated
a visionary and practical approach to many pressing First Nations
issues, including the restoration of economic independence to First
Nations communities and protection of the environment.
Raymond Lemieux is a pioneer in the
field of chemistry carbohydrates. His work has been a key factor
in converting this area of research from an academic specialization
to one of great practical significance in the important fields of
blood typing and medical chemistry. He is also credited with laying
the foundation for Western Canada’s growing biotechnology industry.
David Lemon is heralded as Vancouver’s
most eloquent and energetic champion of the arts. An accomplished
businessman, David Lemon is owner of The Magic Flute, which
specializes in classical and jazz recordings. Working tirelessly
in all aspects of the arts — music, visual arts and writing–he
has successfully staged numerous cultural events throughout Vancouver
and has served on the boards of the Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Art
Gallery and Vancouver Bach Choir.
Masateru Ohnami, president of Ritsumeikan
University in Japan, has been instrumental in establishing an exchange
program between the University of British Columbia and Ritsumeikan
University. As a result of this initiative, UBC is able to promote
Canada-Japan research, teaching and cultural exchanges. As a result
of Dr. Ohnami’s international vision, Ritsumeikan University has
now become a model for other international outreach programs in
Japan.
Alfred Scow has shown an uncommon generosity
of spirit in helping others live up to their full potential, particularly
people of First Nations descent. In 1962, he became the first aboriginal
lawyer in B.C. and has demonstrated vision, integrity and dedication
to social justice throughout his career. He served as a judge for
the Provincial Court of British Columbia from 1971 to 1992. A tireless
supporter of UBC, he has been instrumental in establishing First
Nations studies at UBC.
Roy Taylor has provided exceptional
vision and leadership to the botanical gardens community in North
America for more than 30 years. He is regarded as a pioneer in horticulture
therapy and is internationally renowned for his work directing botanical
gardens. Taylor came to UBC in 1968 as director of the Botanical
Garden. In his more than 17 years with the university he helped
developed this facility into a wonderful resource for students,
researchers and the community.
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