Three UBC professors and a member of the Board of Governors are among 14 people
who will receive British Columbia’s highest award for outstanding achievement
on June 18 in Victoria.
The prestigious Order of British Columbia will be presented at a special ceremony
at Government House to Mechanical Engineering Prof. Martha Salcudean, Electrical
Engineering Prof. Emeritus Charles Laszlo, Board of Governors member Ken Georgetti,
and Dr. Michael O’Shaughnessy, a clinical professor of Pathology.
“I am delighted that four members of the UBC community are receiving this
recognition,” said UBC President Martha Piper. “The nature of the Order of B.C.
reflects the unique contributions that members of the campus community make
beyond the university throughout the province.”
Salcudean is regarded as a dynamic engineer and leader in the Canadian scientific
community. In April, the Canada Council for the Arts awarded her a $50,000 Killam
Prize for research excellence in engineering.
In 1996, Salcudean was appointed to UBC’s $500,000 Weyerhaeuser Industrial
Research Chair. Her work in computational fluid dynamics involves modelling
the flow and heat transfer in industrial processes. Her research on recovery
boilers in the pulp and paper process has been applied in several Canadian and
American mills.
Laszlo, who is hard of hearing, has devoted his career to improving the quality
of life for people with hearing difficulties. He was the director of the Institute
of Hearing Accessibility Research at UBC.
His research objectives are always guided by consumer and community concerns.
Laszlo developed numerous communication devices for hard of hearing people,
five of which are commercially available. His portable infrared amplification
system was a world-first and it is now used widely.
Although retired from UBC, Laszlo continues his research program into robotic
devices that seek out speakers and can recognize telephone rings, fire sirens
and other auditory alarms.
Laszlo was also the founding president of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association,
and served as the president of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing
People.
Georgetti, a member of UBC’s Board of Governors since 1995, will receive the
Order for his achievements on behalf of working people.
Georgetti, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, is considered among
the new generation of labour leaders adapting to the rapidly changing economy.
He is noted for understanding the importance of the picket line and the bottom
line and for bringing labour and management together without compromising trade
union principles.
Georgetti also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Committee in the Faculty of Law
and works on behalf of literacy and adults with learning disabilities.
O’Shaughnessy is being honoured for his leadership in the fight against AIDS.
The director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, O’Shaughnessy has
an international reputation for tackling the broad scope of the AIDS dilemma,
from research to the care of people living with HIV and human rights issues
associated with the disease.
He is credited with a pivotal role in establishing B.C.’s response to HIV/AIDS
which is respected around the world. O’Shaughnessy’s leadership has played a
part in the development of public health policy and also influenced the creation
of phase three of the National AIDS Strategy.
