UBC Web Site of the Week
UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event hightlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.
Please note, we have added several features to the weekly UBC News Digest, including media releases, upcoming event highlights, and a web site of the week. To reflect these changes, this service will be known as UBC This Week.
Sign up for UBC This Week and other UBC Public Affairs e-mail services at http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/eservices.
Recent UBC Media Releases
- Jan. 11: UBC Election Stock Market Update: Trading Signals Gains by Harper Tories
- Jan. 11: UBC Astronomer to Reveal Results of MOST Satellite’s Search for Other Earths
- Jan. 9: UBC Life Sciences Centre Wins International Award for Green Features
- Jan. 6: Former Scotiabank President and UBC Give $4 Million for Sauder School of Business Undergraduate Centre
Upcoming Event Highlights
- Jan. 20: Lecture by Stan Douglas: Incosolable Memories
- Jan. 20: Terry Riley and Michael McClure
- Jan. 20: Womens’ Ice Hockey vs. Saskatchewan
- Jan. 24: Early Autism Project
- Jan. 26: The forth Annual Africa Awareness Keynote
For more events this week, visit www.liveat.ubc.ca.
UBC People
- Alberta Government recognizes UBC AVP Allan Tupper
- Geography Prof. wins National Academy of Sciences award
- First Nations Library receives official UBC branch status
- Maria Klawe named president of U.S. science and engineering college
- Engineering alumnus Ranasinghe new Vice-Chancellor of University of Moratuwa
- National Association of College Stores certifies UBC Bookstore Director
- UBC Film Program staff member wins at World Dance Championships
UBC People
Alberta Government recognizes UBC AVP Allan Tupper
In recognition of his contributions to the Province of Alberta, UBC Associate Vice President (Government Relations) Allan Tupper has been awarded The Alberta Centennial Medal.
Tupper’s is one of 8,000 medals being awarded to celebrate Alberta’s first 100 years and pay tribute to Albertans whose achievements have benefited their fellow citizens, their community and their province.
Tupper was co-chair of the Advisory Committee on National Affairs to Alberta Premier Ralph Klein and an instructor in the Senior Executive Development Program of the Government of Alberta. For more than 20 years, he served in a variety of academic positions at the University of Alberta, including Professor of Political Science, Chair of the Department of Political Science, Associate Dean of Arts and Associate Vice President (Government Relations).
Geography Prof. wins National Academy of Sciences award
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has presented UBC geography prof. Michael Church with G.K. Warren Prize, which is awarded every four years in recognition of distinguished contributions to geological science.
Church was chosen “for his extensive and innovative field and laboratory studies of the morphology and dynamics of natural and managed river channels at a range of scales.” The $10,000 prize was established by a bequest of Emily B. Warren in memory of her father and has been presented since 1969.
The National Academy of Sciences, established in 1863, is a private, nonprofit honorific society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Since 1863, the National Academy of Sciences has served to “investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art” whenever called upon to do so by any department of the government.
First Nations Library receives official UBC branch status
Following a unanimous recommendation by the Senate Library Committee, the Xwi7xwa Library received official UBC Library branch status this month.
The Xwi7xwa Library, which opened in 1993, contains more than 12,000 resources, including books, videos, journals and newspapers, maps, posters, theses and dissertations, the G.A. Mintz special collection, and a developing archive collection.
“The size, scope and focus of the Xwi7xwa Library supports Aboriginal students and faculty and makes it a unique Mecca for researchers in Aboriginal studies,” says Acting Head Ann Doyle. “It is one of the only places in Canada you can find this amount of exclusively First Nations material – all in one distinct location – open to the public, and globally accessible on the web.”
The library uses a unique classification system created by pioneering Kahnawake librarian Brian Deer, which groups materials geographically and by discrete topics such as Rights and Title, Self Government, Residential Schools, and Aboriginal Health. With branch status, the Xwi7xwa Library will be uniquely positioned to contribute to the ongoing development of The Brian Deer the system.
For more information, visit http://www.library.ubc.ca/xwi7xwa/.
Maria Klawe named president of U.S. science and engineering college
Maria Klawe, dean of Princeton University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and former UBC Vice President, has been chosen to serve as the fifth president of Harvey Mudd College (HMC).
A renowned computer scientist and scholar, Klawe will be the first woman to serve as president of HMC, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. She will begin her duties July 1, 2006, succeeding Jon C. Strauss, who will retire after more than nine years of service as president.
Klawe earned her B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics at the University of Alberta, and began her tenure at Princeton in January 2003. Prior to that, she held academic positions at the UBC, serving as Head of the Department of Computer Science from 1988 to 1995, Vice President of Student and Academic Services from 1995 to 1998, and Dean of Science from 1998 to 2002.
Engineering alumnus Ranasinghe new Vice-Chancellor of University of Moratuwa
Malik Ranasinghe has recently been named Vice-Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka’s leading engineering university.
Ranasinghe received a Doctor of Philosophy and a Masters of Applied Science from The University of British Columbia while studying with Professor Alan Russell of the Department of Civil Engineering. He has consulted and published extensively on involving the public and private sectors in environmental infrastructure projects.
National Association of College Stores certifies UBC Bookstore Director
The National Association of College Stores, the U.S. professional trade association representing the 3,300 collegiate retailers, recently named UBC Bookstore Director Debbie Harvie a Certified Collegiate Retailer (CCR).
The CCR designation is awarded for leadership, stewardship and expertise in post secondary retail operations, following a comprehensive series of examinations. Ninety collegiate retailers in the U.S. and Canada have earned the CCR designation since its launch in 2004.
UBC Film Program staff member wins at World Dance Championships
Zanna Downes of the Dept. of Theatre, Film and Creative Writing has returned from the World Dance Championships in Germany as a multiple medallist in tap dancing.
Performing with her group RAZZMATAP, which comprises part of team Canada, Downes won the silver medal in the small group category and bronze in the large group category.
