UBC Feature Web Site
UBC Library :
UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event highlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.
Sign up for UBC This Week and other UBC Public Affairs e-mail services at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/eservices.
Recent UBC Media Releases
- Feb. 5: Colour boosts brain performance and receptivity to advertising, depending on task: UBC study
- Feb. 4: Former Premier Mike Harcourt to Guide UBC Continuing Studies Centre for Sustainability
- Feb. 3: Raising Voices for Dialogue
Upcoming Event Highlights
Visit UBCevents, UBC’s new campus-wide calendar: www.events.ubc.ca
- Feb. 6: Richard Stallman: "Free Software in Ethics and in Practice"
- Feb. 9: Environment Speaker Series Pushing Prices Higher: Options and Implications of Pricing Carbon
- Feb. 10: Uncertainty, Entropy, Variance & the Effect of Partial Information
- Feb. 11: Gone AWOL: The Federal Government and Public Education in Canada
- Feb. 12: Nuclear Disarmament: Is It Closer Than We Think?
Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at www.gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.asp.
UBC People
- 2009 UBC Honorary Degree Recipients announced
- Gold medal win for UBC Library publication
- Materials engineering student honoured for leadership skills
- Call for students to particpate in Designs for a Sustainable World Competition
- UBC Library shares the love
UBC People
2009 UBC Honorary Degree Recipients announced
A Nobel laureate in medicine, a Vancouver advocate for the homeless, and an acclaimed First Nations artist are among 11 accomplished individuals who will receive UBC honorary degrees this year at the Vancouver campus.
The degrees are awarded for distinguished career achievements, as well as service to UBC and Canada, and will be awarded during the Vancouver Spring Congregation, May 20-27.
Currently the Chair of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester, Sir John Sulston is widely recognized for being the first to sequence an animal genome and the first to sequence a large region of the human genome. He was appointed the first director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which formed the UK’s contribution to the Human Genome Project. He received a knighthood in 2001 for services rendered to genome research and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2002.
Judy Graves, Coordinator for Vancouver’s Tenant Assistance Program, is a long-time, passionate advocate for the homeless. She began the Vancouver Homeless Outreach Project in 2005 that has successfully housed more than 2,000 people in B.C. She also co-authored the book A Room Somewhere: 101 Solutions to Homelessness.
Coast Salish artist Susan Point is widely recognized for her willingness to explore new mediums, while exhibiting a mastery of traditional Coast Salish style. She has been awarded numerous public art commissions, and her works welcome visitors to the Vancouver International Airport and buildings in the U.S. and Canada. She is the recipient of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award and has been elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts.
Other 2009 distinguished recipients, in alphabetical order, are:
• Thomas Michael Apsey, one of Canada’s most influential and decorated forestry professionals
• Alan Bernstein, first President of the Canadian Institute of Health Research
• Iona Campagnolo, former Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Member of Parliament, and a founder of the Fraser Basin Council
• Stanley Falkow, international microbiologist and leader in the study of how infectious microbes and host cells interact
• Daniel Gelbart, a highly respected B.C. inventor and entrepreneur
• Irving. A. Guttman, who was instrumental in starting the opera companies of Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton and Regina
• Kenneth Stephen Julien, UBC alumnus and now President of the National University of Trinidad and Tobago
• Bill Millerd, UBC alumnus and long-time Artistic Director of the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre Company
Gold medal win for UBC Library publication
The UBC Library Development Office (LDO) has received a Gold medal for Special Event Publications in the Council for the Advancement & Support of Education (CASE) District VIII awards. The packages awarded commemorated the re-opening of Rare Books and Special Collections in September 2008 and included reproductions of the first map to use “Canada” in 1597, a collection of poems by Oscar Wilde, a letter penned by Charles Darwin, the evolution of UBC’s crest and motto, and photographs of downtown Vancouver in the early 20th century.
The packages also received a “Job of the Month” title from Hemlock, a local printing company that awards projects making the best use of printing equipment and employee expertise.
Materials engineering student honoured for leadership skills
UBC Materials Engineering PhD candidate Lars Rose has been recognized by Natural Resources Canada’s Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI) for his outstanding leadership role in community outreach and fuel cell advocacy. In addition to his doctoral studies, Rose is a full-time employee of NRC-IFCI.
For more information, visit http://www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2009/jan30.html
Call for students to particpate in Designs for a Sustainable World Competition
What do a bicycle-powered water pump, a combination washer/irrigation system, and a mobile solar cooker have in common? They were all designed by UBC students as Designs for a Sustainable World participants, guided by the philosophy that sustainable designs will improve the lives of impoverished people around the world.
UBC students from all faculties across campus are encouraged to sign up for this year’s Designs for a Sustainable World Competition to build the next big thing in sustainable design.
Enrolment deadline is Feb. 9. For more information, visit http://www.ubc.ewb.ca/dsw.
UBC Library shares the love
Express your affection with the Valentine’s Note Card Series offered by UBC Library Vault. The cards feature a vibrant collection of romantic illustrations taken from books of myths, fairytales and stories of eternal love.
Purchases can be made online at www.ubcvault.ca, at the Library Development Office (Room 2.42, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre) or at any UBC Bookstore location. Proceeds support UBC Library.
