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UBC People

Eight staff members awarded 2011 UBC President’s Staff Award

Eight UBC staff members have received the 2011 UBC President’s Staff Award in recognition of their personal achievements and contributions to UBC and to the vision and goals of the university.

The awards recognize the recipients’ contributions of excellence in categories such as enhancing the UBC experience, leadership and creativity, global citizenship and emerging leaders as part of the university’s awards and recognition program.

President’s Staff Award Recipients (Vancouver Campus):

Enhancing the UBC Experience
John Amor, Dept. of Earth and Ocean Sciences
Gene Boado, Custodial Unit, Building Operations
Melanie Groom, Human Resources
 

Global Citizenship
Lynn Newman, Faculty of Land and Food Systems      

Leadership and Creativity
Chad Hyson, Office of the Vice President, Students
Jeff Miller, Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology
 

Emerging Leadership
Patrick Ho, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology
Kyle Nelson, UBC Robson Square

To read about the recipients and their award nominations, please visit the Focus on People website at http://www.focusonpeople.ubc.ca/blog/2011/president-staff-awards-vancouver.

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New climate change research fellowships across four BC universities

The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) announced eleven new research fellowships awarded to eight PhD and three Masters students. The candidates were chosen from the four PICS collaborating universities, which comprise UBC, University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University and the University of Northern British Columbia.

In addition to the 11 new fellowships are renewals of 25 existing awards.  The funding total for the 36 fellowships for 2011-12 is $645,000.  UBC students will receive more than $320,000 for 17 research projects related to climate change and sustainability. 

New fellowship recipients from UBC:

• Georgia Piggot, PhD candidate, sociology: Collaborative networks and climate change action: a British Columbia case study.
• Paul Teehan, PhD candidate, Resource Management and Environmental Studies: Greenhouse Gas implications of cloud computing: analyzing large data center construction in the Columbia Basin.
• Lisa Westerhoff, PhD candidate, Resource Management and Environmental Studies:  Governance for climate change: local decision-making for low-carbon, resilient communities.
• Lilia Yumagulova, PhD candidate, Resource Management and Environmental Studies: Resilient by design: the role of institutional adaptation to environmental risk in cities.
• Kevin Zhang, MSc candidate, Community and Regional Planning. The effect of urban design on transit rider perceptions and ridership.

PICS executive director Tom Pedersen says this year’s recipients will investigate a range of climate change-related issues from scientific, economic, environmental and social science perspectives.

For more information on the fellowships past and present, visit www.pics.uvic.ca/fellowships.php.

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Professor recognized for ovarian cancer research

Dr. David G. Huntsman, professor in the Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, received the inaugural Virginia Greene Leadership Award for his work in the field of ovarian cancer.  Huntsman led a research team that discovered ovarian cancer is not one disease, but is made up of five subtypes that behave like distinct diseases. This work, published in 2008, provided a roadmap for clinicians and researchers studying ovarian cancer and has changed the way in which it is diagnosed and treated.

He is also the director of OvCaRe, the Ovarian Cancer Research Program at Vancouver General Hospital and the B.C. Cancer Agency.

The Virginia Greene Leadership Award recognizes a major contributor to overcoming ovarian cancer within B.C.  The award was created by Virginia Greene’s daughter Justine Greene and Ovarian Cancer Canada. Greene passed away as a result of her ovarian cancer on Dec. 2, 2010. 

Ovarian Cancer Canada is the only national charity dedicated to overcoming ovarian cancer.

For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/about_us/Awards_and_Honours.htm#Dr. Huntsman

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$4 million donation for UBC Medical Education Centre at Lions Gate Hospital

The North Vancouver based Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation has donated $4 million to help establish the UBC Medical Education Centre to be housed in The Greta and Robert Ho Centre for Psychiatry and Education (The Hope Centre) at Lions Gate Hospital.

The Centre will attract specialists and medical students to the North Shore and make it possible to teach up to 100 medical students per month at Lions Gate Hospital.

For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/media/_4_million_donation_funds_UBC_Medical_Education_Centre_at_Lions_Gate_Hospital.htm

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Funding to kick-start new joint initiatives announced by Sauder School of Business and Copenhagen Business School

The Sauder School of Business and the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) will strengthen their strategic partnership by creating a $400,000 fund to support collaboration. The new money, contributed equally by both institutions, is the first installment to the fund targeted at jump-starting joint research and teaching initiatives at the schools.

Sauder and CBS signed an alliance agreement in June, which identified areas of intended collaboration, including curricula development, the delivery of executive education, faculty research, doctoral supervision and the development of new teaching and learning platforms. 

As the first initiative under the new alliance, a group of students from Sauder’s EMBA in Health Care traveled to Copenhagen from Aug. 21-26 to take part in the Sauder-CBS EMBA in Health Care European Exchange Initiative. Participants were provided with an intensive program of on-site lectures and gained a working knowledge of Danish health care delivery systems, policies and management styles, which are facing many of the same challenges as British Columbia.

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Education professor wins Senior Research Award

Bonny Norton, a professor and Distinguished University Scholar in the Dept. of Language and Literacy Education at UBC’s Faculty of Education, has been named the winner of the first Senior Research Award by the Second Language Research SIG of the American Educational Research Association.

Norton has been recognized with this award for her research on identity, investment and language learning and for her contributions to literacy and international development. Norton’s research has generated more than 100 publications, and according to her nominees, “changed the face of second language research.” She is also a strong mentor of new scholars from around the world.

For more information, visit: http://lled.educ.ubc.ca/dr-bonny-norton-awarded-senior-research-award

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Computer science professor receives ACM paper award

Computer science professor Gail Murphy‘s 1995 paper, “Software reflexion models: bridging the gap between source and high-level models” has been selected to receive one of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGSOFT’s Retrospective Impact Paper awards in 2011.  

ACM SIGSOFT recognizes papers that have been influential in software engineering research. Annually an award is made to a paper published a decade earlier, and in each of the first five years of the award, an additional committee is asked to select up to five papers published prior to 1998 for a special Retrospective Impact Award.

For more information, visit https://www.cs.ubc.ca/news/2011/09/gail-murphy-receives-sigsoft-retrospective-impact-paper-award

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UBC professor and graduate students receive VLDB best paper award

Asst. Prof. Andrew Warfield from the Dept. of Computer Science together with graduate students Shriram Rajagopalan and Brendan Cully won best paper award at the Very Large Database (VLDB) 2011 Conference for their paper titled “RemusDB: Transparent High Availability for Database Systems”.

For more information, visit https://www.cs.ubc.ca/award/2011/08/andrew-warfield-shriram-rajagopalan-brendan-cully-won-best-paper-award-vldb-2011

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New buildings at UBC's Okanagan campus ready for students

The School of Engineering building (Engineering, Management and Education Complex) and the Purcell residence building both opened with return to classes this week, while the Health Sciences Centre will be ready for the first intake of 32 students in the Southern Medical Program early in the new year.

At 186,000 square feet, the $68-million engineering facility with a geothermal system also features a glass atrium for students, faculty and staff from all three programs to socialize, study, and interact. A green roof and low-flow fixtures will provide 40 per cent savings over conventional systems.

The Health Sciences Centre is a $31-million, 47,000-square-foot building that includes high-tech classrooms and lecture theatres, small-group teaching rooms, research and teaching laboratories, administration and faculty offices and linkages to campus infrastructure. The distance-learning technology includes a massive screen (14 metres across) that can display up to four video feeds at the same time.

Students have also moved into the new $14.9-million Purcell Residence, with 212 beds bringing the total number of beds on campus to 1,648 to meet the needs of out-of-town students. The Purcell features a green roof, solar heating panels, occupancy and window sensors and heat-recovery ventilators.

For more information, visit https://news.ok.ubc.ca/2011/09/08/new-buildings-at-ubcs-okanagan-campus-ready-for-students

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2011 President’s Town Hall

Each year the President’s Town Hall brings UBC faculty, staff and students together for an interactive dialogue.  This year, Peter Klein, acting director and professor from the Graduate School of Journalism will join Prof. Stephen J. Toope in an interview. 

The UBC community will have a chance to ask senior administration questions.  Submit questions online at www.townhall.ubc.ca/ or ask in person at the Town Hall.

Vancouver Campus
Date:  Sept. 19
Time:  11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Place:   Vancouver: Roy Barnett Recital Hall (6361 Memorial Road)
Program: 11:30 am – informal reception, light lunch served
12:00 noon -Town Hall begins

Okanagan campus
Date:  Sept. 21
Time: 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Place:  University Centre Ballroom (UNC 200)
Program: 11:30 am – informal reception, light lunch served
12:00 noon -Town Hall begins

To learn more about the President’s Town Halls visit www.townhall.ubc.ca/.

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Asia Pacific Memo’s 100th edition: Post 9/11 Pakistan and New Restrictions on Migrants

Twice a week, Asia Pacific Memo publishes short text memos or video interviews in current issues in Asia and across the Pacific:

  • Sept. 13: Ending Islamic Solidarity in Post 9/11 Pakistan: New Restrictions on Migrants, by Prof.  Nausheen Anwar

To read the Memo visit http://www.asiapacificmemo.ca/

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Canadian serial entrepreneur comes to UBC

A select few 2012 engineering and commerce graduates may receive the chance of a lifetime to partner with Canadian serial entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews and his team in a new business venture.

Date: Sept. 16
Time: 1 p.m.
Place: Room 228 McLeod Building, 2356 Main Mall
Info: www.entrepreneurship.ubc.ca/2011/entrepreneurshipubc-presents-sir-terry-matthews-friday-sep-16th

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UBC Ritsumeikan celebrates 20 years

The UBC Ritsumeikan Academic Exchange Programme, a partnership between UBC and Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, is celebrating its 20th anniversary and a renewed agreement between the two institutions.
 
The award-winning UBC Ritsumeikan Academic Exchange Programme enables 100 students from Ritsumeikan University to come to UBC each year to live and study. Living alongside UBC students in UBC residences, students from both universities gain international and intercultural experience. The agreement also provides opportunities for faculty members to participate in the exchange.
 
The original exchange agreement was signed in 1991 and was due to expire the spring of 2011. The two institutions have agreed to renew the agreement and a new program is being created entitled “The Ritsumeikan UBC Global Citizenship Program” which will be launched in September, 2012.
 
The anniversary celebration will be held on Friday, Sept. 16 and will be attended by UBC President Prof. Stephen Toope, Ritsumeikan University President Prof. Kiyofumi Kawaguchi and Hideki Ito, Consul General of Japan in Vancouver.

For more information visit: http://ubcritsumeikan.com

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