Ringers

Dr. Michael Miller has been re-appointed dean of engineering for a second five-year term. Miller has been on the engineering faculty since 1987 when he was named chair of the department of computer science. His primary area of research interest is decision diagrams applied to the design of logic systems using conventional and spectral techniques. Also appointed effective July 1 is Dr. Elizabeth Grove-White as executive director of UVic's co-op program. Grove-White has held the position on an interim basis since July 2000. She has been a faculty member in the department of English and director of the professional writing program. UVic's co-op program is the third largest in the country, with work terms available in 41 academic areas.

Dr. Ian MacPherson, director of UVic's British Columbia Institute for Co-operative Studies, has won the 2002 award for "outstanding contributions to co-operative education and training" from the Association of Co-operative Educators, the professional association for human resource professionals, trainers and researchers throughout North America. The award was presented at the association's meetings in Guelph in May. He has also been awarded the first merit award from the Canadian Association for the Study of Co-operation, the national society for researchers interested in the study of co-operatives and co-operative thought.

Psychologist Dr. David Hultsch is the new director of UVic's Centre on Aging. The Lansdowne professor of psychology has been conducting research on cognition and aging for more than 30 years. Currently, he's principal investigator of Project MIND, which is examining whether short-term fluctuations in mental performance predict who will experience more serious cognitive problems in the long-term. Hultsch succeeds sociologist Dr. Neena Chappell in the role she's filled since 1992. Chappell is internationally known for her work on home care, supporting the case for government expansion in this area to provide more efficient and appropriate health care for an aging society.

Dr. Rick Bell (physical education) was awarded the R. Tait McKenzie Award of Honour by the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) at the organization's recent annual conference in Banff. The award honours Bell for his professional accomplishments and his service as a recognized leader nationally and internationally. "He has developed a reputation for working diligently to make theory more meaningful and for modeling what he preaches," reads Bell's citation. And it quotes a colleague, saying, "Rick is a master teacher as well as a scholar and unflagging advocate for high-quality, daily physical education in schools."

Dr. Antoinette Oberg and the late Dr. Vance Peavy received awards for outstanding contributions to qualitative research at the 2002 International Human Science Research Conference held June 19­22 at UVic. Dr. Oberg (curriculum and instruction) has supervised dozens of graduate students and developed the curriculum studies graduate program at UVic. She has served as the director of the Learning and Teaching Centre and received the Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award in 1995. Peavy (educational psychology), who retired in 1994, continued to supervise graduate students on a volunteer basis until his death earlier this month. For more on his achievements, see In Memoriam, page 7.

UVic Chancellor Emeritus Dr. William Gibson has been named to the Order of Canada. Gibson was a professor of the history of medicine and science at UBC from 1959­1978 and chaired the financing body of the Universities Council of B.C. from 1978­1983. He served as UVic's chancellor from 1985­1991. The Order of Canada is awarded by Canada's Governor General to recognize outstanding achievement and service in various fields of human endeavour.

Dr. Myer Horowitz, an adjunct professor in the faculty of education, will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Alberta this fall. Horowitz is one of Canada's most eminent scholars in the field of education and served a 10-year term as president of the U of A.

Retired social work professor John Cossom has been awarded the 2002 honorary life membership of the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work. Cossom joined UVic in 1979 as the school of social work was opening its doors, and was a key figure in shaping the program. He also served as president and a board member of the B.C. Association of Social Workers and edited their provincial publication and the journal Social Worker in the 1990s. He retired in 1997, but that hasn't slowed him down; he has been a mentor for sessional teachers in the school of social work, and volunteers for various community programs, including a restorative justice program for federal parolees.

Professor emeritus Dr. John Fitch (Greek and Roman studies) has just published a volume on the Roman dramatist Lucius Annaeus Seneca in the prestigious Loeb Classical Library. Seneca was a leading literary and political figure in Rome during the first century A.D. Fitch's volumeHercules, Trojan Women, Phoenician Women, Media, Phaedracontains his translations of five plays, a general introduction and an introduction to each play. Fitch, who retired from UVic in 1999, is working on a second volume, containing the remaining five plays of Seneca, for publication in 2003.