Ring: Oct. 31, 2002: Legacy Awards

The gala event combines award presentations that had previously been held on separate nights at various campus venues. This year, alumni, professors and athletes will all share the spotlight at the Fairmont Empress Hotel.

Presentation of the Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Distinguished Alumni Awards, and the first inductions into the UVic Sports Hall of Fame will be the feature events of the evening.

The winner of the Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching is geography professor Dr. David Lai who, for more than 34 years, has shared his knowledge of Asian culture and history with countless students. He sees himself as a “transformer,” helping students examine cultural issues from Western and non-Western points-of-view.

Lai has establishedwith the help of the Chinese community13 awards, scholarships and travel grants to promote the further study of China, Chinese emigrants and Chinatowns. In this way, his students are encouraged to adhere to the Chinese saying, “To travel 10,000 miles is better than to study 10,000 volumes of books.”

The 2002 Distinguished Alumni Awards go to:

Eve Egoyan (BMus ’85) who began piano lessons at a neighbour’s house when she was 11, studied at UVic, and is now among Canada’s finest pianists. Egoyan specializes in modern compositions. “I want to be in the present and I want to re-invent the instrument,” she says.

Walter McLean (Victoria College ’55), who has built a distinguished career as a pastor, politician, diplomat and corporate executive. “Global thinking” is his motto and it’s a view he traces to his formative years in Victoriahis father was a church minister with African and Asian contactsand the multicultural environment at Victoria College.

Erich Mohr (MSci ’80; PhD ’82), an expert in experimental therapeutics for central nervous system disorders and the Victoria-based chief scientific officer of PRA International. Says Mohr of his time at UVic: “It was a very academically stimulating environment. We were always pushed to the limit.”


Lai	Egoyan	McLean

Mohr	Rees	Kathy Shields

Ken Shields	Loomer	Milligan

The five inaugural inductees into the UVic Sports Hall of Fame are:

Gareth Rees (rugby, BA ’91), considered “Canada’s gift to rugby” by one writer. Twice named UVic athlete-of-the-year, he’s the country’s all-time leading point-scorer and led Canada to four World Cup tournaments. He’s currently executive director of Rugby Canada.

Kathy Shields (basketball), whose coaching record speaks volumes. In 22 years with Vikes women’s basketball, she’s compiled a regular season record of 339 wins and only 57 losses, including eight Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championship teams.

Ken Shields (basketball), who from 1978 to 1989, coached the Vikes men’s team to seven consecutive CIS Championships and earned four CIS Coach-of-the-Year awards. He was instrumental in establishing the National Coaching Institute at UVic.

Lorne Loomer (rowing) winner of gold at the 1956 Olympic Games and the 1958 Commonwealth Games, and silver at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Loomer built the UVic rowing program that today reflects his determination, competitiveness and success.

Wally Milligan (soccer), now deceased, who was a member of the 195152 Victoria United Soccer Club that captured the Pacific Coast Soccer League championship. He later served as the founding coach of the UVic men’s soccer team from 1964 until 1971.

Tickets for the 2002 Legacy Awards event are sold-out. Net proceeds will support student scholarships and athletic awards.