Writing instructor Madeline Sonik wins City of Victoria Butler Book Prize
Department of Writing sessional instructor Madeline Sonik is the winner of the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize for her acclaimed memoir, Afflictions & Departures. She received the $5,000 prize at a sold-out gala on Oct. 10 at Victoria’s Union Club, emceed by CBC Radio All Points West host Jo-Ann Roberts (who will also be the writing department's 2013 Southam Lecturer). The jurors cited Afflictions and Departures as, “a wonderfully generous book that returns us to one of literature’s touchstones: intensely personal revelation rendered universal. Sonik’s tone—cool and wry—manages to be simultaneously humane and funny.” 2012 also saw Sonik nominated for the $25,000 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction and the $40,000 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction for the same book.
Jubilee Medal to Williams
Dr. Lorna Williams (curriculum and instruction), Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledge and Learning, received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in August for her work in Indigenous Education and the support of Indigenous Youth in international relationship development. She was nominated by Victoria MP Denise Savoie.
Five named to Next Leaders Council
Five members of the university have been selected by the Business Council of BC to participate in the Next Leaders Council. The group of 50 emerging leaders includes Associate University Secretary Carrie Anderson, Associate V-P Student Affairs Jim Dunsdon, Assistant Treasurer Andrew Coward, Sociology Chair Sean Hier and Greek and Roman Studies Chair Cedric Littlewood. They will be involved in directing the creation of the Next Leaders Forum to engage emerging leaders in shaping the future of public policy and economic development in Western Canada. More: www.nextleaders.ca
Dawson reappointed LTC director
Teresa Dawson has been reappointed director of the Learning and Teaching Centre for an additional five-year term that began July 1. “Under her leadership, the Learning and Teaching Centre has made significant contributions to undergraduate and graduate student learning, to the development of faculty and instructors, and to supporting excellence in the design and delivery of academic programs,” says Associate V-P Academic Planning Catherine Mateer.
King to study internet voting
Dr. Valerie King (computer science) has been named to a five-member expert panel convened to study what Internet voting could mean for BC. King conducts research in randomized algorithms, data structures and distributed computing. She and four others on the independent panel will examine the pros and cons of the potential implementation of Internet-based voting for provincial or local government elections. Existing laws do not permit Internet voting at either the municipal or provincial level. Chief Electoral Officer Keith Archer announced the panel Sept. 10. It includes Archer as chairman, King, UBC associate professor Konstantin Beznosov, East Kootenay Regional District administrator Lee-Anne Crane, and former B.C. auditor general George Morfitt.
Career achievement award to Marks
Lynne Marks, chair of UVic’s history department, recently received a notable recognition of her achievements to date. She is this year’s recipient of the Marion Dewar Prize, awarded to an outstanding scholar based on the strength of research, teaching and administrative work during her or his career to date. UVic Dean of Humanities Dr. John Archibald applauds her efforts and as “a fine ambassador” for the university. The annual prize—created in 2004 in tribute to feminist activist and former Ottawa mayor Marion Dewar—is presented by the National Capital Committee on the Scholarship, Preservation and Dissemination of Women’s History to Canadian historians who specialize in women’s history.
Staffer’s bird has a beak for business
Success is in the cards for UVic law librarian’s assistant Mary McQueen. She secured a $10,000 investment, for a 25-per cent stake in her business, through the popular CBC television program the Dragons’ Den. An episode featuring McQueen and her lovebird Luigi, whose passion for shredding paper provides the raw material for his owner’s Hand and Beak greeting-card creations, was taped in Toronto last spring and aired Sept. 26.
My 20 years in UVic’s Speakers Bureau
As a long-time UVic student and current faculty member, I am excited to participate in the ongoing celebrations that have been planned for UVic’s 50th Anniversary. I am also delighted to help celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the UVic Speakers Bureau. The bureau is a community service provided by volunteer speakers from among UVic faculty, staff, graduate students and retirees who teach, conduct research, study and work at UVic. I have come to discover that this is the only university-wide bureau of its kind in Canada.
UVic employee becomes climate leader
Day in the life: Neil Honkanen
Working in the Department of Physics and Astronomy Electronics Shop is Neil Honkanen’s dream job. “Where else could you design computer-controlled cable testers for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (where they believe they have discovered the elusive Higgs Boson) one day and help an honours student design a brain-wave simulator the next?” he asks. “Working with sharp, young students every day, I know that the future is in good hands.”
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