Source: Memorial University
Dr. Gary Kachanoski, Memorial
University’s president and vice-chancellor, has announced the
university’s outstanding educators, researchers and staff members for
2011. The recipients were formally recognized at an event held
Wednesday, Dec. 7, at the Fluvarium in St. John’s.
At
the event, Dr. Kachanoski presented the recipients of the president’s
awards for teaching, research, exemplary service and exceptional
community service. Five employees were honoured for exemplary service,
two faculty members for distinguished teaching, one for research and
one was recognized for exceptional community service.
“Our award recipients are dedicated teachers, researchers and employees
nominated by their colleagues and their students,” said Dr. Kachanoski.
“They’ve encouraged their students to look at the world in new and
exciting ways; they’ve carried out important and groundbreaking
research, they’ve inspired their co-workers as a consequence of their
dedication to their work; and they’ve shared their gifts generously
with the larger community.”
Drs. Jie Xiao, Department of
Mathematics and Statistics, and Jeffrey Parsons, Faculty of Business
Administration, were named University Research Professors. University
Research Professors have acquired a designation above the rank of
professor. The title is the most prestigious award the university gives
for research, and goes to faculty who have demonstrated a consistently
high level of scholarship and whose research is of a truly
international stature. The designation carries with it a $4,000
research grant (each year for five years) and a reduced teaching
schedule.
Dr. Kathryn Dupré, Faculty of Business
Administration, received the President’s Award for Outstanding
Research. The President’s Award for Outstanding Research recognizes
researchers who have made outstanding contributions to their scholarly
disciplines. Each award includes a $5,000 research grant.
Dr. Sandra MacDonald, School of Nursing, and Prof. Lynn Morrissey,
Faculty of Business Administration, were presented President’s Awards
for Distinguished Teaching which recognize the teaching excellence in
the university community. Each winner of the teaching award receives a
$5,000 grant contributed by the Memorial University Alumni Association,
Office of the President, and Instructional Development Office/Distance
Education, Learning and Teaching Support.
Dr. Noreen
Golfman was awarded the President’s Award for Exceptional Community
Service. It is presented each year in recognition of employees (faculty
or staff) who have demonstrated outstanding community service.
Five Memorial employees received the President’s Awards for Exemplary
Service: Jo-Anne Philpott, Community Education and College Relations,
Grenfell Campus; Robert Barker, Human Resources; Pam Clancey, Financial
and Administrative Services; Mary Beth Hutchens, School of Social Work;
and Albert Johnson, Distance Education, Learning and Teaching Support.
The President’s Award for Exemplary Service is presented each year to
recognize employees who have demonstrated outstanding service and/or
who have made significant contributions to the university community
beyond that normally expected for their positions. All non-academic
staff of Memorial University and its Separately Incorporated Entities
are eligible to be nominated.
The President’s Award for
Exceptional Community Service and the President’s Award for Exemplary
Service each carry a $1,000 award, respectively.
Memorial began its annual presentation of the University Research
Professor designations and the Awards for Outstanding Research in 1984,
and the Distinguished Teaching Awards in 1988, as ways of singling out
particularly distinguished contributions within its academic community.
Exemplary Service Awards were introduced in 1995 and the Exceptional
Community Service Award was first awarded in 2007.
Biographies of the recipients follow below:
Distinguished Teaching
Dr. Sandra MacDonald
School of Nursing
Dr.
Sandra MacDonald started working at Memorial in 1989, teaching medical
surgical nursing, and leadership and management. In 1995, Dr. MacDonald
designed the first interprofessional education (IPE) module with Dr.
Ian Bowmer, then the dean of the Faculty of Medicine. She served as
president-elect with the Association of Registered Nurses of
Newfoundland and Labrador (ARNNL) from 2002–04, as well as president of
the ARNNL from 2004–06. Currently a professor with the School of
Nursing, Dr. MacDonald is associated with the Centre for Collaborative
Health Professional Education and teaches courses in medical surgical
nursing theory, nursing leadership and management.
Lynn Morrissey
Faculty of Business Administration
Lynn
Morrissey received both her bachelor of commerce and her MBA from
Memorial University. She says she loved it so much, she never left. Ms.
Morrissey is currently an assistant professor, teaching communications,
and has been teaching with the Faculty of Business Administration since
1986. In that time she has won numerous teaching and service awards.
Ms. Morrissey is also course co-ordinator for the faculty’s research
and writing program and oversees an applied research course for senior
undergraduate students studying abroad. As faculty adviser to Students
In Free Enterprise (SIFE) Memorial, she guided the team to national and
international awards, including the SIFE World Cup championship in 2008
in Singapore. Ms. Morrissey’s research interests include workplace
culture, experiential learning and communications effectiveness.
University Research Professor
Dr. Jie Xiao
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Dr.
Jie Xiao has been a professor in the Department of Mathematics and
Statistics at Memorial since 2002. He earned a PhD in 1992 from Peking
University where he held a faculty position until 2000. As a
theoretical mathematician, Dr. Xiao uses geometrical techniques to
study the structure of partial differential equations describing flows
in space and time. He has published numerous monographs and textbooks,
and has authored or co-authored more than 90 research papers in
analysis, geometry, partial differential equations and mathematical
physics. Dr. Xiao currently serves as associate editor of the Journal
of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, the Canadian Journal of
Mathematics and the Canadian Mathematical Bulletin. In 2009, he
received the Dean of Science Distinguished Scholar Medal in recognition
of his outstanding and sustained contributions that demonstrate a
balanced approach to scholarly activities in both teaching and research.
Dr. Jeffrey Parsons
Faculty of Business Administration
Dr.
Jeffrey Parsons joined Memorial’s Faculty of Business Administration in
1993 as an assistant professor. Ten years later he was appointed
associate dean (research). He also serves as director of the PhD in
management program. Dr. Parsons earned his first degree at Memorial in
1985 and, in 1992, a PhD in information systems from the University of
British Columbia. His research interests include database management,
object-oriented systems and design, and theoretical foundations of
information systems. Dr. Parsons’ research has been published in
numerous journals and as a leading researcher in his field, he has held
several editorial appointments at academic journals. He holds research
grants from both NSERC and SSHRC and has served on grant committees for
both funding councils. Dr. Parsons has also served as program chair of
several high-profile conferences.
Outstanding Research
Dr. Kathryn Dupré
Faculty of Business Administration
Dr.
Kathryne Dupré began her employment at Memorial in July of 2003. She is
currently an associate professor of organizational behaviour and human
resource management in the Faculty of Business Administration. She
holds a PhD in management (organizational behaviour) from Queen’s
University. Dr. Dupré has won a number of teaching and research awards
and grants. Her research program focuses on health and well-being at
work, from both human resource management and organizational behaviour
perspectives. This research includes particular focus on workplace
aggression (on both direct and indirect victims), harassment, safety,
leadership, work-family balance, occupational stress and young
employees’ experiences in the workplace. Dr. Dupré’s work is regularly
published in several psychology and human resource management journals.
Exemplary Service
Jo-Anne Philpott
Community Education and College Relations, Grenfell Campus
Jo-Anne
Philpott, manager of community education and college relations at
Grenfell Campus, has served the Memorial University community with
distinction since she was hired in 1983. She has been instrumental in
helping to build Grenfell Campus into the institution it is today. An
advocate, adviser, mentor and organizer extraordinaire, Ms. Philpott
exceeds expectations in all that she does. The growth and reach of her
division – from a staff of two to a department with employees dedicated
to non-credit programming, recreational programming, facilities
bookings, communications, marketing, special events and conference
services – is thanks to her vision and energy. Ms. Philpott is an
indispensible resource in connecting the university with the public and
Memorial’s partners.
Robert Barker
Human Resources
Robert
Barker came to work at Memorial in 2002 as manager of organization
development, responsible for employment equity, learning and
development, and organization development consulting services. Mr.
Barker earned a master’s certificate in executive coaching from Royal
Roads University in 2008. He created a People Development Strategy that
resulted in the university investing in coaching, mentoring, management
and leadership development, and succession planning programs. In 2007,
Mr. Barker led the development of the Supervisory Skills Development
Program which earned an honourable mention at the Canadian Association
of University Business Officers (CAUBO) Quality and Productivity
Awards. Most recently, he has fostered a partnership between the
university’s Department of Human Resources, the International Centre
and International Student Advising. This partnership has led to
investments in intercultural education for university employees.
Pam Clancey
Financial and Administrative Services
Pam
Clancey has worked in the Financial and Administrative Services
department at Memorial since 1978. She has held various positions there
in the past 33 years, but since 1989 she’s been staff accountant in
disbursements and travel. Ms. Clancey is responsible for administering
the university’s relocation policy, and over the past 20 years has
helped over 680 new faculty and staff relocate to the province to work
at any of Memorial’s three campuses in the province. Her job often
requires tasks outside the usual workday to help move people and their
families to Newfoundland and Labrador from places all around the world.
Ms. Clancey also prepares and presents seminars on travel, relocation
and hosting policies. She completed the Supervisory Skills Development
Program in 2008 and has been on several review committees.
Mary Beth Hutchens
School of Social Work
Mary
Beth Hutchens is the student services co-ordinator at Memorial’s School
of Social Work. For her capacity to blend exceptional clinical skills
with administrative skills and knowledge, Ms. Hutchens is cited by her
colleagues as one of the most important and influential people at the
School of Social Work. Ms. Hutchens’ job includes advising students in
crisis, be it personal or academic, while maintaining clear and
collaborative communications with faculty and university
administrators. Having held this position since 1997, Ms. Hutchens has
influenced the lives and career paths of countless students and goes
well beyond what is expected to serve students and support school
activities.
Albert Johnson
Distance Education, Learning and Teaching Support
Albert
Johnson began working at Memorial in 1999, and brought with him almost
20 years of experience as an educator. He started his career as a high
school teacher but changed gears in 1993 and opened a small publishing
company that specialized in developing resources for the provincial
school system. Mr. Johnson later became an award-winning
instructor/designer working with Memorial’s Distance Education,
Learning and Teaching Support (DELTS). As a senior member of DELTS’
instructional design team, Mr. Johnson leads a development team that
collaborates with content developers to design and/or consult on the
creation of innovative, creditable distance-learning resources. This
combination of skill and knowledge is what led the Office of the
Provost and Vice-President (Academic) to request that Mr. Johnson work
as co-leader of the Teaching and Learning Framework initiative. His new
role since January 2011, as associate director of the Instructional
Development Office within DELTS, is what he calls “the job of a
lifetime.”
Exceptional Community Service
Dr. Noreen Golfman
School of Graduate Studies
Dr. Noreen
Golfman, a professor, amongst many other roles, who supervises master’s
and doctoral students, has been named one of Memorial’s most popular
profs every year in Macleans’ Guide to Canadian Universities since its
inception in 1996. Dr. Golfman is also dean of the School of Graduate
Studies at Memorial, leading a team of 20 employees that provides
leadership to more than 100 academic units responsible for about 3,000
graduate students. She is perhaps best known in the community for her
extensive involvement with the St. John’s International Women’s Film
Festival, MUN Cinema and Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. Espousing
films as entertainment as well as a vehicle for the communication of
ideas, Dr. Golfman has brought international films to our local
community and local films to the international community.
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For
more information, please contact Dave Sorensen, acting associate
director (communications), Memorial University, at sorensen@mun.ca or
709-864-2143.
© Memorial University
