Robert Borgersen
Mathematics

Robert Borgersen is the recipient of the University 1 Excellence in Teaching Award for 2012/13. The award, based on nominations from students, recognizes excellence in teaching among those teaching courses included on the University 1 list of Recommended Introductory Courses. Borgensen, an instructor in the mathematics department in the Faculty of Science, uses all the resources at his disposal to enable students in the coursework, including online practice tests, blogs and social media. A true educational pioneer, he believes that future teaching will look very different from traditional instruction: "I'm looking for a way to make it much easier for students to learn, using technology and resources that were not available previously."

For more information on Mr. Borgersen and his approach to teaching, please visit Robert Borgersen-Award Winning Instructor on the Faculty of Science website.

Lance W. Roberts
Sociology

Dr. Lance Roberts does not offer an easy sociology course; he challenges his students with difficult tests and manageable burdens of weekly reading requirements, and they (mostly) love him for it. Indeed, last year, he received the University 1 Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2011, he received the Faculty of Arts Teaching Excellence Award and he has received the Faculty of Arts Outstanding Achievement Award four times. In 2002, he was named Professor the Year in the Faculty of Arts and the following year he earned the U of M's outreach award. He began teaching here in 1976 and today is a Professor, a Senior Fellow at St. John's College, and a Collaborating Scholar at the National Center for the Twenty-First Century Schoolhouse at San Diego State University. In the lecture hall, he uses humour to engage students. As one student enthused, he is the "funniest prof I've ever met, I didn't know I could ever pay attention so well in class…his tests were challenging but that was awesome."

Source: The Bulletin, May 23, 2013, Vol. 47, No. 4.

For more information on Dr. Roberts and his approach to teaching, please read the article Not by the Book in the Spring 2013 issue of TeachingLIFE.

After completing his PhD at the University of Waterloo, Dr. David Barber returned to the University of Manitoba in 1993. He started the Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS) in 1994 with himself, one half-time technician, and two graduate students. In 2002, he received a Canada Research Chair in Arctic System Science. He continues as Director of CEOS and Associate Dean (Research) in the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources. Dr. Barber has extensive experience in the examination of the Arctic marine environment as a "system," and the effect climate change has on this system. He shares his experience with his students. To date, he has supervised to completion six honours theses, 18 MSc theses, 17 PhD dissertations and nine post-doctoral fellowships. He currently supervises 11 graduate students, two post-doctoral fellows, and 14 research associates. He is a member and leader of many national and international research councils, and he currently leads a polar marine science group of over 100 people. He has published over 170 articles in the peer-reviewed literature and during the latest International Polar Year (IPY) in 2007, he led the world's largest IPY project — the Circumpolar Flaw Lead system study. Throughout his years as a dedicated administrator, gifted teacher, and bold exploratory researcher, Dr. Barber has distinguished himself through his unwavering commitment to excellence.

Source: The Bulletin, May 23, 2013, Vol. 47, No. 4.

World-renowned immunologist Kent HayGlass is this year’s recipient of the Dr. John M. Bowman Memorial Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation Award. On March 27, 2013, he delivered the prestigious Rh Lecture, discussing why some people develop allergies, while others do not.

Dr. HayGlass is a Canada Research Chair in Immunology and he has made vital contributions to our understanding of the immune system. His work has a direct impact on the health and well-being of millions of people who suffer from allergies. HayGlass has devoted his career to studying cytokines, a family of about 100 small molecules that control the development, activation, direction and nature of immunity. Discoveries made by HayGlass, his trainees and colleagues have shed light on what controls how our immune system reacts, why some people develop asthma or food allergies and others do not, how an ancient arm of the immune system inherited from fruit flies affects our response, and what biomarkers could provide doctors with valuable information about their patients.

Source: UofM News Release, How your immune system helps and harms you, March 25, 2013

Janice Ristock
Office of the Vice-President (Academic) & Provost and Women's & Gender Studies.

Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg
Pediatrics & Child Health and Biochemistry & Medical Genetics

Two University of Manitoba researchers, Dr. Janice Ristock and Dr. Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg, have earned a spot on the Women's Executive Network's 2012 list of Canada's Most Powerful Women, Top 100, in the 'trailblazers and trendsetters' category. The Toronto-based network chooses women who have had an impact on Canadian society and are strong contributors in their fields, organizations and communities.

Vice-Provost (Academic Affairs) and professor in Women's and Gender Studies, Ristock's work on gender and sexuality has changed society's view of domestic abuse. Rockman-Greenberg, Head of the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health and professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, was the driving force behind the opening of the first lab in Winnipeg for the diagnosis of genetic disease with DNA testing. Congratulations to them both.

Dean Kriellaars
Physical Therapy

The recipient of the 2012 Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Campbell Outreach Award is Dr. Dean Kriellaars, Associate Professor in Physical Therapy, School of Medical Rehabilitation. The honour is awarded to a university staff member who demonstrates unquestionable meritorious service in outreach activities.

Dr. Kriellaars has travelled across the country, volunteering his time to teach about healthy lifestyles. He has pioneered new programs that address substance use in sports and health and drug prevention among youth and speaks regularly to student bodies about healthy living and substance abuse. Dr. Kriellaars has worked with both national not-for-profit organizations and national agencies to help develop effective tools for assessing physical literacy in our youth.

Dedicated to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and physical activity, Dr. Kriellaars’ passion to pass on this knowledge, at the local and national level, is both commendable and honourable. We congratulate him for his achievements. For further information on his accomplishments, please click here.

Frank Plummer (pictured above)
Medical Microbiology

Charles Bernstein (not shown)
Internal Medicine

Raymond P. Perry (not shown)
Psychology

Charles Bernstein, a renowned expert on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), helped put Winnipeg on the map as home to some of the most innovative gastroenterology research in the world.

The University of Manitoba professor’s pioneering efforts are now being recognized by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the country’s top association of scholars and scientists. Bernstein has been elected as a Fellow of the Society, which is considered the highest honour an academic can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences. Bernstein is among 71 new Fellows for 2012, the RSC recently announced.

U of M Distinguished Professors Raymond P. Perry and Frank Plummer (who is already RSC Fellow) are also being recognized. Perry will receive the Konrad Adenauer Research Award, which is given to a Canadian scholar whose research work in the humanities or the social sciences has earned international recognition. Plummer won the McLaughlin Medal, which celebrates distinguished achievement in medical sciences in Canada.
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Source: UofM News Release, Researcher given 'Royal' Treatment, September 14, 2012

Can you hear me now? These words are a thing of the past due to the research conducted by Dr. Lotfollah Shafai, Canada Research Chair in Applied Electromagnetics at the University of Manitoba and 2011 Killam Prize winner. In his state-of-the-art anechoic (non-echoing) chambers in the Applied Electromagnetics Laboratory in the Faculty of Engineering, he and his team are credited with the development of compact antennas used today in wireless and satellite communications, remote sensing, telemedicine, smart vehicles and navigation systems. The impact of these technologies is great and felt every day around the world by anyone using technology to communicate.

Shafai’s accomplishments span a career of many decades and many awards. His most recent honour, the 2011 Killam Prize in Engineering, is Canada’s most distinguished research award for outstanding career achievements. The award is made possible through the Killam Trusts by a bequest from Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam. Recipients are chosen by a committee of 15 eminent Canadian scholars appointed by the Canada Council.

For more information on the honour as well as Dr. Shafai's research, please refer to Changing the Way the World Communicates and Communications Advances Recognized with Killam Prize.

Source: UofM News Release, Communications Advances Recognized with Killam Prize, April 19, 2011

We are pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2011 Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Campbell Outreach Award is Dr. Francis Amara, Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics. A visionary educator and scholar, Dr. Francis Amara has shared his gifts generously with the community.

For over a decade he has actively engaged with the community to raise funds for Alzheimer’s disease, the United Way, refugee programs he has co-founded and directed, and science education programs he created to impassion inner-city students and their teachers. Dr. Amara did this while executing his world-class research examining aspects of Alzheimer’s disease: publishing 30 refereed journal articles, three book chapters, two monographs and receiving a patent. He mentors students in Grades 5-8 and he has won numerous awards honouring such activity. He regularly speaks with students at their middle and high schools to promote the life sciences. He founded the Head Start Aboriginal Science Initiative and coordinates its efforts. In 2004 he co-founded Sierra Leone Refugee Inc. to help immigrants adjust to life in Canada and an aspect of this process dear to Dr. Amara is ensuring new Canadians know about academic opportunities, and that refugee children are successfully integrated into Manitoba’s school system.

His remarkable achievements have earned him, among other awards, the Top 25 National Immigration Award in 2009, the 2009 Visions of Science Network of Learning Canada Award, the 2009 Science Teachers’ Association of Manitoba Achievement Award, the 2008 Ministry of Energy, Science, Mines and Technology Manitoba Certificate Award, and the 2006 Sanofi-Pasteur Canada Award. Throughout his career Dr. Amara has sustained his motivation, passion, and dedication to outreach activities. He is a man for others, and definitively embodies the spirit of the Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Campbell Outreach Award.