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Emőke
Szathmáry
President and Vice-Chancellor
The University of Manitoba's tradition
of doing our best in all ways and at all levels
provides sound grounding for transmitting the leadership
skills and knowledge that will be required tomorrow.
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Message From The President
The vision for The University of Manitoba set out in Building on Strengths, the final report of the Task Force for Strategic Planning says that, among other things, we aim to become one of Canada's outstanding universities, respected for our
knowledge of the world. The report recommended investment in four areas to attain our vision, one of which was that of building partnerships, especially with the external community.
Have we moved closer in 1999-2000 in attaining elements of our vision? I leave it to you to make your own judgment, as you read through the pages of this report. In my view, however, the report contains an impressive list of achievements by faculty, staff and students, by any standard.
Look at what our research knowledge can do in partnership
with others - as manifested by Stephen Moses of medical microbiology,
who is leading an $11.2 million project supported by the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) to fight HIV/AIDS
in two states of India. Or regard partnerships between the
Manitoba Innovation Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation
and industry, which together provided the funds for projects
such as the Grain Storage Research Facility, headed by Digvir
Jayas of biosystems engineering, and the Centre for Architectural
Structures and Technology (CAST), headed by Mark West, architecture.
Our mission includes the provision of service, and one way
of providing service externally is by partnerships that benefit
others as well as the University.
A core function of the University is teaching, and offering
high quality educational programs. This report is a testament
to our staying true to this aspect of our core. In 1999-2000,
a year after its launching, University 1 showed it was an
enormous success. And if you want to see the names of truly
outstanding teachers, consider the list of 19 professors who
have been honoured more than once with the Students' Recognition
Award. The fact that so many of our professors regard teaching
as a vocation says much about their commitment to students.
Our
students' accomplishments continue to be amazing. One can
highlight these by pointing to David Gratzer's prize from
the Donner Foundation for writing the best book in Canadian
public policy - a significant accomplishment in itself, but
all the more outstanding when one considers that Dr. Gratzer
was a fourth year medical student when he published the book!
One of our graduates, now at Columbia University, received
a Rhodes Scholarship - the fourth student in five years from
the University of Manitoba to receive this award. This kind
of performance highlights why our University ranks third in
the nation in the total number of Rhodes scholarships received
since the 1960s. And there are many other prizes, successes
individually and in teams in a variety of competitions across
a variety of disciplines in national and international settings.
Private
contributions were up by 40% over last year, indicating to
me that Manitobans and former Manitobans want to be proud
of their University, and when we let them know that their
confidence and pride in their University is well founded,
their friendship and support follow.
In
closing, I want to emphasize that attaining our vision requires
the co-operation of faculty, staff and students. We continue
to improve, we continue to excel, and kudos to everyone who
has done his or her part in such changes, big or small. On
behalf of the University, I thank the Board of Governors,
especially its Chair, Mr. Paul Soubry, for dedication and
support of our great institution of learning. The University
of Manitoba's tradition of doing our best in all ways and
at all levels provides sound grounding for transmitting the
leadership skills and knowledge that will be required tomorrow.
Our vision is within our grasp!
Emőke Szathmáry
President and Vice-Chancellor
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