Scholarship honours U of L’s first acting president

caroline.zentner — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 19:46:43 +0000

Fifty years ago, Dr. Russell Leskiw (LLD ’93) became the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s first acting president, guiding the institution from its birth on Jan. 1, 1967 through its first six months.

In honour of his legacy, the U of L recently established the Dr. Russell Leskiw Memorial Scholarship and, this fall, the first scholarship was given to Kelcey McCarthy, a fifth-year education student.

“We’re very pleased that the U of L is doing this and know that students will appreciate this scholarship,” says Evelyn Leskiw, Russell’s widow. “Our three adult children are delighted and realize that this is a very special tribute to their father.”

Kelcey McCarthy, a fifth-year education student, says the U of L's focus on practicums has helped her become a better teacher.

“I’m very grateful to the Leskiw family and the donors who helped create this award,” says McCarthy, a fifth-year student in a combined biological sciences and education program. “I’ve read about Dr. Leskiw and what he did for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and I feel very honoured to receive this scholarship.”

Evelyn, who now lives in British Columbia, recalls their years in Lethbridge as an exciting time. Seeing the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ take its first steps as a separate entity was pretty heady. When Dr. Sam Smith became the U of L’s first president, Russell became dean of the Faculty of Education. In its first year, the Faculty of Education had seven members, a number that doubled the following year. Russell had focused his doctoral thesis on long internships patterned after the medical and legal professions, and the U of L’s education program evolved to have a significant focus on practicum.

“To have the opportunity to put some of that into practice was really satisfying for Russ,” Evelyn says.

McCarthy, who’s from Edam, Saskatchewan about an hour east of Lloydminster, is currently completing her third and final practicum at a Lethbridge high school. She can attest to the value of those practicums.

“I’ve had really good experiences here,” says McCarthy. “The Education faculty is just phenomenal and all the experience you get to have in practicums, that’s been really great for me, too. I’ve had awesome teachers to work with and they really helped push me and become a better teacher myself.”

Those words would, no doubt, be music to Dr. Leskiw’s ears.

Leskiw describes the challenges he faced to establish the Faculty of Education in the 50 Years, 50 Voices oral history project.

U of L community mourns the loss of Dr. Russell J. Leskiw

caroline.zentner — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 18:04:52 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge community extends its heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Russell Leskiw (LLD ’93), the U of L’s first acting president in 1967 and the first dean of the Faculty of Education. Leskiw passed away on Monday, September 28, 2015 at the age of 86.

During his six-month presidency, Leskiw was key to setting the fledgling U of L on course for what has been an almost 50-year journey. He assumed the position of acting president on Jan. 1, 1967, the same day the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ officially came into existence. Leskiw found himself at the helm of a new institution that had been highly debated and much anticipated.

When he was appointed, Leskiw was a 38-year-old southern Alberta high school inspector working out of Calgary and he had recently completed his doctorate of education at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Oregon.

During the U of L’s 40th anniversary celebrations in 2007, Leskiw recalled those early days in the February issue of the Legend.

“Looking back, they were exciting times, and we faced many challenges,” he said. “The first issue I had to deal with as acting president was a conflictual situation in which the community as a whole was engaged. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Section of Lethbridge Junior College strongly supported the formation of a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. At the same time, there were stalwarts on the college board and administration who felt that there should be one institution continuing as it had. There were supporting factions in the community for both points of view.”

Keeping in touch with supportive elements in the community, Leskiw continued efforts. Dr. Owen Holmes was appointed as academic dean, the Board of Governors began operating and various governing bodies were established. About three months into his tenure as acting president, discussion began around forming a Faculty of Education. A proposal to establish such a Faculty was turned down by the Universities Co-ordinating Council. Leskiw was undaunted and managed to secure the signature of the minister of education at the time on the Faculty’s charter and the Faculty of Education at the U of L was born.

Following his time as acting president, Leskiw took on the role of dean of the Faculty of Education, serving until 1974.

UNews - Dr. Russell Leskiw

Scholarship honours U of L’s first acting president

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U of L community mourns the loss of Dr. Russell J. Leskiw

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