UNews - Seamus O'Shea

Humanitarian Lindhout to receive Honorary Degree

trevor.kenney — Fri, 09 May 2014 16:33:23 +0000

Acclaimed journalist, author and humanitarian, Amanda Lindhout, will receive an Honorary degree from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge at its Spring Convocation ceremony.

In her courage, compassion, resolve and dedication, Amanda Lindhout is an inspiration, and she embodies the philosophy and values of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

“We are very excited that Amanda has accepted our offer of an Honorary Degree,” says ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Chancellor, Dr. Shirley McClellan. “Her story is one of incredible perseverance and compassion. To be able to use the traumatic ordeal she experienced as the impetus to effect change is incredible. Her attitude embodies the ideals of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.”

The U of L will present Lindhout with the degree of Doctor of Laws, honouris causa, at the Spring 2014 Convocation Ceremony III on Friday, May 30 at 9:30 a.m. in the 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness.

Lindhout will also participate in a book signing (A House in the Sky) at 12:30 p.m. in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Bookstore.

She is the fourth Honorary Degree recipient to be named this spring, along with Dr. Barbara Hohn, Dr. Seamus O'Shea and Dr. Austin Mardon.

Amanda Lindhout

Journalist, author, and humanitarian Amanda Lindhout is the founder of the Global Enrichment Foundation and has devoted her life to social responsibility.

Amanda Lindhout was born in Red Deer, Alta., and at the age of 24 became a journalist, travelling to various conflict zones. In 2008, she and a freelance photojournalist went to Mogadishu, Somalia. Two days after arriving, they were both kidnapped by religious extremists and held in captivity for 463 days. During this time she was repeatedly tortured and assaulted by her captors. After her release, she chose to become a champion for underprivileged people in Somalia.

In 2010, she founded the Global Enrichment Foundation, which aims to provide education, counselling and community programs in Somalia. This foundation has raised millions of dollars to develop programming that empowers Somalians to create a better future.

Since her ordeal, Lindhout has gone to great lengths to share her story, through speaking engagements, a book (A House in the Sky) and other activities. She has participated in a Bill Clinton Global Initiative panel, has given an address to the United Nations Associate in Ottawa, and has moderated a panel of former extremists for the Google Ideas Summit Against Violent Extremism.

In her courage, compassion, resolve and dedication, Lindhout is an inspiration, and she embodies the philosophy and values of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Her overcoming of adversity speaks to deep strength, purpose and compassion, and she exemplifies the notion of engaged citizenry.

In recognition of Amanda Lindhout’s courage, humanitarian contributions and advocacy for peace and empowerment, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge confers upon her the degree of Doctor of Laws, honouris causa.

O'Shea, key contributor to growth of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, to receive honorary degree

trevor.kenney — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 17:27:43 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is pleased to announce the second of its distinguished 2014 Honorary Degree recipients – erstwhile post-secondary education supporter Dr. Séamus O’Shea.

Dr. Séamus O’Shea has had a significant positive impact on the institution, and on the post-secondary sector in Alberta and beyond.

“Dr. O'Shea, in his longtime role as Vice-President (Academic) and Provost, was extremely influential in the maturation of our university and we are thrilled that he has accepted our offer of an Honorary Degree,” says ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Chancellor, Dr. Shirley McClellan. “The comprehensive institution you see today could not have been achieved without the foresight of people such as Dr. O’Shea.”

The U of L will present O’Shea with the degree of Doctor of Science, honouris causa at the Fall 2014 Convocation Ceremonies.

Séamus O’Shea

Former Vice President (Academic) of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Dr. Séamus O’Shea, has had a significant positive impact on the institution, and on the post-secondary sector in Alberta and beyond.

A professor of chemistry at the U of L since 1977, O’Shea is a computational chemist. In the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry he progressed through the academic ranks to become professor and then department Chair, before moving on to senior administration.

O’Shea served as the Vice-President (Academic) and Provost for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge from 1991 to 2007. As VP Academic he was a catalyst for the transition of the U of L into the comprehensive academic and research institution it is today.

O’Shea has also played a significant role in Alberta’s post-secondary education and research sectors. From 2007 to 2012 he was Chair of the Board of Cybera, he was Chair of Alberta’ Informatics Circle of Research Excellence until 2010, and he led the implementation of a provincial online post-secondary application system. Currently, he is Chair of the Board of Directors for the Alberta Gambling Research Institute. He has shown continuous support for the institution, the post-secondary system and the province.

O'Shea recognized as trailblazer

trevor.kenney — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:15:46 +0000

Dr. Seamus O'Shea, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Vice–President Academic Emeritus and a well known advocate for province-wide information technology development, is being acknowledged, with colleague and fellow "Cyber Trailblazer" Dr. Brian Unger, for their long-term efforts to support and expand connectivity to the province's networking and computing infrastructure.

The two remarkable digital-era pioneers are being recognized today on the eve of their last board meeting with Cybera, which operates Alberta's Research and Education Network.

Unger, founding president of the organization, is stepping down after 19 years on the board. For six of those years he was also CEO, where he led the development of Alberta's networking and computing infrastructure.

As a computing science professor in the early days of the internet, Unger recognized the specialized needs of researchers working with this new technology.

He was one of the founders of the Western Universities Research Consortium (WURCnet), which became Netera Alliance, and later Cybera.

The organization was tasked with developing Alberta's high-end research networks, enabling access to supercomputers provided by the High Performance Computing Consortia (HPCC), and later by WestGrid, which he also co-founded.

Unger was the founding president of the Alberta Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE) from 1999-2005. During this period, iCORE invested $43 million in 17 ICT research chairs, supporting over 500 faculty, graduate students and staff.

Through these interrelated projects, he evolved Alberta from a province of remote pockets of academia to a region known for its collaborative, data-intensive research.

Unger received the IWAY "Public Leadership" Award for outstanding contributions to Canada's information society in 2004, and was named a "Canada Pioneer of Computing" at the 2005 IBM CASON conference in Toronto.

Over the same period, O'Shea was leading the IT strategies at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, where he was Vice-President, Academic and Provost.

As chair of Cybera's Board of Directors over the past five years, he has worked to grow the organization to become a regionally and internationally-recognized leader in networking and cloud computing.

O'Shea's work in the early 1990s made the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge one of the first post-secondary institutions to make broadband widely accessible, giving every desk on campus access to the internet.

He also served as Chair of iCORE from 2006-2010 and, more recently, was co-chair of the team that designed and implemented ApplyAlberta, the province's online post-secondary application system.

"Very few researchers actually know the story of these IT pioneers, and how their everyday tools are the result of decades of commitment. Brian and Seamus have helped build the foundations of e-infrastructure in Alberta, which is among the best in the world," says President and CEO Robin Winsor.

"Through their vision and pathfinding work, they have led the research, computing and networking landscape in this province. In the process, they have ensured that Alberta researchers have the tools and networks to succeed internationally."

Fiat Lux Address stimulates liberal education dialogue

trevor.kenney — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:40:07 +0000

Dr. Andy Hakin has posed the question, and now we look forward to the discussions that will ensue.

The second annual Fiat Lux Address (Sept. 27, 2012) was the purview of Hakin this time around, after President Mike Mahon gave the inaugural address in 2011. And from the outset of Hakin's presentation, the provost and vice-president (academic) made one thing abundantly clear – he was going to initiate a dialogue about liberal education and not conclude one.

"My intention today is to ask questions," said Hakin. "There's no solution here – if you're looking for a solution you're at the wrong talk."

Weaving a narrative that first spoke to the need to differentiate the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ within the province's post-secondary landscape, Hakin paid homage to some of the institution's founders such as Drs. Owen Holmes and Luke Stebbins. He referred to conversations he'd had with former Provost Dr. Seamus O'Shea and Dr. Chris Nicol as he shaped is opinions on liberal education at the U of L.

"The need for differentiation within Alberta's post-secondary system has never been greater, for our students and for us," he said. "There are many things we could do but what are the right ones? It's a time for focus and a time to review the options that are in front of us."

One of those options is to take a real look at the liberal education ideal through the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's curriculum and to not be afraid to ask the hard questions.

"Is the GLER (general liberal education requirements) list a liberal education?" he asked. "I've been here 23 years and it doesn't seem to have evolved much from those lists. For some of our students, it becomes ticking off boxes to complete a degree – but is that a liberal education? I don't think so, and I think we have to be a little more purposeful."

Time and again, Hakin would go back to a common refrain, saying, "It's time to get into it."

He acknowledged there was a fear to open up the liberal education discussion, mainly because the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community is not entirely sure just what liberal education is today.

"It's not going to come, in a comprehensive academic and research institution, at the expense of the strength of our majors. This is not about downgrading the quality of our majors, but if we're serious about the quality of the whole of the degree that we offer, then we have to try and build an experience not just around the major but the whole beast."

Hakin challenged faculty, as the generators of curriculum, to examine their own thoughts on liberal education.

"I'm asking for us to reinvest in curriculum," he said. "We have strong programs and majors but I think we can do better. It's not that it's bad, I'm just asking the question, is it purposeful and does it address the needs of today's students and differentiate us in a manner that it could?"

He concluded by putting the conversation into historical context, harkening back to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's founding principles, hashed out at the 1967 Waterton Conference.

"Liberal education has historically been very important to us," he said. "We need to ask, does it still have that importance to us as an institution? I know where I stand, I want to know where you stand."

Let the dialogue begin.

This story first appeared in the October 2012 issue of the Legend. To see the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Honouring long service

trevor.kenney — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:24:26 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ held its annual Long Service Awards and Retirement Recognition Ceremony recently, honouring 116 employees who have completed 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service. A total of 23 retiring employees were also honoured.

Following is a list of honoured employees.

RETIREES

Art Aitken, Dayna Daniels, Richard Epp, Rex Forsyth, Eldon Gardner, Wolfgang Holzmann, Bill Hudgins, Joan Kendall, Leslie Lavers, Lucie Linhart, Gerald McConaghy, Linda McLeod, Ken Nicol, Seamus O'Shea, Doug Parker, Ramrattie Ramtej, Donna Seyed Mahmoud, Ches Skinner, Philippe Teillet, Linda Van Esch, Wendy Vogel, Nick Wade and Ian Wells

LONG SERVICE RECIPIENTS

40 Years | Maria Draper

35 Years | Chris Charles, Bryan Kolb, Peter McCormick and Gerda VanderFluit

30 Years | Jane Allan, Cheryl Calver, Dayna Daniels, Gayle Durand, Rex Forsyth, Laurel Hamilton, Jay Johnston, Linda Kucheran, Greg Martin, David Naylor, Shari Platt and Leanne Wehlage-Ellis

25 Years | Shamsul Alam, Lana Barton, Bryson Brown, Cathy Campbell, Patricia Chuchryk, Leslie Gatner, Allan Gergel, Nancy Grigg, Tyler Hayward, Mary Anne Hellinga, Wolfgang Holzmann, Bill Hudgins, Margaret Joblonkay, Kas Mazurek, Alice Miller, Richard Mrazek, Thomas Robinson, Doug Ross, Jadranka Smiljanec, Brian Sullivan, Richard Tedesco, David Townsend, Sandy Wiest and Joan Zimmer

20 Years | Patti-Jo Aiken, Linda Anderson, Roberto Aragon-Garcia, Jochen Bocksnick, Carl Budny, James Byrne, Peter Dibble, Deborah Grant, Bill Halma, Andrew Hurly, Janet Macdonald, Karen McCallum, Louise Miller, Al Mueller, Claudia Notzke, Sergio Pellis, Dwayne Pepin, Vern Peterson, Maria Quinteros, Kathy Schrage, Colleen Sullivan, Brian Titley, Donna Townley and Mark Walton

15 Years | Doug Berry, James Dobbie, Jackie Edwards, Lance Grigg,
Michelle Hogue, Marie Matkin, Ian McAdam, Gerald McConaghy, Chris Moroz, Jeff Oliver, Derek Peddle, Michael Perry, John Poulsen, William Ramp, Keith Roscoe, Elizabeth Schultz, Ivan Townshend and Kenneth Vos

10 Years | Louise Arsenault, Stella Baah, Brenda Bell, Donald Birchfield, Ryan Buckman, Jill Cassidy, Lorena deLange, Christopher Epplett, Margaret Forgie, Don Gill, Bill Glaister, Val Hill, Patricia Horrocks, Nancy Hosgood, Frank Huss, Deborah Jarvie, Helen Kelley, Carol Knibbs, Keith Knowles, Josh Korthuis, Christopher Kukucha, Greg Lacey, Corie Lazenby, Wayne Lippa, Karen Mahar, Jeremiah Merkl, Josephine Mills, Joy Morris, Chris Nicol, Chris Picken, Jeremy Pierson, Mike Pinder, Catharine Reader, Michael Robinson, Victor Rodych, Tammy Rogness, Mark Sabo, Robin Schafthuizen, Shelley Scott, Behnam Seyed Mahmoud, Gerry Ste. Marie, Robert Sutherland, William Tietz, Raquel Trillia, John von Heyking, Kevin Ward, Katherine Wasiak, Robert Williams, Barbara Williams, Jim Wishloff, Robert Wood and Jing Zhu

To view the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Long Service Awards Wednesday

trevor.kenney — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:00:57 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is holding its annual Long Service Awards and Retirement Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday, May 4, beginning at 1 p.m. in the Students' Union Ballrooms.

A total of 116 employees who have completed 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service, and 23 retiring employees will be recognized. All employees are invited to the ceremony and reception to honour the award recipients. The reception will include light refreshments.

Following is a list of retirees who will be honoured at the ceremony. For the full list of employees to be recognized, follow this link.

Retirees
Art Aitken, Dayna Daniels, Richard Epp, Rex Forsyth, Eldon Gardner, Wolfgang Holzmann, Bill Hudgins, Joan Kendall, Leslie Lavers, Lucie Linhart, Gerald McConaghy, Linda McLeod, Ken Nicol, Seamus O'Shea, Doug Parker, Ramrattie Ramtej, Donna Seyed Mahmoud, Ches Skinner, Philippe Teillet, Linda Van Esch, Wendy Vogel, Nick Wade and Ian Wells.

RSVP deadline for Fitzpatrick dinner

trevor.kenney — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:30:51 +0000

The RSVP deadline for Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick's Appreciation & Recognition Dinner is fast approaching as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge celebrates 10 years of unprecedented growth in research.

Fitzpatrick is leaving the position of Vice-President, Research, after a decade of leadership that saw the U of L move from a position of afterthought as a research institution to one of foremost authority. To honour Fitzpatrick, a Friday, June 5 Appreciation & Recognition Dinner has been organized. The RSVP deadline to attend this dinner is Friday, May 29.

Tickets for the dinner are priced at $40 each. To attend, RSVP to Bette-Jo Kulak at 403-329-2200 or e-mail to b.kulak@uleth.ca

The following is a personal letter from Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick on the occasion of his leaving the position of Vice-President (Research) after 10 years

When I was hired 10 years ago, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge was not on Alberta's research map. At provincial research and advanced education meetings, the talk was of Alberta's two research universities. When the U of L applied to join the Alberta Science and Technology Foundation we had to seek approval of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary because of a non-compete clause in the membership agreement. Times have changed. The notion that there are two research-intensive universities has been put to rest.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's commitment to scholarship provided the foundation for change. Research is at the heart of a university, not just an activity for the faculty but also an integral aspect of the student learning experience. Curiosity driven and problem-based learning is important and should be incorporated in the curriculum as soon as possible. Undergraduate level research is an important teaching tool. This prepares students for employment and feeds our graduate programs. As measured by the awarding of some of Canada's most prestigious scholarships, the Julie Payette NSERC Research Scholarship and the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, our student research programs are very successful. The hallmarks of research program success – grants, research chairs, fellowships and other honours – are too numerous to list. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has become a comprehensive university.

Timing is everything. The creation of the Canada Research Chairs program and the Canada Foundation for Innovation presented unprecedented opportunities. We accessed funds from other federal agencies, including Western Economic Diversification, to build the most important element of any research program – the human capital and supporting research infrastructure.

The Government of Alberta – through programs managed by Advanced Education and Technology – complemented this federal support and much more. The Government of Alberta funded our first two research buildings; the Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neurosciences and the Alberta Water and Environmental Science Building. These investments changed the very nature of the institution.

People are important. Success within the research portfolio stemmed senior leadership and commitment to scholarship. The support of Presidents Bill Cade and Howard Tennant; Vice-Presidents Andrew Hakin, Nancy Walker and Chris Horbachewski; and Deans Christopher Nicol and Jo-Anne Fiske are gratefully acknowledged. The contributions of two good friends, Vice-President Seamus O'Shea and Board of Governors Research Chair Bryan Kolb, were significant. No one works alone.

The Office of Research Services family made the events of the last decade possible. Heartfelt thanks to Marg McKeen, Jane Allan, Penny D'Agnone, Penny Pickles, Eric Kokko, Morgan Guo, Pejman Ghanipour and Robin Schafthuizen. The contributions of my friend Christine Picken were significant.

A decade has flown by and it is time to take my leave. It has been my honour and my privilege to serve as Vice-President Research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick

Culture of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ has changed in recent years

trevor.kenney — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:53:56 +0000

The following is a personal letter from Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick on the occasion of his leaving the position of Vice-President (Research) after 10 years

A decade has flown by and it is time to take my leave. It has been my honour and my privilege to serve as Vice-President Research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick

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