On a warm summer evening members of the York community gathered for York’s Hail and Farewell Dinner, an annual event created to officially welcome people taking on new positions in the University and thank those who are stepping down or retiring.
The dinner was held on Monday, June 25, at the Glendon Dining Hall on York’s Glendon campus. It presented a special opportunity for those present to thank outgoing York President & Vice-Chancellor Lorna R. Marsden for her 10 years of leadership (see Headline News), and welcome then President-designate Mamdouh Shoukri to the York family. Below are the people who were feted.
Hailed to new positions:
Mamdouh Shoukri took office on July 1 as York University’s seventh president and vice-chancellor. Shoukri comes to York from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario where he had been vice-president research & international affairs since 2001. He joined McMaster’s faculty in 1984 and was appointed Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department in 1990 and dean of the Faculty of Engineering in 1994. See the announcement ad published in today’s Globe & Mail.
Douglas Peers will become dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and associate vice-president graduate effective Aug. 1. Peers joins York from the University of Calgary where he has been a faculty member since 1989. He has served as associate dean (research and development) of the Faculty of Social Sciences, as well as the Faculty’s interim dean. Beyond the university he has played an important role with the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada, serving as its interim vice-president (Programs Branch) in 2004, as well as with the Canadian Federation for the Humanities & Social Sciences, and the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. His academic appointment will be in the Department of History, Faculty of Arts. See the announcement ad published in today’s Globe & Mail.
Barbara Rahder became interim dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) for one year commencing July 1. Rahder has been a full-time faculty member in FES since 1993. She holds graduate degrees in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Toronto. Her research interests are in the areas of participatory research and planning, women and planning, social sustainability, diversity and equity, access to affordable housing and community services, and urban planning history, theory and education. She has served in a number of governance roles in FES and at the University level, and from 2001-2003 and 2004-2006, she was the graduate program director in FES. See the announcement ad published in today’s Globe & Mail.
Brenda Spotton Visano, an economics professor in the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies and formerly vice-chair of Senate, assumed the Senate Chair on July 1. Involved in graduate programs in economics, social & political thought and sociology, Spotton Visano is a researcher and teacher with a specialty in the areas of macroeconomics, monetary theory and policy, banking and economic sociology.
Norma Sue Fisher-Stitt, a Faculty of Fine Arts professor, has been appointed associate vice-president academic learning initiatives, effective Aug 1, for a three-year term. This new position will support efforts related to the University Academic Plan‘s priorities around enhancing the quality of students’ educational experience and quality of learning, and the implementation of plans to establish the Atkinson Centre for Mature & Part-Time Students. Fisher-Stitt joined York’s Faculty of Fine Arts in 1992 as a full-time faculty member in the Department of Dance. She has served as associate dean in the Faculty of Graduate Studies since 2005 and previously served the Faculty of Fine Arts as associate dean, Chair of the Department of Dance and graduate program director in Dance. She is a graduate of York University.
Hailed to the York University Board of Governors:
Susan Dieleman was confirmed by the board as a student representative for the term July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009. Dieleman is pursuing a PhD in philosophy. She has held the positions of vice-president internal and president of the York University Graduate Students’ Association, and has served as a representative on Senate and the Faculty of Graduate Studies Council. Prior to York, Dieleman attended Memorial University in St. John’s Nfld., where she was involved in the Graduate Students’ Union.
Martin Garcia was confirmed by the board as a non-academic staff member representative for the term July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009. Garcia is currently employed by York University as a custodian and has been working on the Keele campus for 12 years. He is a member of CUPE, and previously held the position of shop steward.
Bonnie Kettel, a professor in York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, was confirmed by the board as a faculty representative for the term July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009. Kettel has been a full-time faculty member at the University for 17 years. She has served as Chair of Senate (2002-2003), program coordinator for the Masters in Environmental Studies Program, FES graduate program director and associate dean of FES.
Hailed as college masters:
Mauro Buccheri, a professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, was appointed master of Founders College for a five-year term which began July 1, 2006.
David Leyton-Brown, a political science professor in the Faculty of Arts, was appointed master of Calumet College for a five-year term commencing July 1, 2007.
Modupe Olaogun, an English professor in the Faculty of Arts, was appointed master of Stong College for a five-year term which started on July 1, 2006.
Stanley Tweyman, a professor in the Division of Humanities, Faculty of Arts, was appointed master of Vanier College for a five-year term commencing July 1, 2007.
Completing his term as Chair of Senate:
Ross Rudolph became Chair of Senate on Jan. 1, 2006, Rudolph previously served as vice-chair of Senate from July 2004. He has been a member of the Department of Political Science, in York’s Faculty of Arts, since 1971, specializing in the history of political theory. His accomplishments as an educator were recognized with an Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations Award. Among his teaching responsibilities at York, Rudolph was director of the Graduate Program in Political Science, associate dean and acting dean, Faculty of Arts and associate vice-president academic. He was awarded the University Professorship at this year’s Spring Convocation.
Completing their terms on the York University Board of Governors:
Matthew Hayes was appointed to the Board of Governors as a student representative on July 1, 2005 and served on the Academic Resources Committee. Hayes has been a student at York University since the fall of 2001 and is pursuing a PhD in sociology. Since coming to York he has been active in the Faculty of Graduate Studies, serving on Senate and the Graduate Students’ Association. His current research focuses on the democratization of economic governance in Western societies.
Allan Hutchinson was appointed as a Senate representative to the Board of Governors on July 1, 2005 and served on the Land Use Committee. Hutchinson has been a member of Osgoode Hall Law School’s faculty since 1982 and served as associate dean at Osgoode from 1994 to 1996. He is currently associate dean (research & graduate studies). Hutchinson is a legal theorist with an international reputation for his research. He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2004. He became a distinguished research professor of York University in 2006 and received a University Wide Teaching Award in 2007.
John Ljubicic was appointed to the Board of Governors as a non-academic representative on July 1, 2005. He served on the Land Use Committee. A construction administrator in the Maintenance Department of Campus Services & Business Operations, he has been an employee at the University for 15 years. His most recent accomplishments include administering the construction contracts of the Tait McKenzie addition, renovation and relocation of York Faculties and departments in the TEL Building and the relocation of departments into the William Small Centre.
Stepping down from positions in the academy:
Ronald Pearlman was appointed interim dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, in 2005. A biologist and University Professor, he is currently the director of York’s Core Molecular Biology Facility and Chair of the University Strategic Health Research Planning Group. Pearlman, who joined York in 1968, has played a major role in increasing the visibility of York’s health research in many public and private health organizations. He made a significant impact on the study of science at the University by contributing to the incorporation of modern molecular biology, biochemistry and molecular genetics in both the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. Pearlman is a member of the Gairdner Foundation committee and the Canadian Institute for Health Research. He has also served as the graduate program director in biology, from 1997 to 1999. From 1999 to 2004 was he was the associate dean (academic) in the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
Joni Seager joined York as dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies on July 1, 2004. She came to York from the University of Vermont, where she was Chair of the Department of Geography, and previously held positions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Maine. Her active research interests include feminist environmentalism, the environmental costs of militaries and militarism, and international environmental policy. Seager has achieved international acclaim for her work in feminist environmentalism and on the environmental costs of militaries and militarism, global condition of women and her books on the environment and feminist topics. She is the author of the Penguin Atlas of Women in the World (2003), a widely praised update of her previous editions which won national and international awards. She will be leaving her post to pursue a new research opportunity: producing an atlas of the state of the global environment.
Carole Carpenter became master of Vanier College in 2003. In that role, she steadfastly supported student life and was prominent in the redevelopment of college space, including the Vanier College Theatre and the Renaissance lounge. Carpenter also served as a vocal member of last year’s Task Force on the Colleges and ensured that the perspective of masters and faculty members was heard.