Distinguished Alumni

2005 Dr. D. George Wyse, MD'74

The research that George Wyse conducted over a 20-year period on atrial fibrillation changed the way physicians around the world treat the cardiac condition. He's recently semiretired, but his commitments still tell the story of a man who's passionate about his work and saving lives. He's an arrhythmia specialist at an out-patient clinic, contributes to several cardiology journals, and sits on a number of boards and committees, including the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the American College of Cardiology. And the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, which he helped create, will always have a special place in his heart, and calendar.

2004 Kelly-Marie Murphy, BMus'87, MMus'89
Composer

Born in Sardegna, Italy, Kelly-Marie Murphy grew up on Armed Forces bases across Canada before settling in Calgary to pursue her post-secondary education. Following her U of C experience, she went on to receive a PhD in composition from the University of Leeds in England. Dr.Murphy has won numerous prizes for her music which has been performed across Europe, Japan and North America by some of the world's premier soloists and ensembles.

2003 Don Gillmor, BA'77

Don Gillmor is an accomplished author and journalist. He writes in several genres including children’s fiction and non-fiction/history. Two of Gillmor’s children’s books, The Christmas Orange and The Fabulous Song, were shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award in 1999 and 1996, respectively. He is also the author of Canada: A People’s History which was turned into a CBC documentary. Mr. Gillmor has written for several magazines including Rolling Stone, GQ, Premiere and Saturday Night and his articles have garnered him numerous National Magazine Awards.

2002 Dr. Cyril B. Frank, MD'76
Professor of Surgery, Chief, Division of Orthopaedics, and Researcher for University of Calgary and Calgary Health Region

In addition to his role at the Division of Orthopaedics at the U of C/Calgary Health Region, Dr. Frank is also the McCaig Professor of Joint Injury and Arthritis Research and director of the Bone & Joint Institute for the Faculty of Medicine. An orthopaedic surgeon specializing in knee surgery, Dr. Frank devotes much of his time to research in ligament healing and transplantation, with a focus on the potential prevention of osteoarthritis. More recently, he has developed a strong interest in health services and systems research, particularly in redesigning and testing innovations in Alberta’s health system.

2001 William M. Eubank, BPE'74, BEd'80
RCMP Detachment Commander, "G" Division and International Peacekeeper

William Eubank is an RCMP sergeant with a long history of volunteerism and an outstanding record as a community leader. While Sgt. Eubank served as an international peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia, he received the Commanding General's Commendation for bravery from the United National Protective Force, for leading a group of officers and civilians to safety while under heavy fire.

2000 Douglas R. Hamilton, MD'91, PhD'91
NASA Flight Surgeon and Biomedical Engineer

A proud U of C alumnus from the Faculty of Medicine, Houston-based Doug Hamilton has spent the last six months of 2009 in constant contact with the International Space Station, serving as astronaut Robert Thirsk's deputy flight surgeon. Without the services of a medical doctor on board, the responsibility falls to Hamilton to keep Thirsk healthy and happy whilst in orbit. But as much as Hamilton is known for his medical skills, they are trumped by his humanity and compassion. In 2005, as Hurricane Katrina destroyed countless lives in New Orleans, Hamilton did what he could to pick up the pieces and help people put their lives back together. He served as the lead night physician at the Houston Astrodome when Louisiana evacuees flooded into the city. More than 25,000 people were sent to the sports-arena-come-emergency clinic in a matter of three days. Hamilton, whose family was evacuated from Houston as well, remembers the time as one of terror and compassion. He’d listen to the stories of horror that many evacuees went through but also heard their praise. “These people were the most pleasant and appreciative of any I have ever met,” he says. “There wasn’t a single person who didn’t thank us for the medical care they received.”.

top

1999 Derek Besant, BFA'73
Artist

Derek Besant is well known for his unorthodox use of materials and technology in creating exhibitions, installations and collaborations as a Canadian artist. The hybrid forms he realizes often include soundtracks that relate to his themes of memory, language, and the body as metaphor. Besant curated EastEnd, a 2006 exhibit at The Nickle Arts Museum featuring the work of Calgary photographer John Dean.

top

1998 Grant Mossop, BSc'70, MSc'71
Director, Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary

Dr. Mossop had strong ties to the U of C's Department of Geology over many years. After receiving his undergraduate honours and master's degrees, He completed his PhD in Geology at the University of London (1973). Dr. Mossop was appointed adjunct professor in the Department of Geology & Geophysics in 2002. He was also well-known for his work with the Alberta Geological Survey in Edmonton and as director of the Geological Survey of Canada. Dr. Mossop served on the University of Calgary Senate from 2002 until his death in 2005.

1997 D. Michael Dobbin, BEd'71
Producing Director Emeritus, Alberta Theatre Projects

Michael Dobbin is an engaged citizen, a theatrical visionary, talented artist and a gifted teacher. During the bulk of his professional career, he served as CEO for three major theatre companies and one opera company in various Canadian cities (including nearly 20 years at ATP in Calgary). He has appeared on stage and directed at numerous theatres in Canada and abroad, was a founder and, for four years, chairman of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, a co-founder of the Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance, the Alberta Major Performing Arts Consortium and the Vancouver Playhouse Acting School among his many other volunteer commitments. In 1987 Dobbin launched the famous Enbridge PlayRites Festival of New Canadian Plays which has today become the most prestigious new play showcase in Canada. He has consulted or taught for theatre departments at Mount Royal College, The Banff Centre, Twin Rivers University, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Canada’s National Theatre School. Long active in social justice and quality-of-life causes, Dobbin has volunteered for numerous agencies, community campaigns and public events over the years. Michael is now a free-lance director/actor in Canada as well as being affiliated with several theatre companies in Asia, most notably in Hong Kong and Singapore. He is the owner of The Creative City Consultancy and is based in Vancouver.

1996 James Gosling, BSc'77, LLD'99

A true maverick, James Gosling is considered the father of the Internet's Java programming language (released in 1995), of which he was the key architect while working at SUN Microsystems. Now a fellow with the company, he's also the chief technology officer of the Java and Developer Products Organization. He'll be the first to admit that he was an "Internet geek" decades before the revolution hit and says that, to him, the Internet is all about connections. He imagines all that can be done with it: "I'm really a hippy at heart, who actually believes in world peace; getting people connected makes that happen." Gosling was named a recipient of the Officer of the Order of Canada by Governor General Michaelle Jean in 2006.

top

1995 Ronald G. Greene, BSc'69
President and CEO, Tortuga Investment Corp.

Ronald Greene has been an active member of the Canadian business community for over 35 years and was the founder and chairman of Renaissance Energy Ltd. from 1974 until its merger with Husky Energy in 2000. Greene is president and CEO of Tortuga Investment Corp., chairman of Denbury Resources, Inc. and a director of WestJet. He is also a past director of several industry and community associations, and international charitable organizations.

1994 Dr. Dr. Manuel A. Esteban, BA'69, MA'70
President, California State University at Chico (ret'd)

Manuel Esteban was the 17th president of the California State University, Chico from 1993 to 2003. His leadership stemmed from his roles of acting Dean of Arts, Sciences, and Letters at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at CSU, and provost and vice-president (academic affairs) at Humboldt State University. Now retired with his wife Gloria, if not vacationing together, Manuel plans to team up with Walt Schafer to write a book on campus alcohol use and violence as well as create blueprints for other campuses to help reduce and solve their problems of alcohol and abuse.

1993 Dr. Catherine Hankins, BA'71, MD'76

Catherine Hankins is associate director, strategic information and chief scientific advisor to UNAIDS. At UNAIDS, she supervises three teams: care, prevention and epidemiology/economics; coordinates the HIV/AIDS technical input into the Global Fund Technical Review Panel; and follows developments in vaccines and microbicides, scaling up antiretroviral access and effective prevention strategies, and estimating costs for care, prevention and impact alleviation as well as tracking resource flows for HIV programming in low and middle income countries. Prior to this, she was a member of the Canadian National AIDS Council for eight years.

1992 Dr. Vivian Ayoungman, BEd'70, MEd'75, MA'80

1991 Dr. Graeme Bell, BSc'68, MSc'71

Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, University of Chicago

Dr. Bell is a leading authority on the molecular genetics of diabetes mellitus and directs a large and active program which aims to identify diabetes susceptibility genes. He has identified certain genes that are responsible for the autosomal, dominantly-transmitted maturity-onset diabetes of the young. In 2006, Dr. Bell donated $1.7 million to the University of Calgary to boost the Faculties of Fine Arts and Science, the library and establish seven student scholarships and awards.

1990 Barry Lester, BSc'69, MSc'71

Barry Lester recently retired as vice-president and COO of Canada West, Stantec Consulting Ltd. Two high profile projects he was heavily involved with in his career were the construction of the Confederation Bridge to PEI, and the Olympic Oval here at the U of C. In 2007, he was the recipient of a Canadian Engineering Leadership Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements, leadership and generosity.

1989 Dr. Robert Janes, PhD'76

Robert Janes was president and CEO for the Glenbow Museum from 1994 to 2005. Earlier, Dr. Janes was founding director of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (1976-1986) and founding executive director of the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories (1986-1989), both in Yellowknife. More recently, Janes co-edited Looking Reality in the Eye: Museums and Social Responsibility, published by University of Calgary Press in 2005.

1988 Dr. Marvin Fritzler, PhD'71, MD'74

Dr. Fritzler is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary where he has received numerous Gold Star Letters of Excellence in Teaching awards. In addition to holding the Arthritis Society Research Chair and being director of the Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory, Dr. Fritzler has published over 225 papers and book chapters. In 2005, a Fritzler-led research team of U of C scientists published a paper in Nature Cell Biology on recently-discovered cell structures called GW Bodies. GW Bodies receive genetic messages and control whether the function is carried out or not. Dr. Fritzler and his team hope to one day be able to manipulate these cells in order to silence faulty genes.

1988 The Honourable Judge Kathleen Helmer, BSc'60, PhD'68
Judge for the Provincial Court of Alberta, Family and Youth Division

Judge Helmer graduated from the University of Alberta in 1960 with a BSC, from the University of Calgary in 1968 with a PHD (chemistry) and from UBC with a LLB in 1975. She went on to become the Judge for the Provincial Court of Albert in the Family and Youth Division in Calgary, Alberta and in 2003 she retired as a supernumerary judge.

1987 John Zaozirny, BComm'69
Senior Partner, McCarthy Tetrault

After his studies at the University of Calgary, John Zaozirny went on to complete his Bachelor of Law at the University of British Columbia in 1972 and a Master's of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London in 1973. Mr. Zaozirny served as Alberta's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources from 1982-1986 before joining McCarthy Tétrault LLP as counsel in their corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions group for Calgary and Vancouver. Mr. Zaozirny is a governor of the Business Council of British Columbia, the vice chairman of Canaccord Capital, and serves as a director and advisor to a number of public and private corporations.

1986 Dr. Maurice Yacowar, BA'62

Dr. Yacowar was a frosh in the pre-autonomous UAC's last year at "the Tech" (now SAIT). In the first year on the present campus he was the founding editor of The Gauntlet newspaper (and the first to be fired) and later Students' Union president. He started his MA (English) at UAC, finished at Edmonton, then did his PhD at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. His publications include a novel, The Bold Testament, a poetry chapbook, and eight books of criticism, including The Sopranos on the Couch: Analyzing TV's Greatest Series and the seminal studies of the films of Paul Morrissey, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Tennessee Williams and the British period Alfred Hitchcock. He brought critical analysis of films to the daily press, radio and TV, including a film studies credit course on TV in B.C. He was Humanities Dean at Brock University, where he initiated Canada's first film studies major, Academic Dean at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design when it won degree-granting status, and Fine Arts Dean at the U of C, 1995-2000. He retired in 2006 but continues to write fiction and cultural criticism.

1985 Dr. Robert Thirsk, BSc'76
Canadian astronaut

Robert Thirsk followed up his degree from the U of C's Schulich School of Engineering with an MD from McGill and two master's degrees from MIT. And he's taken all of that education, literally, out of this world, twice. First, he spent 17 days aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1996. In 2008 it was announced he would be the first Canadian Space Agency astronaut to ever fly in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, as well as the first Canadian to undergo an long-duration mission, spending six months aboard the International Space Station on Expedition 20/21. Since heading to the ISS in late-May, Thirsk has conducted research, spoken with students of all ages across Canada, and been awarded an honorary degree by the University of Calgary in a memorable ceremony that featured a live satellite uplink with the space station. Thirsk is one of six astronauts aboard the space station, and his stay marked the first time that all the contributing space agencies from Canada, the U.S., Russia, Japan and the European Union were represented on the ISS. We look forward to Thirsk's return to Earth in December, and we are extremely proud to call him one of our own.