Incoming president
Amit Chakma, incoming president of The University of Western Ontario, will be officially installed during Fall Convocation at the Oct. 23 afternoon ceremony. Chakma’s five-year term at Western begins July 1.
Golf tourney
The 2009 Peggy Collins Memorial PMA Golf Tournament takes place June 15 at Pine Knot Golf and Country Club, just east of Dorchester. This is the 9th annual tournament for a fundraiser that has brought in $40,000 for the Peggy Collins Fund and ovarian cancer research at LHSC. The $125 entry fee includes 18 holes of golf, power cart, BBQ steak lunch and prizes. Register at www.has.uwo.ca/pmagolf/ or contact the PMA office at mduncans@uwo.ca or x83005 to sign up. Visit the PMA website at www.uwo.ca/pma for more details.
Great teachers wanted
The Faculty of Education and London Public Library have opened nominations for names of teachers to be included in the 2009 Teachers Wall of Fame. Students, former students and fellow educators can suggest a primary school or high school teacher, retired or nearing retirement who best exemplifies great teaching. The deadline for nominations is May 31. The induction will be held at the Faculty of Education on Oct. 5. Nominators should compose an essay of up to 750 words. Details are available at www.edu.uwo.ca/teacherswalloffame. For more information, contact Patricia McLaughlin, 519-661-2111, ext. 87643 or via email at pmclaug@uwo.ca
Post Events
Ever wonder how to post your area’s events to the online events calendar on the university’s homepage? Thousands of viewers turn to the site every month for information about concerts, exhibits, lectures and seminars. While the calendar is administered by the Department of Communications and Public Affairs, some departments have assigned an “authorized user” to post directly to the university-wide service – or make changes or deletions as needed. Not signed up? Write to comingevents@uwo.ca for information about how your area can better promote key events.
The fields formerly known as…
Don’t get lost. The athletic fields once known as Brescia Fields are now officially called Elborn College Playing Field 1 (East) and Elborn College Playing Field 2 (West). The property was formerly owned by Brescia University College before being acquired by Western.
Russell tribute planned
The late Dr. Earl Russell will be the subject of a tribute dinner and fundraiser June 12 to support Meals on Wheels. Russell, a Western alumnus, generous donor and 2006 honorary degree recipient who dedicated his life to the relief of pain, was the founder of Meals on Wheels, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. In 1969, Russell, then a member of the Social Concerns Committee at Byron United Church, helped launch a program similar to one in Calgary recommended by his own mother. That first effort involved six recipients. Today, 365 volunteers deliver 2,000 meals a week and provide 200 rides to appointments. Tribute dinner tickets are $125. Call 519-660-1430, contact Melina Buragina at 519-671-2324 or mburagina@meals-on-wheels.ca or visit www.meals-on-wheels.ca.
Bechard named national rowing coach
Graduate student Dan Bechard (PhD, Heath and Rehabilitation Sciences) has been named an assistant coach for the National Rowing Team’s Under 23 women, in preparation for the world championships July 23-26 in Racice, Czech Republic. Holding a master’s in rowing biomechanics, Bechard is coaching Western’s heavyweight men’s program, winning national titles the last three years and having been named Canadian University Rowing Association Coach of the Year for the 2008-09 season.
Mustangs drafted
The University of Western Ontario Mustangs football team has sent three more student-athetes to the pro ranks. Defensive lineman Vaughn Martin was selected in the fourth round (113th overall) in the April 25 NFL draft, while teammates Zachary Pollari (offensive tackle) and Jason Kosec (linebacker) were taken in the May 2 CFL draft by Toronto (26th overall) and Edmonton (44th overall), respectively.
Pacheco coaching field hockey
Jeff Pacheco is the new University of Western Ontario Mustangs women’s field hockey coach, taking over from Brenyn Hodge, who recently stepped down to focus on her family. Pacheco served as an assistant to Hodge since 2006. Western finished in third place in the OUA with an 8-1-5 record, defeating Waterloo 2-1 to capture the bronze medal. Pacheco coached in Australia and is the current Ontario Summer Games U-18 Southwest Region head coach. He is also a carded field hockey official.
Western carves out YouTube presence
The University of Western Ontario is now included by YouTube in the EDU index of institutions of higher education. This development, driven by the Department of Communications and Public Affairs, makes it possible to upload longer videos, such as full lectures or basketball games, and to centralize and better brand Western’s presence on the video-sharing website. Western is one of the first Canadian universities on the EDU index.
www.youtube.com/westernuniversity
Seewald earns lifetime achievement award
Richard Seewald, a Canada Research Chair in Childhood Hearing and Distinguished University Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, has been awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists. In 1972, Seewald began his career as a clinical audiologist at the IWK Hospital for Children in Halifax and helped develop Dalhousie’s School of Human Communication Disorders which opened to students in 1976. He later served on the faculty. For the past 35 years, his work has focused on selection and fitting of amplification and early habilitation for infants and young children with hearing loss. He is known internationally for developing the Desired Sensation Level Method for pediatric hearing instrument fitting. Seewald is a consultant to the Ontario Infant Hearing Program and has received numerous awards including an honourary doctorate from Dalhousie University and, most recently, the International Award in Hearing from the American Academy of Audiology.