When John Weatherall looks at the needs of a community today, what he sees as vitally important is a sense of closeness.

Unfortunately, he points out, that closeness is sorely missing in most communities.

However, one of the ways he personally is trying to make a difference is through his participation with the United Way of Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington.

While he has long supported the United Way in a number of ways, John is currently heading up the Leadership Challenge Grant, which is aimed at encouraging ‘Leadership’ level donations of $1,200 or more during the annual fundraising campaign. This is the second year that John and his wife Diana have given the Leadership Challenge Grant.

John often speaks of issues on a global scale, yet he remains very connected to local matters. It is something that he inherited from his father while growing up in England. 

“My father was always involved in local things – school boards, local politics, planning boards,” he says, adding that, as a result of his father’s influence, he “feels a kind of duty” to help others in the community.

He sees the United Way as an important vehicle for making such a difference as it supports a wide range of local initiatives providing much-needed support to the community. The efforts help bind the community together.

“I do believe very much that the community has to be close and the community is getting less close,” he says.

John is a trained engineer who has worked in the investment industry for over 50 years.  He is currently running his own investment firm after retiring as a director from Toronto Dominion Bank in 1995.

Much of his work is aimed at bringing people together once again. A key to this is mentorship, the sharing of knowledge among people with similar interests. By having role models and opportunities to be in programs local youth can have something they can be proud of and build self-esteem. 

It’s also a role he plays through the Leadership Grant Challenge.

“Connections are important,” he says.

John points out that the world, Canada included, has undergone significant and difficult changes in recent decades. The subsequent results include the separation of communities, a decline in values and growing youth unemployment.

But, through local efforts, change can still be made with the proper support such as that found through the United Way.

“You look at what you are able to give and you find out what is important and you do that,” he says. “That’s part of being in a community.”

John first arrived in Kingston in the 1950s when he worked for Alcan, coming from England and creating a kind of second home. During his time here he also fostered some close connections with Queen’s, including befriending Principal William Mackintosh.

John continues to help Queen’s by supporting the Office of Advancement in its effort to raise funds for the university and its students.

He also supports the university directly through the Scarthingmoor Prize in Economics, which he established in 2006. The award is handed out annually to a student whose Master’s essay received a mark of at least 85%. 

Also, in recognition of his work, Queen’s offers the John Weatherall Visiting Scholar Fund in Economics, funded by a gift from the Jim Pattison Foundation. The fund provides resources for the Department of Economics to invite top-flight economists from other institutions, especially leading scholars from outside of Canada, to visit Queen's for variable periods of time of one week or more.

The United Way Campaign at Queen's has set a goal to raise $300,000. The United Way of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington funds agencies that help 75,000 people locally each year, including 13,775 school students who were provided nutritious food to help them learn better at school, 1,810 children and youth who were healthy, active and safe by participating in afterschool activities, 250 seniors who were dealing with elder abuse issues found a new sense of safety, and 1,705 people found a place to call home with emergency, transitional or affordable permanent housing.

Donations can be made online at https://andarweb.unitedwaykfla.ca/quregistration through payroll deduction or credit card. If you would prefer to make your gift by cheque or cash, pick up a form at the Human Resources reception desk in Fleming Hall, Stewart-Pollock Wing or request, through the online system, a form to be sent to you. You have the option to make a one-time gift or, back by popular demand, choose to have your pledge automatically renewed each year. For any questions, send an email to queensunitedway@queensu.ca.

Richard Reznick, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s University, is being recognized with a major award from his alma mater.

A proud McGill University alumnus, Dr. Reznick is receiving the Medicine Alumni Global Award for Lifetime Achievement for his nearly 30-year career in medical education.

The award, presented since 2009, is given to a graduate “who has enhanced the reputation of McGill University through a lifetime of exceptional leadership.”

“When I realized who had been given the award in the past I felt incredibly humbled,” says Dr. Reznick. His predecessors form a list of medical professionals at the forefront of their specialty, including Dr. Charles Scriver, a pioneer in medical genetics, and Dr. Phil Gold, who co-discovered carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which led to a test that detects colon cancer.

While he is thrilled to receive the lifetime achievement award, Dr. Reznick says there is still much work to be done. 

“The future of medical education remains very exciting,” he says. “By continuing to improve the way we train future health professionals we will ultimately improve the way we deliver health care to our patients.”

Dr. Reznick is recognized as a leader in surgical education and has devised reliable clinical assessment tools to judge surgical quality. That work earned him the Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education in 2010. He also played a leading role in establishing a performance-based examination used for medical licensure across Canada.

Dr. Reznick was first appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s in 2010 and was reappointed for a second five-year term this past June. During his time as dean, the faculty has worked to intensify research, develop new models of teaching and training, and introduce new programs, such as the Queen’s University Clinician Investigator Program, the Queen’s University Accelerated Route to Medical School (QuARMS), the multidisciplinary Master of Science in Healthcare Quality, a combined MD/PhD program, and the functional anatomy boot camp. 

Dr. Reznick also serves as the chief executive officer of the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Association (SEAMO).  He is also currently a member of the boards of Kingston General Hospital, Hotel Dieu Hospital and Providence Care.

A professor in the Department of Surgery, Dr. Reznick completed his medical degree at McGill and then graduated from the general-surgery training program at the University of Toronto. He completed a Master of Education degree at Southern Illinois University followed by a fellowship in colorectal surgery at the University of Texas in Houston.

New resources to help students with mental health accommodations at post-secondary schools across Ontario are now available with the completion of a large-scale collaborative project between researchers at Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College. 

The three-year project involved developing province-wide standards and guidelines to be used by students seeking academic accommodations for mental health. These resources for students, staff and faculty are now available online, and include:

I. Recommendations based on province-wide standards and guidelines for the kinds of documentation that post-secondary students must provide when they are seeking academic accommodations for a mental health condition. These recommendations can help access/disability advisors and were based on extensive research and consultations province-wide.

II. Eight videos about the accommodation process that can help students, faculty, access/disability advisors, student leaders and administrators determine how best to accommodate post-secondary students with mental health disabilities.

III. An information and resource handbook for students with mental health disabilities in post-secondary education. The handbook contains information on the accommodation process, rights and responsibilities, how to manage your mental health on campus and mental health and the law.

“This project was a collaborative effort between researchers at Queen’s and St. Lawrence College, and included extensive consultations” says Dr. Mike Condra, who led the project for Queen’s, and recently retired as Director, Health, Counselling and Disability Services (now known as Student Wellness Services.) “These resources can help universities and colleges support a growing number of students with mental health-related disabilities on campuses across the province.”

The Principal Investigators were Dr. Condra and Wanda Williams, Director of Student Services at St. Lawrence College. Funding was provided by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities through the Mental Health Innovation Fund.

Queen's University students will have the opportunity to make contacts that can lead to summer employment or even a future career at the Engineering and Technology Fair.

The annual event returns to Grant Hall and will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 20 and Wednesday, Oct. 21 from 10:30 am-3:30 pm each day. Hosted by Career Services at Queen’s the fair brings together more than 50 employers from a wide range of industries in both the public and private sectors.

The event is also an opportunity for a selected group of students to showcase projects they are working on through the university.

Among the students presenting is Natasha Baziuk, a member of the winning team from this year’s Queen’s Innovation Connector Summer Initiative. Gryllies is a small business that seeks to off-set beef consumption with cricket protein to create a more nutritious and environmentally sustainable way to enjoy popular meat dishes like pasta sauce, chili, and lasagna.

Several of the founding members, including Ms. Baziuk, have chosen to pursue Gryllies as a full-time venture upon graduation.

“Having the Engineering and Technology Fall Fair acknowledge and encourage entrepreneurship as a viable career choice for graduating students is wonderful to see,” says Ms. Baziuk. “Entrepreneurship is imperative in supporting the local economy, in stimulating innovation, and in student's having the freedom and courage to pursue their own life’s path when they are young and are more able to take on the risk involved in start-up companies. Gryllies is very happy to be a showcase of what is possible when one takes on the entrepreneurial path upon graduation.”

She adds that it will be an interesting return as last year she attended the event as a fourth-year student looking for a job. This time around she says she’s excited about the opportunity to talk to other employers about Gryllies and any advice they may offer.

Also presenting is Morgan Litschko of the Queen’s Genetically Engineered Machine, a student run team that undertakes an innovative set of projects in the field of synthetic biology each year. The team recently earned a gold medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition in Cambridge, Mass.

Ms. Litschko says the Engineering and Technology Fair is a chance for the group to present their work to their peers, attract future members, and generate ideas for future work.

“This portion of the fair also highlights the innovation of student teams and the potential of these endeavors,” she says. “There is a lot of creativity and dedication associated with these projects and this provides the opportunity to generate industry connections for individuals as well as the team. In essence, we put a lot of time and hard work into what we’ve done and this is a chance to share our accomplishments with others.”

Last year, three out of the four students who presented were able to secure summer employment from employers at the fair. The fair is held annually in October and January.  Follow #careerfairqueens on Twitter for updates and info about this event.