Citations of Distinguished Service Award Recipients who passed away prior to September 2011 are not available in electronic format.
Selim Akl - 2020
While many recognize your personal success as a faculty member in the fields of parallel computing and algorithm design, what we also know is that your career has had a significant impact on students, junior faculty, Queen’s, and the international scientific community.
Students and new faculty members have been the beneficiaries of your generous support and guidance, and have begun their own careers full of the knowledge and skills you shared;
The university has been established as a leader in Computer Science research and education;
And your efforts leading dozens of international conferences, as a visiting scholar, and as a prolific researcher will positively influence the field of computer science for years to come.
We thank you for your service and sharing your life with Queen’s.
George Anderson - 2015
Your connection to Queen’s reaches all the way back to the 1960s when you completed your BA in Political Studies. After receiving the prestigious Tricolour Award, you went on to a lifelong career in the civil service.
Your intelligence and work ethic saw you rise to the level of Assistant Deputy Minister, a role you held at different times in the Departments of Energy, Finance, and Foreign Affairs. Your time working in government is further complemented by your time as Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Privy Council, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, and as a Senior Expert with the Mediation Support Unit of the United Nations.
As an accomplished author and scholar, your greatest contribution to Queen’s came when you brought your diverse experience to the Board of Trustees in 1997. During the sixteen years spent on the Board, you served as vice-chair, chaired the Finance Committee, and sat on the HR Committee and University Planning Committee. Amid crises and leadership changes, you were a bastion of stability. In every role you took on with the Board, you always shared your wisdom and eloquent guidance. Your service to the Board was formally recognized in 2014 when you were named Trustee Emeritus.
You are an exemplary servant not just of Queen’s, but the government and people of Canada. In recognition of your many contributions to this university, we are pleased to present you with this award for distinguished service.
Bruce B. Alexander - 1988
A model of contributory citizenship to his country and his alma mater.
Whose accomplishments at four other universities since his days as AMS President have never diminished his covenant of generous loyalty to Queen's;
Who, despite an illustrious career in law and 15 years of executive service to the Ontario Government, has made the time and found the energy to serve Queen's as President of the Toronto Alumni Branch, University Councillor for 15 years so far, and Trustee for 12;
Whose best years are yet to come, but whose name already lives in Queen's history as Chairman of the Council's challenging 1971 report on Admissions, a member of the search committee that 'found' Principal Watts, architect of the John Orr Award revival that has given Toronto alumni new pride and prestige, and co-instigator in 1975 of the Kingston rowing club that has evolved into one of Queen's most winning intercollegiate teams and produced the Olympic athletes he envisioned;
Whose impressive skills in white-water canoeing reflect the quick reflexes, sharp eye and reservoirs of endurance he has brought to the governing bodies of this University in years of rough financial water and enrolment floods;
And whose conscience, compassion and commitment to a better society are a reflection to the world of the best ideals of a Queen's education.
Jan Allen - 2020
During your almost 30-year tenure at Queen’s and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, you oversaw a remarkable 160 plus exhibitions while still finding time to edit and author over 50 publications, foster collaborations within and outside of Queen’s, serve on a multitude of boards, committees, and working groups, and mentor students who have since taken on roles as artists, scholars, and museum professionals.
Under your leadership, “the Agnes” has benefitted from significantly increased grant funding and gallery visits, both in-person and online, has taken on a renewed brand identity, and now benefits from an active social media presence, so important in today’s age.
We offer you our appreciation for your remarkable stewardship of one of Queen’s most valued institutions with the presentation of this award.
Teresa Alm - 2018
Your positive and lasting impact on Queen’s University, particularly its students, over your almost 20 years as Associate Registrar (Student Awards) is difficult to summarize.
On a broad scale, your relationships with Advancement, and Faculties and Schools, have been instrumental in raising millions of dollars to dramatically increase funding available for financial assistance so that all students have the opportunity to share in the Queen’s experience.
You have led your office and the university through many complex and complicated projects, such as OSAP modernization and the net tuition program, always reminding those participating of the ultimate outcome – dramatically enhanced services for students’ benefit.
And you have worked with governments and other universities collegially and collaboratively to find solutions to problems that have the potential to impact institutions in a myriad of ways. Indeed, your opinion is often sought out by those in provincial and national governments and organizations.
But it is on an individual scale where your impact has truly made a difference. You invest your own time and one-on-one support to help students cope with difficult and challenging life events that have the potential to derail their studies, helping to remove financial barriers and ensuring they have what they need to achieve success.
You make it a point each year to get to know as many students as possible on a personal level. You cheer them on at Gaels games. You chat with them about their ambitions, goals, and achievements, and you host them in your home for dinners to help them form bonds built on support and friendship.
I believe I speak for the countless number of students you have helped when I present you with this award for your very distinguished service.
David Anderson - 2005
During a quarter-century of service to Queen’s you managed profound and far-reaching changes to strengthen the University. As a talented scholar, economist and director of a center, you gave students and colleagues your mentoring insights, encouragement and support.
As a visionary dean you shaped an important and significant business school renewal and courageously spearheaded the development of innovative MBA programs that now place Queen’s in the front rank of business schools worldwide.
Among your many accomplishments and successes as vice-principal of operations and finance, your thoughtful oversight of the University’s extraordinary turn-of-the-century capital expansion was exceptional by all measures. The program was funded within expectations and completed on time and its benefits to the learning environment will be warmly appreciated by future generations of Queen’s men and women.
Ever the compassionate coach it was typical of the success of many of your teams when your financial group launched Queen’s first debenture and with it, outstanding results and the best Canadian University credit rating on record. Long before "empowering people" became business buzzwords, you embraced the wisdom of accomplishing through others, sometimes sharing the limelight - more often - giving it away. And so this evening, it is an honour to celebrate your remarkable record of achievement as we proudly highlight your distinguished service to Queen’s.
Helen Bracken Anderson - 1996
A tireless worker on behalf of Queen's, generously contributing her time, energy, and resources, giving more than three decades of selfless service to advance and shape her university community.
She is recognized and respected for working to improve her province and her Ottawa home. No wonder. Her sense of duty and her trust in the human capacity to do the right thing engenders a positive decision-making environment for organizations. Welfare councils, day care groups, parent-teacher associations, and social agencies benefit from her membership.
An articulate advocate for women's concerns and activities, Helen is a staunch supporter and founding member of the Ban Righ continuing education movement that was born in 1974 to foster the personal development and academic achievement of women re-entering the world of higher learning. An alumna herself and a daughter, sister, wife, and mother of Queen's grads, Helen is always ready to offer assistance and counsel to students.
Gracious alumni organizer, national president, branch president, Ban Righ Board member, three term Trustee, and coordinator of "Over 50's Luncheons," we honour you this evening and salute you for continuing a tradition of "giving something back" to your University.
David Bacon - 1998
A respected educator, scholar, and administrator who for three decades has touched the lives of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, making a profound difference in the lives of Queen's people. And beyond the University, his enlightened participation and leadership contributions to countless councils and committees has advanced Canadian higher education and research.
Compelling lecturer, professor, mentor, dean, consultant, and course pioneer, Dave Bacon's teaching insights and innovations keep on giving generations of engineering graduates the Queen's competitive advantage. Students and employers are the beneficiaries of his attention to program relevance and his capacity to see around corners, discovering, then sharing unheard of new approaches and concepts. His teaching excellence is recognized by his students, and across Ontario by his peers. And his brilliant, learned, "best paper" ways extend what we know about improving quality and productivity in chemical engineering.
For his many human gifts to this community, for the foresight, integrity, and compassion marking his splendid deanship: championing the use of microcomputers in the classroom, encouraging more women to enter engineering, strengthening research programs, supporting student initiatives for better equipment and improved financial aid, for this abundant harvest, we thank him and we honour his outstanding service to Queen's.
Alexander Charles Baillie - 2008
Mr. Chancellor, by every measure imaginable and with resounding applause, students, faculty, staff, alumni and many other friends of the tricolour agree that your contributions to the life and work of Queen’s University have been truly exceptional;
University Council expected no less when you were elected six years ago (seems like only yesterday);
Beyond the limestone, as an award-winning business leader, you served your country as an influential champion for education and the arts, for enlightened social policy development and for the cause of environmental protection. You consistently challenged others to do one extraordinary thing for Canada while generously answering your own challenge by doing many extraordinary things;
And as our Chancellor, you have challenged your adopted university to strive to avoid mediocrity in its higher learning mission, drawing us together and setting standards beyond what we might have imagined ourselves;
In your many official roles you have been a most welcome and thoughtful host and active participant at numerous alumni and student events;
With fine kilted elegance and soft tartan grace you have presided over spring and fall convocations, warmly welcoming thousands of newly minted Queen’s graduates;
You have offered your wisdom and counsel as a member of the Board of Trustees, serving on six of its committees;
Your extensive personal and family philanthropic contributions strengthened Queen’s fabric for teaching and research through the legacy of important awards for teaching excellence and through the endowment of the Baillie Family Chair in Conservation Biology;
Eric Baker - 2006
You are wonderful, very human proof that the Queen’s experience moves alumni to action by the gratitude it inspires in those who work to strengthen their alma mater for all the generations to come.
As you led an innovation campaign raising millions of dollars for construction of a new state-of-the-art biosciences complex for Queen’s your indomitable motivating spirit encouraged others to join you in engaging in institution-building, developing ideas, taking risks, challenging customs, shaking up complacency and creating intellectual excitement.
After your years as a devoted and generous benefactor, stalwart campaign leader and tireless and wise volunteer, you responded to a call to service on the Board of Trustees and its advancement committee where your keen mind and strength provided guidance during the most significant fundraising initiative in the history of Queen’s.
Widely respected as a Canadian venture capital investment visionary you have worked diligently on behalf of Queen’s as a member of PARTEQ’s Innovation Board to maximize commercialization opportunities generated by the University.
our fundamental belief in the importance of research and development has helped ensure the success of the University’s technology transfer enterprise.
And as an angel investor and staunch supporter of Queen’s-based Performance Plants you have quietly watched the organization bloom into one of North America’s leading companies in plant genetics.
Your important contributions to the life and work of Queen’s were born in times full of friendships and engineering camaraderie and today a grateful university community is proud to add to this memory bank as it honours you with an award for distinguished service.
Mary Balanchuk - 1994
Who is respected by students and colleagues alike as a fine teacher, administrator and arbitrator, totally dedicated to her profession and its affiliated associations;
Who is provincially acclaimed and internationally consulted as an expert in the field of guidance and counselling;
Who has contributed to Queen's significantly during the 26-year span between her appointment as a McArthur College pioneer and her status today as Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Education;
Who has been friend and mentor to generations of students in Education, Medicine and Rehabilitation, providing an environment both challenging and supportive to promote their personal, intellectual and professional growth;
Whose roles have included Convocation Marshall, Sesquicentennial adviser, grievance counsellor, workshop innovator, and member of the Grant Hall Society; who has been altogether an outstanding member of the academy through her service on the Senate, Faculty Board, Faculty Association, Ban Righ Board, Alumni Assembly, and the University Council.
Who has, by dint of indomitable optimism, irresistible enthusiasm and her spirit of service, greatly enriched the community around the University, as well: the Red Cross, Cancer Society, Children's Aid Society, I.O.D.E., St. Lawrence College, and an amazing 20 campaigns for the United Way.
This Council, which has had the benefit of her participation for 18 years, now acknowledges Mary Balanchuk's life-long devotion to Queen's and her far-reaching impact on Canadian education through school teachers -- and those who teach the teachers.
John W. Bannister – 1984
A loyal graduate of Queen's in Commerce, a valuable member of staff for 35 years, devoted Secretary of both the University and its Board of Trustees since 1966, gracious host to his Class at Reunions, and die-hard Gaels fan in all weathers;
Who, as son of a medical graduate, was duly sent down to Queen's from Peterborough, and who took leave from his studies with Arts '44 to organize supplies for the Royal Canadian Army Services Corps in Nova Scotia, thereby confirming his gifts for administration and finance;
Who graduated with Commerce '47 and went on to dazzle the markers of the Investment Dealers Course, catching the eye of Canada Life and soon the attention of some Queen's Trustees and Principal Wallace, who proceeded first to borrow and then steal him back to Kingston;
Who, as a canny budgeter of time and talent, has shared both between his campus and his city - his political deftness carrying over from Board of Trustees to City Council when he was Alderman for Sydenham Ward; his cultivation of the Endowment Fund matched in the growth of Kingston's Horticultural Society; his follow-through as evident in Board Minutes as on the golf course at Cataraqui; his near-religious stewardship of bequest funds applied to the finances of St. Margaret's Church; and his support of this educational institution echoed in his many terms on the Frontenac Board of Education and his service on the Canadian Association of University Business Officers;
Whose personal trademarks in all these roles have been an unruffled geniality, a dry wit slicing through cant and dither, and a gift for meticulous organization, deeply appreciated by five successive Board Chairmen and five fortunate Principals.
Keith Banting - 2018
Your relationship with Queen’s University began when you arrived as a student in 1965 with the Chancellor C.A. Dunning Scholarship in hand. Four years later, you graduated with the Medal in Political Studies, heading to Oxford to complete your doctorate.
Luckily for Queen’s, you chose to return to your alma mater in the 1980s and, since that time, you have served the university as a scholar, teacher, administrator, and mentor, achieving excellence in all areas of your engagement.
The impact of your scholarly work, and your role as one of the world’s authorities on federalism, multiculturalism, and social policy cannot be overstated. Officials at all levels of government listen carefully to your illuminating research in these disciplines. Your knowledge has also been shared with academics and students outside of Canada through visiting scholar appointments at the London School of Economics and Harvard, among others.
Your administrative work resulted in the growth of Queen’s School of Policy Studies from a small unit with one-and-a-half tenure track positions to a school with 10 tenure-track faculty, engaged students, accomplished alumni, and a significant impact on public policy in Ontario and Canada. Somehow you also found time to be an Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and sit on numerous committees and working groups, including Queen’s Senate.
Your ability to act as a supporter to your fellow faculty members and graduate students is often remarked upon, with colleagues using words such as “enthusiastic”, “encouraging”, and “selfless”, and students stating that you are the type of supervisor every doctoral student dreams of having: someone who does not just supervise, but actively mentors.
We cannot thank you enough for your service to this university and it is my honour to present you with Queen’s Distinguished Service Award.
Alice Baumgart - 1997
An outstanding Canadian nursing leader, who has shaped and strengthened Queen's nursing education and research for two decades, and in her other roles as caring mentor, campus activist, and humanitarian, amazes us all as a shining symbol of grace under pressure.
Her sharp intellect, scholarship, and global perspective are recognized and respected in her province, across Canada, and in professional groups worldwide where her leadership and wisdom are called upon to strengthen national and international organizations.
First-rate teacher, dean, and human services vice-principal, Alice makes us aware of unmet needs in our learning community: for the disabled, for the gifted voices of non-traditional learners, and for new approaches to human resource policies. She has been a model and a guide, increasing access for women to positions of seniority, and building bridges to openness and accessibility.
We admire her "people person" skills and salute the enthusiasm "can-do" encouragement, and unfailing support Alice generously shares with people, and we honour her warm remarkable distinguished service.
Marilyn Bennett - 1995
Head Nurse and the most consistent presence in Queen's Student Health Service since its modern inception 30 years ago;
A respected graduate of the School of Nursing and now Associate in Clinical Practice there; Health adviser, personal counsellor, advocate and friend to generations of students at critical stages of their lives; A repository of institutional memory; Plain-spoken and highly valued committee member; Generous, long-time supporter of Queen's Alumni Association; Active and award-winning patron of the arts, particularly Kingston's Symphony Orchestra; Expert on infectious diseases and author of a handbook on immunization that is widely used on Canadian campuses; And a colleague highly esteemed by the Ontario College Health Association, the International Council of Nurses, and the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario.
Former students have said Marilyn Bennett shines as a beacon of friendliness, positive energy and dedication to her patients. A cadre of colleagues have praised her personal sincerity and professionalism; nominators called her variously loyal, diligent, attentive to detail, frugal, and effective; and all described her as working with warmth, dedication, enthusiasm and perseverance.
This Council notes that for 30 years her steadfast and primary concern has been the welfare of students, and we thank her for this strong evidence of commitment to one of the University's greatest traditions: its care for all members of the Queen's family.
Christine Berga - 2023
Your years at Queen’s have been marked by some of the most successful and most challenging times for the institution; however, your calm manner, flexibility, reliability, and innovative thinking have weathered its many storms
and contributed to Queen’s successes.
Four and a half decades of service provided you with the opportunity to flourish, eventually helping to support the Office of the Principal and Vice-Chancellor through five separate administrations. You adapted to each, providing unfailing support and guidance in realms as diverse as budget management, governance, fundraising,
and hosting national and international VIPs.
Colleagues have remarked on your mentorship and noted that your loyalty and dedication to the institution will remain an example for them well into the future, ensuring your impact will live on for many years to come.
We are honoured to present you with this Distinguished Service Award to demonstrate the gratitude of the Queen’s community for your exemplary service.
David Bevan - 2011
Since your arrival at Herstmonceux Castle nine years ago, you have spread the word about the magic of the Bader International Study Centre, far and wide. In doing so, you have worked your own magic. Your able and energetic leadership transformed the BISC from a struggling entity to a vital, financially successful and acclaimed institution of higher learning.
As Executive Director, you introduced a fresh vision of internationalization by making recruitment of both faculty and students a top priority. You successfully conceived and implemented a formal recruitment strategy to enhance diversity and increase enrolment. You raised the study centre’s profile among academics worldwide as a top conference destination. In addition to Canada and the United States, you also expanded partnerships with institutions in several countries, including Mexico, South Korea, Australia, Bahamas, The Netherlands, Russia, Japan and China.
You solidified the Castle community by showing care and concern for your students and your staff. When former students speak about you, it is always with great affection. In 2009, you acknowledged Dr. Bader’s exceptional contributions to Queen’s University and the International Study Centre by proposing its renaming as the Bader International Study Centre, on the occasion of Dr. Bader’s 85th birthday.
From all of us, who have watched the BISC grow and flourish under your leadership, we thank you with this Distinguished Service Award.
Kim Black - 2013
A skilful leader with a generous spirit, you served the Board of Trustees for more than a decade through a period of great change.
Your commitment to Queen’s is best exemplified through your service to the Governance and Nominating Committee, where you worked diligently to recruit strong candidates for the Board and its committees. In the pursuit of talent for the Board, your energy knew no bounds. Your recognition of the value of diverse skill sets and perspectives resulted in positive membership renewal, and strengthened the range of trustees’ skills and expertise to the benefit of Queen’s governance. Your thoughtful approach has fostered a strong sense of collegiality among trustees and committee members that still endures today.
At a stage of life when many are too busy with career and family to give time to their alma mater, your years of service to Queen’s serve as a model of dedicated and selfless commitment.
In recognition of the range and quality of your contributions, we proudly present to you this award for distinguished service.
Susan Blake - 2019
You have been a mainstay at the university since graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1975, holding various roles in that department before joining the Faculty of Arts and Science in 1999 as its Director of Student Services.
In the largest Faculty on campus you successfully led work related to recruitment and admission, registration, academic advising, appeals, progression, awards, curriculum, and human resources for close to two decades – a fantastic feat indeed!
Your knowledge and abilities became legendary, with deans, associate deans, department heads, faculty, and staff relying on your calmness, stability, and support. Your work shepherding the approval of new programs, certificates, and courses has had a tremendous impact, in particular your recent success leading five Indigenous curriculum initiatives in partnership
with the local Mohawk community and Indigenous scholars.
Former Arts and Science students have appreciated your guidance, patience, and empathy, as evidenced by your selection as the 2019 honorary president of the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society. Future students, as well as faculty and staff, will miss your contributions in the coming years, but we know you have left Queen’s a better place than it was when you arrived.
We are honoured to present you with this award and offer it to you with our sincere thanks.
Margaret Boesch - 1991
For 27 years of fidelity, efficiency, diplomacy, good humour and grace in the administrative service of Queen's, 25 of them under four appreciative headships in the Department of German;
For extraordinary, generous and critical help with many a scholarly manuscript and thesis;
For the generous sharing of her remarkable skills in four languages;
For unselfish and unstinting assistance to countless students who needed forms filled, red tape cut, perceptive counselling, and even confidential loans;
For her friendship and impartiality to faculty; for never panicking, never complaining, and never flagging in her encouragement of their best academic interests;
In brief, for setting a Swiss standard of courtesy and confidentiality, reliability and devotion as the true heart and soul of her department.
Patricia Bogstad - 1993
Who, as Assistant Registrar in charge of Student Awards, administers one of the busiest and most complex operations on campus.
For some two decades, her service has been distinguished in its quality, scope and devotion to Queen's -- a service characterized by a litany of special qualities ascribed to her by everyone with whom she interacts: fairness, integrity, sensitivity, good judgment and empathy, combined with administrative, financial and technical skills, and all of it enlivened by her unfailing sense of humour and a smile that's become famous as a beacon of friendliness to distressed students and anxious parents.
Through this award, we salute her for her own exemplary work attitudes and for training a staff that is courteous, knowledgeable, efficient and a true team; for her key role in helping the city's foodbank reach out to hungry students; for designing and running the Sesquicentennial Scholarship program that exposes a selection of top high school students to Queen's; and for the credit she brings to Queen's while furthering her profession -- attaining provincial stature for financial aid officers, representing Queen's on regional bodies, and addressing conferences of counsellors and recruiters.
Despite recessionary pressures and workload, she continues to treat each student client in a dignified, calm, and non-judgemental manner. It is she who sets the tone for personalized collaboration with donors. Many claim Pat Bogstad has magic for bringing out the best in all she touches, and the Council hereby thanks her for that compassion which proves to students, staff and benefactors alike that Queen's has a heart as well as spirit.
David Bonham - 2015
It is hard to summarize the enormous variety of ways in which you contributed to Queen’s and the greater Kingston community.
You served as both a professor and an administrator, and took to each with equal grace and skill. Cross-appointed to the Faculty of Law and the School of Business, you left an indelible mark on both students and colleagues during the 30 years of your tenure. When administrative duties called, you answered, serving as Vice-Principal (Finance) from 1971-77 and then Vice-Principal (Resources) from 1984-88. At the completion of your term as Vice-Principal, you practiced law as a partner at the leading Kingston law firm Cunningham Swan Carty Little & Bonham.
You have always given generously of your time and energy to charitable and volunteer organizations. At different times, you served as the Chair of the Anna and Edward C. Churchill Foundation, Vice-Chair of Hospice Kingston, sat on the Board of Directors of University Hospitals, Kingston Foundation, and the Board of Hotel Dieu Hospital, to name but a few.
After your retirement from the university, you became a founding member of the Retirees’ Association of Queen’s, which aims to serve faculty and staff retirees while advancing the university’s interests.
You are gifted but never arrogant, decisive but not dismissive, driven to advance the university’s interests but never at the expense of collegiality. For every step on that long list of accomplishments and awards, your fairness, thoughtfulness, and personal warmth have always shown through.
For all that you have given Queen’s, we are pleased to present you with this Distinguished Service Award.
Jo-Anne Brady - 2014
You served the Queen’s community in many ways and for more than thirty years – as alumna, lecturer, registrar and vice-provost.
You facilitated a number of initiatives to better serve our community, from researching, developing and implementing the PeopleSoft system within the Registrar's Office, to modernizing the university timetable. It is because of your hard work that Queen’s implemented the 4.3 G.P.A system – a feat that required widespread consultation with deans, faculty, alumni and students.
You spent your first eight years at Queen’s as the business administrator for the Alma Mater Society, which at the time was facing severe financial difficulties. Under your mentorship, the AMS underwent a significant restructuring and developed its first strategic plan. You also helped develop the Walkhome and the Publishing and Copy Centre (P&CC) services of the AMS, two that have proven to be among the most integral to students.
You continued to work hard on behalf of Queen’s students in your subsequent roles. A longtime advocate for aboriginal students, you developed the original policy document on Aboriginal students for the Faculty of Arts and Science and took a leadership role in bringing it to other faculties. You also served the Kingston community with your work with the Pathways to Education program, an organization that supports kids with academic tutoring and mentoring.
Your colleagues have complimented your professionalism, high standards, intelligence, as well as your remarkable productivity, making you a go-to person for many.
In recognition of your many contributions to Queen’s, we are pleased to present you with this award for distinguished service.
Jacquie Brown - 2020
What better way to describe your impact on Queen’s than to quote your nomination package: “The common thread that runs through Jacquie Brown’s 42 years of service at Queen’s is one of support – enthusiastic and compassionate support”.
You took the initiative to proactively identify and support students in crisis long before the university developed formal training and programs for staff. Many have spoken of your incredible commitment to their well-being, commenting that you had a lasting effect on the way they approach their academic and personal lives.
You also showed your support by attending many Queen’s events and activities, often during your evenings and weekends, and usually decked out in Queen’s swag!
The years you spent at the university established the gold standard for staff at Queen’s.
Thank you for sharing them with us.
Judith Brown - 2017
When you arrived at Queen’s in 1972 as an undergraduate student, you likely had no idea of the enormous effect you would have on this university through your unparalleled dedication to service.
You spent 25 years in the Office of Advancement, starting as an Annual Giving Officer and retiring just this year as Associate Vice-Principal and Executive Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving. You have served with five Principals, six Vice-Principals of Advancement, and eight presidents of the Alumni Association, as well as spending four years on Queen’s Board of Trustees and three on Queen’s Senate.
You have played a role in ensuring the stewardship of Queen’s donors and their gifts into perpetuity. Your work has resulted in the acquisition of artefacts for Queen’s Archives, the creation of hundreds of student scholarships and bursaries, the naming of campus buildings, and the arrival of significant works of art at the university.
Your core values of honesty and integrity have served you and the university well. Your ability to understand the motivation of benefactors in terms of emotions and lived experiences is renowned, and, in particular, your ability to make people feel appreciated, cared for, and welcome has often prompted unsolicited letters and phone calls of praise and appreciation to Summerhill from those with whom you interact.
All of these attributes have contributed toward an immensely positive relationship with Queen’s special friends, Drs. Alfred and Isabel Bader. Mrs. Bader has described you as “meticulous”, “kind”, and “thoughtful” and we are all so pleased to know that you will continue to work with the Baders in the coming months and years.
I am thrilled to present this award for distinguished service with many thanks for all you have done for Queen’s.
Irène Bujara - 2017
The impact you have made at Queen’s began when you were appointed as the Director of the Human Rights Office in 1992. Almost immediately, the original scope of the Office began to be broadened and, time and time again, you proved yourself more than capable of taking on additional responsibilities and serving as a campus advocate for all who came through the Office’s doors.
Your vision and dedicated leadership has resulted in immense success for a hugely challenging portfolio that includes the development and administration of university policies as well as promoting understanding of, and a sense of responsibility for, anti-discrimination, accessibility, employment and educational equity, and harassment and sexual violence prevention.
All of the many nominators who supported your application package spoke to your tireless persistence for innovation and change, often against challenging and long-standing obstacles. Your patience and ability to provide gentle guidance, advice, and support in a safe environment has allowed others to look inside themselves and make true change.
Your deep commitment and belief in the university is often pursued far beyond what others may give in their career, resulting in a vision for the institution as a welcoming place for those who choose to make it theirs, whether it be as a stepping stone to something else or as a more permanent home.
Queen’s would not be the place it is today without you and it is my pleasure to recognize your years of tremendous service with this award.
T. Daniel Burns - 2003
As a son of Queen’s you improved campus life for your fellow students. As one of Canada’s most respected public servants you worked to improve life for the citizens of Ontario. As a Queen’s Trustee you volunteered hundreds of hours to strengthen University governance. But we honour you now for your achievements and your remarkable service as chair of the Board’s Campus Planning and Development Committee. In your role as quiet visionary, consensus-builder, and high standards advocate you have overseen one of the most intense periods of new construction and major renovation in the history of Queen’s.
Your work is expressed in extraordinary improvements to the learning environment: campus planning quality for the long term, effective construction programs, high design standards, outstanding architecture, and lights, grounds and services that nurture and inspire us through all the seasons. By gently pushing us to new levels of excellence you have taught us to reach high in preparing and building our historic campus as a quality leader for the 21st century.
As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of your own committee leadership, the University is honoured to recognize your exceptional service and mark it "truly distinguished."
Robert Burnside - 1998
A chemical engineering grad whose tireless efforts in front of the scenes and behind the scenes represents a legacy of love enriching the University and ensuring its future. Wearing a tricolour smile for his starring role in town-gown relations, his infectious laughter, and warm folksy ways inspire the participation of those who join to build winners for Queen's and Kingston.
Solving pressing petroleum problems as an Imperial trouble-shooter, ESSO marketeer, and senior officer, then an advisor to the University of Toronto, Bob made time to volunteer for Queen's, clocking decades of duty for the Alumni Association, and serving as its president. He has chaired his faculty's advisory council and his community's economic development group.
At home at Queen's in 1988, he began a seven-year stretch as associate to the Principal with a blossoming chore list to fund-raise, friend-raise, and raze Donald Gordon's antiquated bunkhouse. Bob's work on these objectives is a story of log-jam removal and proud accomplishment. Critical among his several daunting tasks we recognize especially: his insight in helping to forge the reorganization of advancement at Queen's, his initiative and 'can do' approach in planning and canvassing for the Queen's Challenge Campaign, and his wisdom in guiding Queen's through a local labyrinth to modernize its conference centre, and we celebrate Bob Burnside's service to his Alma Mater.
Paul F. Campbell - 2002
During your twelve years of participation and leadership on Queen's Board of Trustees you have faithfully, and with extraordinary dedication, given advice and guidance to ensure the University's systems for financial reporting, policy-making and financial planning are exemplary.
Your insight and influence are apparent in the consistent citing of this University as a Canadian public-accountability leader. We hail you now as a son of Queen's whose years of all weather travel from Halifax and unfailing selfless service give powerful and special meaning to our long tricolour tradition of giving something back to Alma Mater.
With Queen's now poised to take on new challenges of enrolment growth and further campus development, we gratefully bestow upon you an award for distinguished service to Queen's University.
Charles H. R. Campling - 1988
Professor and mentor to generations of Electrical Engineering students.
His career outside of Queen's is summed up in four impressive acronyms -- MIT, NRC, RMC and EIC -- but his 48-year association with this University since his student days brooks no abbreviation.
The Council of his University salutes Chuck Campling as, a professor of Electrical Engineering since 1955 and for 10 years head of Queen's largest Applied Science department; Former Senator, Budget Committee chair, and University Councillor;
A "true son," in the words of his nominators, because of his service on the Executive of Science '44, three terms on the Alumni Board of Directors, and the founding of an academic Campling-Miller clan;
A volunteer fund-raiser, owed much gratitude for his pace-setting leadership of the faculty canvass for both Queen's Quest and Queen's Appeal, and a benefactor himself, generous in support of Queen's Engineering;
And, most of all, a front-line scholar and award-winning communications researcher, specialist in digital systems and non-linear magnetics, councillor to engineering institutes, and a teacher whose intelligence, caring and dedication have brought distinction to his alma mater and placed an indelible stamp, through his students, on Canada's technological future.
Louise Cannon - 2011
As the first woman to serve on the Queen’s Investment Committee more than 20 years ago, you brought your unique skill set of legal, compliance, risk management and credit experience to an all-male group of mostly retired portfolio managers.
Your professionalism and commitment to governance, infused by your dynamism, energized the Committee. As Vice-Chair and later Chair, you brought a high standard of professionalism and integrity to the execution of the Committee’s duties. Those principles are firmly established to this day.
You patiently tutored each new member on the history of the Committee, its relationship to the University and members’ role in oversight. After many years devoted to the Investment portfolio, you graciously broadened your service commitment and became a full member of the Board of Trustees.
Your skill in assessing the big picture, letting investment managers run their course and knowing when “not to get into the weeds” has served Queen’s well. The performance of the Queen’s Endowment Fund, a matter of great importance to the University’s well-being, is testimony to your wise and prudent leadership.
It is particularly noteworthy that you attended the universities of Manitoba and York – and not Queen’s. As you edge toward a quarter century of distinguished service to the University, we are most thankful for the support you have delivered to our alma mater, and in your heart, your alma mater. Thank you for making our university a better place.
William T. Cannon - 2008
Bill, we are delighted to celebrate your role as a quintessential ‘university citizen’. We are amazed at the scope of your contributions as we count the many facets of your service to Queen’s;
Named the Commerce ’83 Teaching Fellow in Finance, you have shared your professorial wisdom with undergraduates and graduate students for more than three decades, winning a remarkable record number of awards for teaching excellence;
Admired and respected as a demanding and stimulating scholar, it is said that your students are proud to be ‘canonized’ in your classrooms, ever eager recipients of the work you do as Canada’s premier writer of finance-oriented business case studies renowned for their relevance to contemporary human issues;
You took on the duties of faculty board chair several years ago during a difficult period for the business school; and with fair-minded natural dignity and instinctive courtesy you have continued in this role, respected by your colleagues for conducting open and harmonious faculty forums;
Your interest in student residence life matters led you to serve as the Principal’s delegate and then chair of Queen’s university residences board during a time of challenge and change in residential development;
As a Queen’s senator for many years and a strong contributor in debates and discussions on academic policy questions, you consistently took positions based on your assessment of what would be best for the institution;
You generously offered your expertise in finance, stepping in to chair the Senate budget review committee for three tumultuous years when Ontario’s ‘common sense revolution’ visited severe financial constraint upon the province’s colleges and universities;
Queen’s pension committee assumes that fortune can be fickle and markets will falter, but your involvement with this important committee of the Board of Trustees and your outstanding leadership for more than seven years, ensured good investment decisions, steady performance and the thankful appreciation of all retirees and members of the faculty and staff;
In so many ways you have given the people of the Queen’s community the gifts of active participation, wisdom and excellent judgment along with your deep and abiding commitment to integrity and Queen’s is honoured to present you with this award for distinguished service.
Donald D. Carter - 2002
You have used your considerable energy and your extraordinary talents in remarkable ways over your thirty-four years as a Queen's faculty member.
As a professor and administrator the success of your leadership of the School of Industrial Relations is measured in its strong reputation among the finest programs in Canada. Then you discovered the key to invigorating the Faculty of Law with new student services, new interdisciplinary programs and new inter-university partnerships. You managed to do this as its Dean and in the face of severe financial constraint. And the skill and compassion you brought to countless provincial and national tables of negotiation and arbitration, you generously shared to improve the fabric of labour relations at Queen's.
Your most recent success in providing leadership to the campus appeal of the Campaign for Queen's brought a record response from a community eager to honour you now with the words "outstanding," and "well done," and, especially, with an award for distinguished service.
Boris Castel - 2000
Internationally-respected physicist, wily impresario, master of erudition, and relentless futurist, who has generously shared the talents of a wonderfully cultivated mind with his students and co-workers, with audiences in the Queen's community and with readers everywhere.
Over his thirty-year career at Queen's University Boris Castel has effortlessly reached far beyond the common academic trinity of teaching, research, and service and made uncommon contributions. He has launched new programs in the performing arts, helped to enrich fine arts and public lectures, worked with colleagues to renew French Centre activities for language and culture, and he has led the remarkable renaissance of Canada's oldest scholarly journal, now transformed as Canada's 21st century journal of ideas.
Like the formidable list of its contributors, Boris has found a home in the Quarterly. He makes it a truly interesting home full of mysteries to anticipate and provoke, of insightful and relevant articles, spell binding fiction, poetry and criticism. It's a place where quality is key and readers come first, a reflective forum for contemporary issues, that echoes Grant's founding vision for "the best in modern thought."
With this award we recognize a distinguished humanist who generously shares the puzzles of his glorious imagination and his passion for creativity, and we say thank you in joyful expectation of ideas yet to be.
Yolande E. Chan - 2019
You have demonstrated remarkable service and unfailing commitment to Queen’s since you arrived on campus almost thirty years ago. As noted in your nomination package, service to an institution is built through the most generous members of its community, and there is no doubt among those here today that you are one of these people.
You have demonstrated this generosity through service in more than 35 major roles for your School, Queen’s, and beyond, including the Council of Ontario Universities and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Your service has also had a personal impact through your mentoring of women and racialized faculty, students, and staff.
Perhaps one of your greatest contributions to Queen’s was your role as co-chair of the Principal’s Implementation Committee on Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion. In only four months, while carrying a full workload, you co-led up to four committee meetings a week as well as town halls and small group meetings. You demonstrated incredible empathy and thoughtfulness, and delivered a report with recommendations that have changed, and will continue to change, the core of this institution,
ensuring it is a place anyone and everyone can call home.
Your enthusiasm and commitment for learning and growing, even in the face of difficult challenges, serves as an example to us all. Please accept this award as recognition of the incredible contribution you have made to Queen’s and its people.
Chris Chapler - 2002
By any measure and for more than three decades your contributions to the life and work of Queen's University have been exceptional.
Your thoughtful participation and leadership on forty committees or more, improved our policies and procedures, shed light on competing priorities, ensured thorough searches, reinforced collegial relationships, and made University Council meetings truly worthwhile.
Two Principals benefited from your wisdom and good judgment, and they relied on your profound sense of humour on the really tough days. It is not surprising Iowa was your formative learning environment -- the state reveres liberties and human rights as you have done with enduring integrity. We are grateful you chose Canada and Queen's for your career home.
Today we celebrate and honour your dedication to scholarship and teaching and your distinguished service to this University.
Hugh A. Christie - 2007
We recognize your outstanding contributions as a citizen and leader who exemplifies the high aspiration Principal George Grant envisioned for graduates when he defined Queen’s spirit of service more than a hundred years ago.
As a leader in the legal profession, an ardent advocate for Ontario’s forests, and a teacher and tireless volunteer who generously shares his gifts of insight and wisdom with others, you have demonstrated that your concern for the global community is always guided by deep interest and conviction.
And then there are the remarkable contributions to Queen’s we celebrate on this occasion.
Your extraordinary relationship with the University began thirty years ago in those crazy hazy student days when, with ease and acumen, you served fellow students as AMS president and then Rector. Since this formative tricolor period there has been scarcely a year when you were not involved in one part of the University or another – usually several simultaneously.
Your years of faithful attendance and unparalleled service to Queen’s have benefited the Alumni Association, the University Council and most recently the Board of Trustees, where for a decade you served as its Vice-Chair. During your sixteen year term on the Board you have chaired and served on committees and task force groups, acted as unofficial parliamentarian, and played another important role as informal advisor to senior officers of the University.
In its full power, your contribution in these roles has frequently been pivotal to important decisions. It is grounded in the qualities you bring to the practice of law, the skills of arbitration, and the art of judging: your capacity to see things clearly and offer timely wise counsel, always with the insight and ability to imagine situations in human terms with a mind that is fully equipped for understanding the many complex situations dealt with by the Board.
Your uncommon devotion to alma mater and commitment to its well-being are reflected in the breadth of your contributions and your untiring support for the University. In grateful appreciation Queen’s has the great pleasure to honour you with an award for distinguished service.
Albert Clark - 2017
You arrived on campus over fifty years ago, in 1966,and it is difficult to summarize the contributions you have made to Queen’s since that time.
The Department of Biochemistry, in which you have been an Assistant, then Associate, then full Professor, as well as Head, must have been a very different place in the middle of the last century. However, with no small role on your part, the Department, the School of Medicine, and the Faculty of Health Sciences have been transformed in these past decades.
Your most significant contribution to Queen’s as well as its affiliated hospitals may be the singlehanded establishment of a central ethics review board over 25 years ago. You worked tirelessly with all Health Sciences departments to garner support for the initiative and remain the chair of the board to this day. Many of those who supported your nomination were amazed at the level of your commitment to this work and remarked on the impact it had on their involvement with research ethics. Your dedication to research participant safety and privacy will serve Queen’s community members and citizens of Kingston for many years to come.
In addition to this work, you have made major contributions to the education of undergraduate Life Sciences students and Medical students. Your focus on integrating basic science with clinical medicine has resulted in significant changes to the medical curriculum, the way medicine is taught, and the way medical students learn.
Your colleagues also speak highly of the example you set in your dedication to university service, primarily by serving as a member or chair to over fifty committees within your Faculty and at Queen’s as a whole, beginning in the 1970s. Your knowledge is also shared beyond Queen’s and Kingston via your membership on provincial and national tasks forces and boards, the development of a research ethics course used by the National Panel on Research Ethics, and 87 peer-reviewed publications.
For these contributions, we are honoured to present you with Queen’s Distinguished Service Award.
Julie Clarke - 1993
Whose bonds to Queen's go back to her grandmother and forward through her grandchildren, and who has a personal fifty-year tradition of serving Queen's wherever she lived and however she was needed.
She has been President of the Montreal Alumnae, a member of the general Alumni Association's Board of Directors, President of the world-wide Alumnae Association, a staunch supporter of Queen's Bands and CFRC-Radio, a friend to generations of students through long dedication to the Ban Righ Board and other residence councils, a life's partner to an outstanding engineering alumnus and co-founder with him of a lively Queen's clan.
While a University Councillor, she was elected to the Board of Trustees by Benefactors in 1982 and went on to serve Queen's at this new level with a well-informed perspective, time-tested common sense, and a knack for plain speaking.
maintaining a life-long interest in education at all levels, she put her talents to work in the University Clubs of both Kingston and Montreal and as the first woman elected to Kingston's Separate School Board.
In all these pursuits, she has worn her love for Queen's on her sleeve. Even 20 years ago, the legendary Herb Hamilton paid tribute to her "Stirling qualities of leadership, inspiration and example shown on behalf of Queen's women graduates." To that, this Council which she served so long and so faithfully, adds its appreciation of her ability and willingness at any time, in any place, for reasons grand or small, to lead the most infectious Oil Thigh kickline seen on two continents!
Lynda Colgan - 2016
You have made an enormous impact through your research and teaching of elementary mathematics education which has stretched across the province and country, and will be felt for years to come by young students, their teachers and parents, educational administrators, and Queen’s students, staff, and faculty.
Your time at Queen’s began almost twenty years ago in 1998, when you immediately began to dedicate yourself to educating teacher candidates and completing research and outreach in the field of elementary mathematics education, amassing a staggering six million dollars in funding for research, creative, and outreach projects involving online learning, several television series, websites, toolkits, an outreach centre, and more.
You did not limit yourself to service within your Faculty at Queen’s. You also found time to be a senator for six years, eventually chairing one of Senate’s most important committees and leading a full review of Senate, its structure, and operations, which will have lasting effects on how Queen’s is governed.
One of your most significant contributions to date must be Science Rendezvous, an annual event that “takes science out of the lab and onto the street”! Events take place across the country and, in Kingston alone, thousands upon thousands of children, parents, educators, university students, and scientists take part.
Science Rendezvous provides the opportunity for direct interaction with top scientists and researchers, and it sparks the wonder of science in the minds of all who attend.
Many of us have heard your voice coming through loud and clear on radio and television interviews, in newspaper columns, and at conferences and symposia, when your passion and knowledge for mathematics and science are evident. With you as an educator of new teachers, our children and the future of this province are in the very best of hands.
For all of this work, and for your tireless dedication to the University, it is my honour to present you with this award for distinguished service.
Mike S. Condra - 2014
For the past thirty years, countless Queen’s students and their families have benefitted from your knowledge and compassionate expertise.
As the highly respected director of the university’s Health, Counselling and Disability Services unit, you have been involved in ushering in key programs to better support students – from learning strategies development to mental health first aid training. You have also been a driving force in obtaining the funding to support initiatives like QSuccess, a transition program to help first year students develop the skills they need for success at Queen’s.
But your administrative duties have never taken you away from the students: you continue to be involved in a number of student cases, from offering grief counseling to calling a parent on behalf of a student who is to frightened to admit that he or she is failing the year.
You have touched a great many lives at Queen’s. Your colleagues have described you as a gifted leader and have commented on your unwavering support, as well as your inclination to go well above the call of duty when your help is needed, whether you are accompanying a student to the emergency room, or taking a phone call at three in the morning.
You have become a leader in the field of student mental health and wellness, and in doing so have helped build the university’s reputation in that area as well.
For all that you have given to Queen’s, we are pleased to present you with this award for distinguished service.
Helen Connop - 2021
For 19 years, your presence at this university brought with it professionalism, compassion, and care, which were felt not just by students, but by faculty and staff across the university, who knew you as the face of equity, diversity, and inclusion at the Faculty of Law.
Not only did you make yourself available around the clock to Queen’s students as a tireless advocate and supporter, sitting with students in distress until families arrived, you also had an impact on students across the country whose programs developed peer tutoring and mentoring systems based on the incredibly successful system
you created and implemented at Queen’s.
Your colleagues have used the words “dedicated”, “instrumental”, and “committed” when describing your impact on the university and the Faculty of Law, noting that many students decide to come to Queen’s because of the framework of support you built.
We wish to express our appreciation for this dedication and commitment with the presentation of this award.
Brian Cookman- 2011
You are a true friend to Queen’s University. Committed to cooperative problem-solving, you are a widely respected partner and an outstanding role model in City-University relations. As an ambassador for the Kingston Police Force, you have established and nurtured a genuine connection with our students. AMS leaders over the last several years consider you a trusted mentor in their efforts to address the challenges posed by the event known as “Aberdeen.”
As the Kingston Police representative for the Aberdeen Street Committee and the officer in charge of police operations, you demonstrated respect for Queen’s traditions, values and sense of spirit.
You worked diligently to ensure the physical safety of our students and to elicit their cooperation and compliance in difficult situations. You also defended them against unfair and unreasonable accusations. In doing so, you maintained the reputation of Queen’s when the notoriety of the Aberdeen Street event threatened to damage the University.
Your reach extends beyond these achievements. You have changed the level of discourse between the University, the police, and the City of Kingston, thereby ushering in a new era in town-gown relations.
For your consummate abilities as a leader, mentor and fellow citizen, you are truly deserving of Queen’s highest honour.
Stanley Corbett - 2015
The recipient, Dr. Stanley Corbett, had a relationship with Queen’s that stretched across five decades. Over his many years here, Dr. Corbett gave to this university in a multitude of ways and it is difficult to think of anyone more deserving of this award than him.
A man of wide-ranging curiosity, Dr. Corbett first came to Queen’s to earn a BA in Mathematics in the 1960s. Shortly after, he came back, albeit with a different focus, to complete his MA and then PhD in Philosophy.
After earning his PhD, Dr. Corbett took a job in the Philosophy Department at Acadia University, where he eventually became Department Head. When his curiosity got the best of him in the 1990s, Dr. Corbett returned to Queen’s, this time as a student in the Faculty of Law. His professors were unanimously impressed with his aptitude, and he won many prizes while a student — a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that he was teaching Philosophy classes at the same time. Shortly after graduating with his law degree, he was hired to teach in the Faculty of Law where he taught courses as varied as Public, Constitutional, Administrative, and Public International Law — he even taught a course on Health Law to the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Universally beloved by his students, he won the Law Students’ Society’s teaching award three times.
An accomplished author, Dr. Corbett also wrote numerous reviews, articles, and books before taking his most important role at Queen’s: Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Law. Under his guidance, the law school rebuilt its educational offerings, expanded to blended and online learning, and added courses to provide students with essential law skills.
Dr. Corbett was dedicated to teaching students the relationship between law and justice, the importance of integrity and professionalism, and the imperative to use one’s legal training in service to society. He was infinitely patient, extraordinarily kind, and gave lavishly of his time, attention, and wisdom.
For these contributions, and for the many lives he touched during his time at Queen’s, it’s my honour to present this award for distinguished service to Dr. Stanley Corbett.
Thomas Courchene - 2021
Your impact on the world of public, social, and monetary policy, both at Queen’s and internationally is substantial, with the publication of some 300 papers and several books, the editing of 60 more,
and the publication of several award-winning articles.
You have received fellowships, honorary degrees, prizes, and been invested as an Officer of Canada.
You have held titles as varied as president, board member, visiting fellow, program chair, senior scholar, and director.
You served as the inaugural Director of Queen’s School of Policy Studies and as Stauffer-Dunning Chair, charting the School’s way forward as a trusted and reliable resource for governments and academics, and a place of knowledge and growth for students and faculty.
Although humble among these many achievements, we are honoured to present you with Queen’s Distinguished Service Award.
Robert Crawford - 2006
For more than thirty years your service to the Queen’s community has been distinguished in many areas and on many levels with great benefit to students, parents, staff and faculty colleagues, in a learning environment you have nurtured and enriched.
Teaching excellence, rare administrative acumen and boundless energy, optimism, and compassion are hallmarks of your work as a faculty member, an associate dean in arts and science and as an interim resident director at Queen’s International Study Centre.
With these splendid talents you defined a new role during your decade-long journey as Queen’s first dean of student affairs.
With sound judgment and purpose and substantial success you provided inspired leadership to staff, and chaired, co-chaired and actively participated in meetings with the myriad councils and groups who work to enhance the quality of student life at Queen’s.
At the core of your unfailing commitment to students is your fundamental belief in the importance of Queen’s tradition of student self-government – a belief that students are responsible people, capable of making responsible decisions.
Devoted to devising solutions without ever excluding the possibility of compromise, you listened, discussed, mentored, collaborated, and supported.
In turn, students appreciated your wisdom, warmth and fairness and responded, especially in those critical ‘light bulb’ moments, when you gently offered guidance and direction - and they got it!
Your considerable experience and remarkable sensitivity gave comfort in tragic times and helped resolve pressing problems and controversies in that broad vibrant area called student affairs, and a grateful Queen’s is proud to honour you with an award for distinguished service.
Ken Cuthbertson - 2016
Your contribution to Queen’s is almost immeasurable, spanning the terms of six principals and tens of thousands of Queen’s students, faculty members, and staff.
After graduating with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in 1973 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1975, you left campus for a few years, but couldn’t stay away for long and returned as editor of the Queen’s Alumni Review in 1986, a post you held until 2014.
You built the Review into one of the most important voices of the University, and something that ties together all of Queen’s alumni, who are scattered across Canada and the globe, and range in age from great-grandparents to new graduates in their early twenties. Many alumni eagerly look forward to receiving their Review in the mail, and see it as one of their strongest ties to Queen’s.
As you well know, the Review went through many changes with you at the helm. Technology often played a driving role in this change, and your strong sense of innovation moved the Review forward, while your creativity and levelheadedness kept it true to its roots. Time after time, readers confirmed their satisfaction with the publication, and the Review was in a class of its own when compared against peer institutions’ publications.
Your emphasis on journalistic integrity served the Review well. You immersed yourself in campus life and culture, but still managed to approach issues with an objectivity that provided the perspective and analysis so valued by alumni.
For all that you have given to Queen’s, I am honoured to present you with this Distinguished Service Award.