WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg today named its award winners of exceptional service, achievement and distinction. The individuals and groups comprising this year’s list of winners – Richard Graydon, Royden Loewen, Kenneth Meadwell, Mark Ruml, the University Library and Ecological People in Action (EcoPIA) – personify excellence and achievement.
Richard Graydon – Fellowship in The University of Winnipeg
Richard Graydon, a graduate of The University of Winnipeg, has dedicated his life to education and sound administrative practice. He spent many years as a principal with Luxton, William Whyte, Isaac Brock, Wellington and John M. King schools. He also served as President of the Principals’ Association. His extensive administrative skills served The University of Winnipeg well when he was appointed unanimously by the Board of Regents to assume the role of Chair of the Board during a period of transition for the University (2001-2003), which included the establishment of The University of Winnipeg Foundation in April 2003.
Royden Loewen – The Erica and Arnold Rogers Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship
When it comes to meaningful research in the area of Mennonite History, Royden Loewen stands out for his distinguished work. As a University of Winnipeg History professor and Chair in Mennonite Studies, Loewen has created an enormous body of scholarship devoted to the history of Mennonite communities on three continents. His scholarship has won prizes, inspired other researchers and illuminated many facets of ethno-cultural and social history, even those beyond the communities that are the subject of his studies. He is the author of 17 scholarly articles, 40 book reviews, 13 book chapters, four monographs, one co-authored monograph and one co-edited volume. He has convened or co-convened 17 conferences, organized eight major conferences and adjudicated a dozen book manuscripts. His 70-plus lectures and presentations only further add to his impressive resumé.
Kenneth W. Meadwell – The Robin H. Farquhar Award for Excellence in Contributing to Self-Governance
Kenneth Meadwell is an inspiration to many in the Faculty of Arts, where he has served since 1983 in a number of capacities. Significantly, he served as Department Chair a full 13 years, a challenging assignment that he embraced with tireless energy and where he left his mark in contributing to the self-governance of the University. Under his leadership, the French Department grew to become the Department of French Studies and German Studies. Italian Studies and Spanish Studies were cultivated and the Department evolved into the Department of Modern Language and Literatures, fitting well within the University’s mandate as a multicultural institution in a downtown setting. Overseeing this remarkable growth and paying close attention to the many administrative details, Meadwell still found time to remain accessible to students, faculty and staff. Meadwell’s involvement with University governance was also felt as a member of the Board of Regents, Continuing Education and The University of Winnipeg Faculty Association.
Mark Ruml – The Clarence Atchison Award for Excellence in Community Service
Mark Ruml has spent much of his professional and personal life immersing himself with openness and humility in the renaissance of Aboriginal spirituality among Canada’s Indigenous people. As Assistant Professor, Religious Studies at The University of Winnipeg, he has devoted himself to the scholarly study of this renaissance while integrating the lived realities of First Nations people into his research and teaching. He has worked to make the teachings of Cree Elder Louis Bird more accessible to the broader community. He published “Respectful Methodology: Methodological and Ethical Issues in Aboriginal Religious Traditions” to help guide respectful research in First Nations communities. He has offered education and healing among inmates, and has been involved in teaching and developing curriculum in Children of the Earth High School.
The University Library & Ecological People in Action (EcoPIA) – The Campus Sustainability Recognition Award
The Library and EcoPIA are being recognized with the first Campus Sustainability Recognition Award for helping to reduce the environmental impact of the University’s landfill waste. Michael Hohner, Acting University Librarian, working in partnership with members of EcoPIA, a campus student sustainability group, organized a series of Book Rippin parties. This process diverts journals and books that are removed from University collections from going to the landfill by removing book covers and then recycling the pages. This proactive initiative by both parties has diverted an estimated 2.5 tonnes of paper from the landfill, and has now become an established process on campus. Hohner has also been an active advocate of establishing duplex printing in the University library. He established duplex printing as the default for copiers and printers in the library, which automatically prints on both sides of the paper, further reducing use (and waste) of paper.
The award winners will be recognized at this weekend’s Fall Convocation, which takes place Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 2:00 pm at the Duckworth Centre. The proceedings will also be webcast at http://www.uwinnipeg.tv.
