William Banks – SBE
I first joined Laurier in 1981 as a limited term faculty member in SBE. After leaving Laurier to pursue a PhD degree, I rejoined Laurier in 1988. My PhD was conferred in 1992 and a tenured appointment granted in 1995.
During my career at Laurier I participated in teaching, research and service. My teaching was concentrated in the field of financial and managerial accounting. My research focussed on accountability of publically funded institutions with an emphasis on universities in Commonwealth countries. My research resulted in 12 refereed journal articles, 8 refereed conference proceedings, 2 chapters in books and 10 other refereed conference presentations.
I believe that my greatest contribution to Laurier was in service. I served as the BBA Director, Undergraduate Programs Director, Area Coordinator: Accounting, Associate Dean of Business and the Acting Dean of SBE. I also served on the executive of WLUFA as member-at-large, as treasure and as vice-president. Outside the University, I served for several years on the Governing Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Ontario. I was awarded the designation of Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA designation) in 2006 in recognition for my outstanding service to the profession.
In conclusion my time at Laurier was excellent. I enjoyed the faculty members, the students, the staff and the senior administrators. I will always have fond memories of Laurier.
Joanne Decker – Geography
I remember when we hired Jody. She presented an excellent talk on the spread of disease among western first nations people during the fur trade. Probably we would have hired her just on the basis of that talk alone. Recognition of Jody’s strengths has evolved in many ways during her time at Laurier. In 2010 she was awarded the Canadian Association of Geographers Award for Excellence in Teaching. In the citation commemorating her award a student is quoted: “Geography is no doubt Dr. Decker’s primary and foremost interest, and her commitment to it is truly remarkable…Her love for human geography and giving it to others needs to be acknowledged and properly awarded”.
Jody served for many years as a Governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society where part of her time was spent directing her energies towards the RCGS awards systems of which she was chair for a period of time. In the 1990’s she participated in a research program initiated at Laurier and involving several other universities entitled the Arctic Communities Project, an initiative of the Cold Regions Research Centre,s which focused primarily on Baffin Island and the integrated issues of politics, changes to the environment, human health and societal and cultural changes the Inuit were experiencing at the time. Jody’s primary focus was human health in these northern villages.
In her teaching, Jody was a tireless advocate for the rights of women and for the rights of Canada’s First Nations. In many of the courses she developed, she challenged her students to recognize and take a stand against inequality in Canadian society. Jody combined this scholarly activism with a keen interest in the heritage and history of cultural landscapes. Her goal was to open students’ eyes to the role that our surroundings play in becoming who we are, both as individuals and as a society. In Jody’s eyes, this was best achieved outside, and so many of her courses took the students out of the classroom on field trips or through community service learning.
Last, but not least, Jody was a strong voice in the day-to-day affairs of our department. No one was a greater champion of the unity of geography across all sub disciplines than Jody and we will certainly miss her fiery reminders that geography is at its best if we do it together. I think the student had her pegged just right: Jody loves geography, “and her commitment to it is truly remarkable.”
By Mike English & Michael Imort
Jody has been an excellent colleague and friend for several years and I miss seeing her more often as she recently moved toward her retirement plan. She is a vital and exceptional human being, demonstrating a tremendous level of enthusiasm in everything she does. We used to have many colourful conversations regarding the material she brought to the classroom relevant to our mutual research programs. Jody’s practical life experience and medical background continues to be an asset to applied research in the medical geography field and beyond. I have felt privileged to work closely with her on more than one project, and that research work is still current and being written up for publication.
It is also my understanding she has been a vital lecturer with a sincere and realistic approach to her presence in front of an audience. Her ability to relate literature material in a “user-friendly” way, combined with the use of “real-world” examples, really helps to bring the information alive for the audience and students in particular. On one occasion when I co-taught a lecture with Jody it was a terrific experience, and abundantly clear that she carries her enthusiasm for life and her research into the classroom.
Jody has been a terrific friend, providing strength of advice through her own life experience as I carried out my own personal battles. I miss her day-to-day presence, and look forward to still pestering her on occasion while wishing her well in her retirement.
By Robin Slawseen
Rhonda Howard-Hassman – Global Studies
Rhoda Howard-Hassmann has been a key contributer to Laurier’s research profile but also an indispensable support to colleagues in both Global Studies and Political Science.
Rhoda came to us from the Department of Sociology at McMaster University to take up a Canada Research Chair in International Human Rights at Laurier. She held a joint appointment with the Department of Global Studies and the Balsillie School of International Affairs until 2014, and then her appointment changed to the School of International Policy and Governance (part of the Balsillie School) and the Department of Political Science. Along the way, she has held visiting appointments with Rhodes University in South Africa and the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, and she has been Marsha Lilien Gladstein Distinguished Visiting Professor of Human Rights at the University of Connecticut; James Farmer Visiting Professor of Human Rights at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia; and Torgny Segerstedt Visiting Professor of Human Rights at the University of Goteborg in Sweden. It should also be noted that Rhoda has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 1993.
With colleagues from Laurier by her side in 2014, Rhoda was awarded the Distinguished Scholar of Human Rights by the Human Rights Section of the International Studies Association.
Rhoda has provided supervision and mentoring to many graduate students in Political Science and the Balsillie School, and one might say that one of her significant legacies is the various cohorts of young scholars who place a very real concern for human rights – in various forms – at the core of their academic endeavours. Another, however, has been her firm support of her female colleagues, whom she always encouraged in both their research and collegial undertakings – this was one of things that was most appreciated by her colleagues!
She will certainly be missed – very much!
By Debora L. VanNijnatten
Geoffrey Nelson – Psychology
Dr.Geoff Nelson has maintained an impressive level of academic, professional, community and university service during his career at Laurier, which has spanned more than 35 years. Starting in his very first year at Laurier in 1979, Geoff immersed himself in the community. He served as a Behavioural Consultant for the Waterloo County Board of Education, introducing primary prevention programs for children into several schools in the Region. He co-founded Langs Farm Village Association, a neighbourhood-based organization that has evolved into a large Community Health Centre that provides badly needed health services to Cambridge residents who lack a health care provider. He was a co-founder, consultant, and researcher in the Better Beginnings Better Futures primary prevention program in North Waterloo, chaired an Expert Panel on the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) that shifted the focus of the federal strategy to a “Housing First” approach, and was part of an Advisory Committee that oversaw local implementation of the Housing First approach in Waterloo Region.. He truly serves as a model of engaged and aware citizenship to his graduate and undergraduate students, and his colleagues. During his time at Laurier, he served as Chair of the Psychology Department; he was heavily involved in the development of a Ph.D. Program in Community Psychology; and he has mentored countless faculty in the Department. In addition, he was Co-founder of the Biennial Québec-Ontario Community Psychology Conference, has served on the editorial board of the Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health for over 25 years, and was named a Fellow of the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA; Division 27 of the American Psychological Association).
When he isn’t working, Geoff devotes his time to family and fun. He loves fine French wines, and enjoys cooking (lately it’s been vegetarian fare!). He’s a tennis player, a cyclist, and a basketball player (with a special fondness for cheering on the University of Illinois basketball team). He is a doting grand-dad with four young grandchildren that he spends a lot of time with, and he and wife Judy do a lot of eco-traveling all around the world – he’s getting ready to go to Kenya and South Africa later this spring. Everyone in the Psychology department will miss having Geoff around on a regular basis, but we wish him well as he explores new adventures.
By Chris Alksnis
Jane Rutherford – Biology
Dr. Jane Rutherford joined the department of Biology at Laurier in 1986. At the time the department had seven full-time faculty members, and Jane was “the ecologist”. When she joined Laurier, Jane was the second female member of the department, at a time when there were few women in full-time faculty positions in science. Because of the scarcity of women in full-time positions across the university, Jane served many times on appointment and promotion committees in other departments, which meant she had a hand in the increasing diversification of the faculty over the last thirty years.
Over her career, Jane has been part of many major transitions in the Department, the Faculty and the University. In 1995 the Department moved from its quarters in the Arts building to the brand new Science building. In 2000 the Faculty of Science was established as a separate academic unit. In the middle part of that decade the “double cohort” of students that accompanied the end of grade 13 in Ontario ushered in a major period of growth in student enrollments in Biology and across the Faculty of Science. Coincident with that growth the department substantially increased the number and diversity of courses on offer. Over the years, Dr. Rutherford taught several courses in her area of expertise including Ecology, Limnology and Advanced Ecology. Until the arrival of the double cohort, all honours students were required to complete a two week field camp at the start of their fourth year. Jane, like other members of the department, contributed to the delivery of the field camp, often accompanied on the trip by her young family. The field camp requirement ended in 2006, and Jane was on hand for a portion of that trip, helping students collect stream invertebrates and honing their identification skills. For several years in the early 2000s Jane was the face of Biology to our incoming students as she took on the role of teaching BI100*, a year-long course that was a core requirement for students in several other programs as well. That commitment to putting full-time tenured faculty in front of first and second year students continues in Biology to this day.
Since 2000 Jane has taken on a key leadership role in Biology. From 2000 – 2009 she served as chair of the department, guiding us through several opportunities for renewal and growth including a cyclical review in 2004, the implementation of a new graduate program, several new hires, and a major overhaul of our courses and programs. Along the way she also shepherded the department through some challenges including the unexpected death of a colleague, staff relations, and constraints imposed by major budget cutbacks. After the end of her third term as chair Jane took on the role of undergraduate advisor for the program. With a full calendar of advising appointments Jane knows that the question motivating a student to seek academic advice might be sitting on the surface of deeper challenges they are facing. By taking the time to talk with students she is able to uncover these issues and offer solutions that move them closer to program completion. Jane’s advice isn’t reserved only for students; she has been an important sounding board for her successors in the Chair’s office when they faced their own challenges. Her extensive knowledge of the history of the department and the numbers of students who have passed through our doors, was an important asset in our 2011 cyclical review. Having had a hand in all of our previous reviews, however, Jane seems quite happy to be leaving before we launch into the next one.
In recent years, Jane and her husband have made several trips to the Gaspé, where they have been able to indulge their love of salmon fishing. Their love of the area led them to purchase a cottage in the area. With the freedom that comes with retirement, they will likely have many more opportunities to pursue their passion.
By Scott Ramsay
William Salatka – SBE
Summary of Activities of Bill Salatka from 1993 to 2016
Joined the faculty of Lazridis School of Business and Economics in 1993. Bill’s speciality is financial accounting with an emphasis on analyzing financial statements.
Activities in SBE:
-Taught in the undergraduate, MBA and PhD programs
-Member of various committees including BDAP
-Served as Director of Undergraduate Business Programs
-Served as Accounting Area Head
-Taught accounting in Albania as part of the world-wide program sponsored by the investor and philanthropist George Soros to help educate the people of former communist countries about how business is conducted in the West.
-Informally provided guidance and advice to untenured faculty in preparing their tenure application
Activities in WLUFA:
-Served on various WLUFA committees for several years including the Salary Anomalies Committee, Executive Committee, and Cycling Committee.
-Served on negotiating teams to bargain the Full-Time Faculty and Professional Librarian Agreement for five contract renewals. For two of those contract renewals served as chief negotiator.
-Joined the CAS bargaining team to help in costing the CAS collective agreement and provided help during the CAS strike.
-Served as WLUFA Treasurer, Vice-President, and President.
Activities in OCUFA:
-One of the founding members of the OCUFA University Finance Committee.
-Made yearly presentations at the OCUFA University Finance Committee Workshop about analyzing university financial statements, interpretation of accounting topics and use of university financial statement analysis at the bargaining table.
-Created a Webinar for OCUFA members to provide an introduction to analyzing university financial statements for bargaining teams.
-Helped bargaining teams across Ontario to analyze their institution’s financial statements, how to use the financial analysis at the bargaining table and provided advice during their negotiations.
-Received the 2015 OCUFA Service Award (Citation is attached).
-Received the 2015 Lorimer Award (Citation is attached).
Gerry Schaus – Archaeology
Gerry’s career has included an impressive array of undergraduate and graduate courses, service as editor, referee, Chair, and president of various organizations and of course the university and department. His research on the Olympics and at his site at Stymphalos has appeared in two books and scholarly papers. This is not to mention his work on Archaic and Classical ceramic wares. I recently heard him tell students that he always found it surprising that he became an expert on ceramics of all things. How’s that for an honest appraisal of your scholarly activities?
Gerry has been a friend and colleague of mine – even helping with archival research in Bermuda if you can imagine that! A few years ago he and Pam came to Bermuda and spent days in the archives there browsing through microfiche. I quickly found that Gerry was thorough in his work and that he also seemed to enjoy the thrill of research in an area quite outside his own. He clearly has the soul of a scholar. That trip also included some sightseeing and I was also glad to see that Gerry had the good sense to play while in an island paradise. He is quite adept at snorkeling and beach combing I gather.
I recently found out more about Gerry the person when I was a guest at his daughter Amelia’s wedding. His extra-curricular activities include spending time in what was referred to as his man-cave. I’m still not sure exactly what goes on in this part of his house but it invites speculation. From what I heard it seems to have something to do with male bonding thorugh tv watching, snack eating, and other general sorts of manly activities. One thing I can point to, thanks to Gerry and his son-in-law, is that one thing that takes place in the man cave is memorization of sports statistics and trivia. Apparently, this store of knowledge is trotted out by Gerry when the time is right in a way that bedazzles and bewilders his son-in-law – who is also no slouch himself as far as this topic is concerned. The purpose may be to inculcate a god-like reverence for the elder by the younger but that’s just speculative.
The competitive side of Gerry is something that also was spoken of at the wedding – who would have guessed? This is a man who learned to play hockey later in life. Characteristically, giving it his all, he even sustained a sports injury that a younger person would have been proud of. You may remember Gerry with a dressing on one of his limbs a few years ago. Apparently this isn’t that unusual – my sons tell me that men’s hockey leagues can get competitive – but usually it is the older players that make it so.
He’ll also have more time to hone his dart skills which I have had the opportunity to witness first-hand much to my wonderment. Horseshoes are also on the docket although from what I understand he doesn’t require too much work on this. I enjoy a good horseshoe game too but I wouldn’t dare step into the arena with Gerry.
By John Triggs
Ben Amoaka-Adu – SBE
Professor Amoako-Adu completed a BSc at the University of Ghana in 1972, a Masters in Economics at the University of Western Ontario in 1973, and an M.B.A. at Syracuse University in 1974. In 1981 he graduated with a PhD in finance from the University of Toronto. While still a doctoral student at the University of Toronto, Ben started teaching at York University and continued there after graduation until 1983. He left York and returned to Ghana where he taught at the University of Ghana for two years. Missing the cold climate, Ben returned to Canada in 1985 and took a position as Director of the MBA program for two years at the University of New Brunswick. He found his long-term home when he joined the School of Business at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) in 1987.
Prof. Amoako-Adu has researched and published extensively in the areas of investments, corporate finance, corporate governance, banking, takeovers, dual class shares, and asset prices and taxes. His research has been published in journals such as, the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Banking and Finance, the Financial Management, the Journal of Corporate Finance, the Journal of Financial Research, the Financial Review, the Journal of Economics and Business, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Applied Financial Economics, Applied Economics, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, and the Canadian Investment Review.
Ben served as Finance area coordinator for almost half of the time he was at WLU. He hired many of the faculty members presently in the area. Ben’s tenure at WLU occurred at a transformational time period as the School of Business transitioned from a teaching school to a research school. Beyond his example of active publishing, Ben transformed the Area through a number of initiatives. He co-founded the Financial Services Research Centre in 1994. The Centre has helped promote and disseminate research in finance since then. In 2006, Ben developed and launched Laurier’s Ph.D. program in Management (Financial Economics stream). Ben supervised Vishaal Baulkaran, one of the program’s first graduates, who graduated in 2011 and recently was awarded tenure at the University of Lethbridge. Furthermore, Ben developed and won approval for Laurier’s Master of Finance program.
As an instructor, Ben was much loved by his students. He took special care to incorporate real life finance stories into his lectures. He taught courses in corporate finance, valuation and investments. Many of his students were inspired by him to pursue careers in finance in both industry and academia. His one-time MBA student Campbell Harvey became the Journal of Finance editor from 2006-2012. Another one of his students, Harry Marmer became a leading member of the CFA Society of Toronto and Executive Vice President of Hillsdale Investment Management.
From 1992 to 1995, Ben served as a member and Chair of Ontario Council on Graduate Studies (OCGS) Appraisals Committee. In 2003 and 2005, he was an external reviewer for the University of Saskatchewan Finance and York University Faculty of Administrative Studies Programmes, respectively. Currently, he serves on the editorial board of two international academic journals. He has provided extensive training consulting services to stock exchanges, local and foreign banks, and multinational corporations. Ben’s research papers have won numerous best paper awards in Canada.
By Will McNally
Renato Cristi – Philosopy
Dr. Renato Cristi received his PhD in philosophy from the University of Toronto in 1982 and has been a valued member of the philosophy department at WLU since 1984.
He has made significant contributions to both our undergraduate and graduate programs and has enjoyed a very active research career. In addition to numerous book chapters, refereed journal articles, and public presentations, he has also published seven books. The two most recent are:
Renato Cristi and Oscar Velásquez, NietzscheOn Theognis of Megara. 2016
Renato Cristi & Pablo Ruiz-Tagle, La República en Chile: Teoría y Práctica del Constitucionalismo Republicano. 2007
By Rebekah Johnston
Peter Dunn – Social Work
When I started off at Laurier in 2002, Peter Dunn was the mentor that was assigned to me. At the time, I was hired ABD and was working hard at my courses, integrating with the FSW and working on my doctoral thesis. Peter Dunn kept saying to me the following: “It doesn’t matter how well liked you are, how much money you are pulling in, etc… You need to finish your Ph.D.”. And I did. He was a wonderful mentor and very, very generous to me in many ways.
I have sat in several thesis committee meetings with Peter and he is very generous and gracious towards students as well. Very, very supportive and patient man.
He was instrumental in organizing the Equity Committee sub committee on Equity within our Faculty and has been working hard on a climate survey within our faculty. He has also been at the helm of the fundraising committee for the FSW and ensures the allocation of scholarships and bursaries for our students at graduation time.
He is a professor who cares deeply about poverty issues as well as alternative forms of therapy in social work practice. He has been a consistent advocate for students who are differently abled and is known for his work in this area.
He loves his dog and has pictures of him on his door and brings him to visit the fsw from time to time.
He will be missed.
By Ginette Lafreniere M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.
Without question, Peter’s passion for and commitment to social justice underpin his teaching, research, and service. Most notably, since I joined Laurier in 2014 I have known Peter as a champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Faculty of Social Work and beyond.
In recent years, working in partnership with students, Peter lead an extensive process to develop a 5-year equity plan FSW. The process started with an equity survey, which helped to document strengths and areas for improvement. Wanting to advance positive change, especially for minoritized students, Peter established and led a working group consisting of students and faculty to engage the FSW community in the development of a visionary and act-oriented plan. Reflecting social work’s values and principles, our plan was developed through a community engagement process which involved students, staff, and faculty; the issues and recommendations outlined in the plan are grounded in research and best practices; and, the goals and action items build on the FSW’s and Laurier’s strengths. Clearly, the plan represents social work values, ideals, and approaches. The plan is being presented to Divisional Council in May and will hopefully become a living document for the FSW. This plan and the important changes that come from it represent Peter’s hard work, dedication, and commitment to social justice. It is an important part – but not the only part – of Peter’s legacy.
Many thanks, Peter, and all the best
By Michael Woodford
Robert Gebotys – Psychology
“Bob has provided exemplary service teaching for social work doctoral students over many years. The 2 courses he has consistently taught for us, “Statistics for Social Work Research” and “Multivariate Analysis for Social Work Research” are probably the two most feared courses of social work doctoral students. However, Bob’s patient, organized, and clear teaching style, and his ability to demonstrate the relevance of statistics to important practice issues, has led to consistently strong teaching evaluations from students—as well as a decreased fear of and an increased appreciation for quantitative research. Bob’s contributions to the Faculty of Social Work are much appreciated and we wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement—although we are hopeful that he might choose to continue to teach for us.”
By Nick Coady
Erich Haberer – History
Dr. Erich Haberer joined the History Department in 1999 from the Advanced Center for Holocaust and Genocide Research Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. on a Limited Term Appointment. The following year he became a tenured member of the Department, and he taught with great distinction for us for the next fifteen years. Indeed Dr. Haberer’s courses on European History, especially the Holocaust, were among the most popular courses we offered, with Erich proving himself to be a dedicated and highly-regarded teacher at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
He is also a tremendous scholar. Dr. Haberer’s 1995 monograph, Jews and Revolution in Nineteenth-Century Russia (Cambridge University Press; paperback edition 2004) is one of the seminal works in the field. Moreover, despite his retirement Dr. Haberer remains an active scholar. Indeed, he is currently working to complete his much-anticipated monograph, Gendarmes, Jews and ‘Bandits’: Genocide and Partisan Warfare in German occupied Rural Russia and Ukraine, 1941-44, which promises to make just as an important contribution as his previous work.
Erich is also a keen soccer player, still playing two or three times a week, with a deadly right-foot and highly-developed competitive streak. Take it from one who knows: you don’t want to get into a 50/50 challenge with Dr. Haberer!
By Darren Mulloy Ph.D.,
Paul Iyogun – SBE
Paul is a very friendly colleague. He always speaks softly with a smile. His research has been published more than once in Management Science, arguably the best journal in our field. He cares deeply about his home country Nigeria and has devoted tremendous amount of time and energy helping the businesses and education institutions there. Last but not least, Paul is a great parent. Both his children graduated from Ivy League schools in the U.S.
Unassuming, down-to-earth and very approachable, Paul is one of the old-school academics who gave Laurier its well-deserved reputation for niceness and collegiality. Paul joined Laurier’s business school in the late eighties and, with a flurry of seminal research papers in inventory management and lotsizing, helped put the school on the map of Canada’s leading research-intensive schools. A proud alumnus of the University of Ibadan, he never forgot his roots and tapped Nigeria’s rich reserves of programming talent when he set up a software firm in the early 2000s.
For Paul, work was important, but family always came first. He and his accomplished wife raised two sons who have done very well for themselves. He is now ready to hang up his gloves and focus on his six month-old grandchild, his wife and family, travel and leisure.
John McCutheon – SBE
- Joined the Accounting Area in the Department of Business in 1980.
- Taught a variety of courses over the years but in recent years primarily involved with the Toronto based MBA/CMA program ant the Business Technology Management program at the Brantford campus.
- Held a variety of administrative positions in the Department of Business and at the Brantford campus.
- Long involvement with WLUFA including membership for many years on the Executive Committee and a term as President. Was member of the negotiating team in two Collective Agreement negotiations.
By Robert Mathieu, PhD, CPA, CA, CMA
Ken Morrison – Sociolgoy
Dr. Ken Morrison joined the Department of Sociology in 1989. His teaching, academic research and publications in classical social theory established a national and international reputation for the Department in field of sociological theory.
As the associate founder and managing editor of The Journal of Classical Sociology published in the United Kingdom by Sage, Ken helped launched the first edition in 2001and published papers in this and other academic journals. He has been much sought after as a conference speaker and referee for books and journal articles.
With the publication of his social theory book Formation of Modern Social Thought in 1995 and the 2nd Edition in 2006, the book has become a leading social theory book not just in Canada but in the United Kingdom, India and has recently doubled its sales in the United States. His most recent social theory manuscript is currently being considered for publication by Columbia University Press.
Ken brought with his interest in undergraduate teaching, a desire to establish a graduate sociology program at Wilfrid Laurier. From 2002, Ken provided leadership for the development of the graduate program. With the establishment of the MA sociology program, Ken taught graduate courses in sociological theory and provided supervision for the writing of graduate students.
Throughout his career, Dr. Ken Morrison has done much to enrich the social, academic and scholastic climate of Wilfrid Laurier University and the Department of Sociology. As he begins his retirement, Ken and his wife Susan are wished many years of good health and happiness.
By Richard Christy
Barbara Carmichael – Geography
Barb’s education and her research interests connected geography and business, mainly through research at the nexus of tourism and entrepreneurship. In tourism, her diverse projects looked at wine tourism, hiking on the Inca Trail in Peru, harassment, or the effect of tourism on the Mennonite culture. In entrepreneurship, Barb’s projects ranged from the experience of recent immigrants all the way to the Disney Corporation and everything in between. As the past Associate Director of the NeXt Centre for Entrepreneurship, she examined transnational tourism entrepreneurship, commercial home entrepreneurship and lifestyle entrepreneurship. Over the years her wide ranging interests in tourism research were brought to the classroom. Her courses were very popular.
In many of her projects, Barb nurtured and mentored a good number of graduate students, and here is what one of them has to say about her: “Barb’s unwavering support and perspicacity made earning my PhD the most significant and enjoyable learning experience of my life. She has a nurturing personality and curiosity for new areas of research that benefitted all the graduate students that she supervised.”
Barb was a valued colleague and mentor to younger faculty. Her outgoing nature and willingness to listen and discuss approaches to teaching and research left a very positive impression with both our graduate students and faculty members.
Ruth Cruikshank – SBE
Ruth is a wonderful colleague and a delight to work with. While a lot of others run from emerging tasks, Ruth runs towards them, embracing them with energy, enthusiasm, honesty, care and speed. Ruth is a very talented individual who acts with authenticity, gets things done, and in the process energizes others, probably because her approach is coupled with a great sense of fun, empathy, and pragmatism, balanced by vision. She has a great mind (always keen to learn), and is a very skilled educator who is innovative in program design and delivery, so working with her in the classroom is a very pleasurable learning experience. In that regard, Ruth has always cared passionately about what happens to our students and the quality of their educational experience and that shines through in so many ways. Finally, she has taken on significant leadership roles in the broader university and the community. Some notable service contributions include the creation of LSBE’s Center for Excellence in Business Education, Co-Chair, Laurier IPRM (Integrated Planning and Resource Management ) Resource Management, Team Member WLU President’s Task Force on Multicampus Governance, Associate Director/Academic Coordinator MBA Programs, member of the Exchange Building (Lazaridis Hall) Academic User Group, and members of the Laurier Council on Teaching & Learning.
By John Banks
Martin Dowding – Communications Studies
Dr. Martin Dowding’s career has been one rich populated by many experiences and the many stories that go along with them. In turns and over his long career he has been a librarian in such places as the British Museum and Robarts, a literacy instructor, worked as part of the editorial team for the renowned Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Traill Letters Publication Project at York University, on the editorial staff of Coach House Press, and as a review, layout, managing and contributing editor for Quill and Quire magazine. Belatedly turning to academe and receiving his PhD in 2002, Martin held a position in the School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia until coming to the Department of Communication Studies here at Laurier in 2006. His recent academic work has engaged in the increasingly urgent conversation about the liabilities and limits of assumptions of information privacy for the national organ of the discipline in Canada, the Canadian Journal of Communication, and in the volume Privacy: Defending an Illusion which was published in 2011 by Scarecrow Press/Rowman & Littlefield. Martin is also known for his contributions to music, including his work as a clarinetist with the Wellington Winds and, perhaps less glamorously be certainly more daring, as a part of the Communication Studies house trio, the Hegemonics. In a world in which there are purportedly six degrees of separation, Martin has been fortunate to have had fewer than one degree of separation from some of the most interesting characters of the last four generations and we have been fortunate that his vivid and charismatic story-telling style that has allowed some of us to feel as though we were there, one degree away, with him.
By Penelope Ironstone
Peter Eglin – Sociology
Peter Eglin was an excellent teacher and an inspiration to many students over the course of his forty years at Laurier. Forty years!!!
He served as chair of his department, on the Senate and even on the Board of Governors. He has already been missed this year as a colleague in the Sociology department but that is perhaps not how he will be remembered by most here at Laurier. Peter is the author of many books and the title of his latest one- Intellectual Citizenship and the Problem of Incarnation published in 2012 – gives us a clue as to how he will be mainly remembered: as a comrade in two close related struggles, to preserve of the proper values of higher education and to achieve social justice. People will remember him shouting “no” at the Board of Governors as the Chair tried to silence a professor speaking to the IPRM issue. People will remember him standing in front of the UN declaration of Human Rights in the concourse denouncing the Israeli attacks on Gaza, then calmly debating an angry group of Jewish students and along the way challenging Max Blouw to publicly debate him on the issue and later publicly calling him a “moral coward” when he refused. There are so many such stories, going back so many years. People will remember him during a public debate concerning the WLUSA strike and him being the next speaker after the student union president laboriously spelled out on a black board in front of us: students. This is what it is all about the student said. Peter, when his turn came slowly erased it. “No it’s not” he said “It is about the staff and their livelihoods”. He took his students down to the staff picket lines on Bricker Avenue daily and continued to do so in spite of senior administrative attempts to stop him doing so.
Peter had a sense of theater. He put on his full academic regalia; and wearing hat and gown on the Senate floor, read off the titles of an armful of books denouncing the neo-liberalization of the university, then casually dropped them one by one onto the floor.
Peter frequently criticized WLUFA. He wanted it to be a more egalitarian, democratic and progressive union. He wanted it to do more for contract faculty, to be more courageous and more willing to fight. And if WLUFA has at all improved in this regard over the years, it is due in no small measure to his efforts. Going back to the title of his book and incarnation: Peter lived the ideal of a public intellectual that spoke the truth to power. He will be greatly missed as colleague and comrade!
By Garry Potter
Ute Lischke – English
Dr. Ute Lischke was hired to Laurier’s Department of Languages and Literatures in 2001. While already an established scholar in German film from her days at the University of Toronto, Ute gradually moved into research on Aboriginal literature and film. This shift in research focus eventually resulted in a shift across campus to the Department of English and Film Studies in 2007. In her career, Ute has been a prolific researcher producing four books in addition to edited journal collections, articles, and papers and indicated by her award of a large SSHRC grant and her promotion to full professor by 2011. Ute fulfilled important roles in the Department’s administration as the Film Studies Program Coordinator and then as Chair of the Department while also being a favorite professor amongst Film Studies students.
Leslie O’Dell – English
Dr. Leslie O’Dell began teaching for the Department of English in 1983, and served as the Co-ordinator of our Theatre Program from 1983-1999. Leslie was promoted to Associate Professor in 1991, and full Professor in 2006. She served as our department’s Undergraduate Co-ordinator from 2010-2012.
She was also very actively involved in all levels of theatre training, serving as Artistic Director for WLU’s Junior Acting Studio, the City of Kitchener Drama School, and Arts Express for the Rotary Children’s Centre in Waterloo, as well as teaching at Sheridan College in the Musical Theatre Training program, and serving as a text consultant to the Stratford Festival from 1990-2005. In addition, Leslie directed twenty productions of plays all around Southwestern Ontario between 1980-2008, and was the author of three textbooks on Shakespearean scholarship, language, and characterization.
Anne Russell – English
Dr. Anne Russell joined the Department of English in 1992, teaching theatre history, Shakespeare, and early modern women writers. She has published prolifically, including edited collections, critical editions, and numerous articles, as well as landmark critical editions of Aphra Behn’s works. She has been active on the editorial board of scholarly journals, as chair of conferences in early modern studies, and in graduate supervisions, and served as the department’s Graduate Co-ordinator from 2013-2015. Active on various department committees and in many events and initiatives for students, Anne’s enthusiasm in the classroom and involvement in departmental and student life outside the classroom have been much appreciated and will be much missed.