Alumni News | 1992-2012
ALUMNI NEWS MAGAZINE | 100th Anniversary Edition
VOL. 1, NO. 1 | FALL 1992
UNB is now home to a state-of-the-art conference centre. The $4.3-million Wu Conference Centre opened officially Oct. 5 in Fredericton. The centre is named after Yee-sun Wu, head of a Hong Kong family whose foundation provided $1.25 million for the project.
On hand for the official opening was Michael Wu, son of the Yee-sun Wu, and a 1964 graduate of UNB. The centre can accommodate groups of from eight to 180, and includes the J. Harper Kent Auditorium, and about a dozen other meeting rooms of various sizes. The latest in audio-visual equipment is available throughout the building, along with satellite broadcasting. Catering service runs the gamut, from light snacks to gourmet meals.
VOL. 3, NO. 2 | WINTER 1995
A 1994 alumna has won a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, the second UNB graduate to do so in as many years. Stephanie Kuttner (BA '94) of Fredericton has been awarded the scholarship for two years' study at Oxford University in England. Rhodes scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic achievement, leadership and involvement in community affairs.
Ms. Kuttner is currently studying law at McGill University in Montreal. She was an honors political science student at UNB and active in youth and human rights groups. She plans to study international relations at Oxford. Last year, Peter Bance (BSc '94) was a recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship.
VOL. 7, NO. 1 |FALL 1998
UNB is a major player in Fredericton's new centre for the knowledge-based industry. The Greater Fredericton Knowledge Park officially opened in June adjacent to the Hugh John Flemming Forestry Centre. It will provide a world-class centre for knowledge-based industry, and over time will encompass a total of 240,000 square feet in eight buildings. The park features the latest in broadband multimedia communications capabilities, access to UNB's research departments and the Research and Productivity Council (RPC), as well as attractive buildings in a park-like setting.
VOL. 5, NO. 1 | FALL 1996
Tradition has always been one of UNB's greatest strengths and this spring marked two notable events in that regard - the University Coat of Arms was officially registered in Canada and The Mace was used for the first time.
VOL. 1, NO. 2 | WINTER 1993
It was a long time coming, but the Saint John campus of UNB received some much-needed breathing room in December with the opening of its new multi-purpose building. Philip W. Oland Hall, named after the well-known Saint John philanthropist and chairman and CEO of Moosehead Breweries Ltd., is the first new academic Philip W. Oland facility built on the Tucker Park campus since it was opened in 1969. Between then and now, enrolment has increased from about 500 students to about 1,700 full-time and 1,400 part-time students, while faculty and staff have increased from about 70 to more than 200. The faculty of business administration, the nursing program and most administrative offices now are located in Oland Hall. The $4.2-million building, financed by the N.B. government, has nine new classrooms, an audiovisual theatre, a business case room, a micro-computer lab, and health labs.
VOL. 6, NO. 2 | WINTER 1998
UNBSJ's long-awaited and much-needed K.C. Irving Hall is under construction. The sod-turning ceremony for the 40,000-square-foot building was held in October. The building is scheduled for completion toward the end of 1998.
The four-storey building next to Ganong Hall will house new engineering, biology and nursing faculties. Included will be classrooms office space, and laboratories, including a computer lab, labs for aquaculture, marine biology, botany and microbiology research, and an 80-seat biology lab. The Province of New Brunswick the Irving Family and the City of Saint John donated substantial support for the facility as part of UNB's Venture Campaign.
VOL. 5, NO. 1 | FALL 1996
Elizabeth Parr-Johnston never set out to become the president of UNB, or any other university for that matter. It's a fact she's very candid about. In one of her first interviews in Fredericton a few days after the late-February announcement of her appointment as UNB's 16th president and vicechancellor, Dr. Parr-Johnston was asked by CBC Radio how she wended her way to New Brunswick. Her answer, succinctly put, was this: "My career just happened;' she said. "Most of it was simply a matter of taking opportunities when they came my way.”
Just happened?
Not really. Not when you look at the resume, not when you trace the career path, and not after you sit down for a chat with her. Oh, she did take the opportunities when they came, but it was more a case of recognizing them as opportunities, and then making a calculated decision on whether to go for it. And that sort of process does not translate into things simply just happening.
Still, one has to take a person at her word, so here's who Elizabeth Parr-Johnston is, what she stands for, and how she 'just happened' to wind up as the head of New Brunswick's premier institution of higher learning.
American born, Wellesley and Yale educated in economics, and with a broad-ranging curriculum vitae that covers academe, government and the corporate world, Dr. Parr-Johnston ("Call me Liz;' she says to everyone she meets) officially took office for a six-year term on July 1.
VOL. 11, NO. 3 | SPRING 2003
When two men of great foresight, William Brydone-Jack and Sir Edmund Head, thought there should be more than intellectual and moral culture pursuits at King's College, they naturally thought of engineering. Important engineering works of the time included great activity in canal and railroad building. This inspired the topic of the first engineering lecture at UNB on Feb. 15, 1854, to a class of 26 students. It was the first engineering instruction ever delivered at a Canadian university. King's College became University of New Brunswick in 1859; a diploma was established for the course in "Civil Engineering and Surveying.”
VOL. 10, NO. 3 | SPRING 2002
David Ganong (BBA'65) is the very epitome of a UNB graduate who gives back to his community. As president of Ganong Bros. Ltd., the St. Stephen, N.B., candy and chocolate maker that has been in his family since 1873, Mr. Ganong runs a business that employs some 250 local residents. That in itself is a significant economic contribution to a small town of about 5,000 residents tucked away in the southwest comer of the province. Just as impactful, however, are the many social and cultural connections Mr. Ganong and his family - wife Diane, daughter Bryana, and sons Aaron and Nicholas - maintain with the community.
VOL. 13, NO. 2 | WINTER 2005
The Bank of Nova Scotia has donated its Charlotte Street and King Square building to UNB Saint John. The four-storey, art deco building, constructed in the 1920s and operated by Scotiabank since 1940, is situated in Saint John's heritage district and is considered a signature building in Saint John's Uptown. The announcement of the gift was made during UNB Saint John's gala 40th anniversary dinner in October. said Dr. Kathryn Hamer, vice-president UNB Saint John. "This foresight recognizes UNB's unique role as a public institution and the important relationship we have with our community. An internal discussion will take place over the course of the next few months to complement the university's campus planning process and determine the most appropriate use for the building."
VOL. 15, NO. 2 | WINTER 2007
An historic agreement will advance knowledge of the oldest inhabited village in New Brunswick, Metepenagiag. This First Nation community is located at the confluence of the Northwest and the Little Southwest Miramichi rivers in northeastern New Brunswick. Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation and Metepenagiag Heritage Park Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with UNB in November.
"This is the first time in Atlantic Canada, and possibly in the country, that a First Nation community has signed an agreement with an academic institution;' said Madeline Augustine, president of the Metepenagiag Heritage Park Inc. "What really excites me about the partnership is how traditional knowledge and the western science of archeology are coming together." The preliminary goal of the partnership is to further research on some of the most significant archeological sites in Eastern Canada: the Augustine Mound and Oxbow National Historic Sites. These sites, which are the centrepieces of a proposed heritage park, are exceptional sources of information about ancient Mi'kmaq people and their customs.
"Over 30 years ago, my grandfather, the late Joseph Augustine, rediscovered these two very sacred and important heritage sites in our community," said Noah Augustine, chief of the Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation.
"He knew of these sites from stories passed down to him from his grandfather. He recognized immediately the need to involve others, to find like-minded partners who shared an interest in the protection, preservation and presentation of Mi'kmaq cultural resources and heritage in New Brunswick.”
Under the agreement, UNB anthropologist Susan Blair will work with the Metepenagiag community to continue their research on the archeological heritage of the Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation.
VOL. 17, NO. 1 | FALL 2008
UNB Fredericton business administration students placed second, behind the University of Hong Kong, in the annual Global Investment Research Challenge held in May in New York City. UNB was the only Canadian team to make it to the competition. The students, all members of the university's Student Investment Fund (SIF) program, competed against teams from universities around the world. Teams were given 10 minutes to pitch their stock recommendation to panel members who were from companies such as UBS, Neuberger Berman, Strategas Research Partners and the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. Then, during a 10-minute question-andanswer period, panelists judged the students on their chosen companies and on how effectively they supported their recommendation, the quality of slides used, the strength of their arguments, and their ability to respond to questions. Shown above are the winning team members, from left, Brian Bagnell of Fredericton, Guofeng (Jack) Ma of China, Jason Misener of Fredericton, and Dustin Besaw of Fredericton. The SIF program allows students to invest real money in the capital markets. The initial $1 million to implement the fund was provided to the faculty in 1998 by the N.B. Investment Management Corp. By the end of 2007, the student fund had grown to approximately $2.2 million.
VOL. 10, NO. 3 | SPRING 2002
For the first time in 30 years, a longtime member of the Associated Alumni has been named president of UNB. John D. McLaughlin (BScSE’69, MScSE’71) will assume office July 1 as UNB’s 17th president and vice-chancellor upon the retirement of Dr. Elizabeth Parr-Johnston. Currently UNB’s vice president (academic), Dr. McLaughlin was nominated for the presidency during a joint meeting of UNB’ s Board of Governors and the Fredericton and Saint John Senates in February after a search process that began last summer. Dr. McLaughlin will be the first president since James O. Dineen to ‘come up through the ranks’ so to speak, to the presidency. Both men spent most of their academic lives at UNB.
“We’re a great institution with great people,” Dr. McLaughlin says. “We have many of the brightest and best people in the country right now and we have to continue to attract this calibre of people. We’re a strong national university have fully-accredited national programs and
a strong research base.”
VOL. 12, NO. 2 | WINTER 2004
Almost 350 students now live on campus UNB Saint John's new residence accepted its first tenants in September, and many of them are saying it's the best residence they've ever seen.
What makes this residence so great? According to students and parents, the fact that each unit is a two-bedroom suite, complete with a kitchenette and washroom, is very attractive.
"This is a national-calibre university residence that was designed in response to students' feedback," says Kathy Hamer, UNB's vice-president (Saint John). "The needs and wants of potential residence students at this university are somewhat different," she says.
"Feedback showed that they would prefer a more independent living environment similar to an apartment. That's why these two-bedroom suites are so popular.
VOL. 10, NO. 3 | SPRING 2002
For the first time in 30 years, a longtime member of the Associated Alumni has been named president of UNB. John D. McLaughlin (BScSE'69, MScSE'71) will assume office July 1 as UNB's 1'? president and vice-chancellor upon the retirement of Dr. Elizabeth Parr-Johnston. Currently UNB's vice-president (academic), Dr. McLaughlin was nominated for the presidency during a joint meeting of UNB's Board of Governors and the Fredericton and Saint John Senates in February after a search process that began last summer. Dr. McLaughlin will be the first president since James 0. Dineen to 'come up through the ranks' so to speak, to the presidency. Both men spent most of their academic lives at UNB.
"We're a great institution with great people," Dr. McLaughlin says. "We have many of the brightest and best people in the country right now and we have to continue to attract this calibre of people. We're a strong national university have fully-accredited national programs and a strong research base.”
VOL. 10, NO. 3 | SPRING 2002
Raman Verma is a perfect example of what alumni as individuals and the Associated Alumni as an organization can do for current students. Mr. Verma of Saint John, N.B., is a fifth-year electrical engineering student on the Fredericton campus and has a long record of involvement with student and community affairs.
This year, that involvement won Mr. Verma the distinction of being named the first recipient of the recently-instituted UNB Associated Alumni Leadership Award. The establishment of the $2,000 annual award was approved by Alumni Council during its fall 2001 meeting. Then, the association's scholarship committee solicited recommendations for candidates through the Undergraduate Awards Office.
While the association took the lead in establishing this new award, it wouldn't have been possible without the help of one individual alumnus John Melvin Adair Armstrong (BEd'S6) of Salisbury, N.B.
VOL. 17, NO. 3 | SPRING 2008
On a blustery evening in mid February, Dr. Harold Edward Alexander Campbell has parked himself at the door of a conference room in the Wu Centre on the Fredericton campus. He's there to personally greet each individual attending the latest of a series of sessions set up over three days on both the Fredericton and Saint John campuses of UNB to introduce Dr. Campbell, then the nominee for UNB's president, to the university community and the public.
As one of those attending this session - set up for professors emeriti, members of the Alumni Council and the public - reaches the door, he extends a hand to Dr. Campbell, and says "Good evening, Dr. Campbell, I'm ... "
It's as far as he gets. Flashing a bit of a grin while still shaking hands, Dr. Campbell politely cuts the visitor off and says simply " ... Eddy ... ,” as in "Call me Eddy.”
So Eddy it is, for a man who evidently doesn't stand on ceremony. Now, after an exhaustive seven-month search process, Dr. Campbell is poised to become UNB's 18th president and vicechancellor when Dr. John McLaughlin retires later this year.
VOL. 15, NO. 1 | FALL 2006
Raising a child is a complex challenge for parents, fuelled by numerous obstacles and opportunities. A professor at UNB Fredericton will explore how supporting parents can promote the optimal development of children, particularly in families affected by maternal depression and family violence. Nicole Letourneau is the Canada Research Chair in Healthy Child Development at UNBF. She will delve into those complexities of raising children and conduct key research on interventions for families affected by post-partum depression and domestic violence. Dr. Letourneau becomes UNBF's 18th chair. She is interested in understanding how parental caregiving environments promote or threaten children's optimal neurological development and long-term success.
