A Funding Windfall for the Faculty of Medicine
A whopping $17 million in funding was awarded to two researchers in the Faculty of Medicine from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The amount is the largest ever awarded to the faculty. Paul Kubes (left) will use his funds to create the Institute for Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation to better understand diseases that fall within that category, such as asthma, multiple sclerosis, and even SARS.

Funding awarded to Garnette Sutherland and his team will go toward the development of Project neuroArm, the world’s first image-guided surgical robot.

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U of C Is Heading Downtown
President Harvey Weingarten showed how the university is getting even more involved with the community—literally—when he outlined plans for the U of C’s downtown campus at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. The campus will be an open door for all Calgarians, and there will be space for faculties and departments with connections to the business and cultural fabric of the city, including Fine Arts, Environmental Design, Haskayne School of Business, Continuing Education, and Social Work.

Students in Environmental Design are working out of a leased studio on 11th Avenue SE—they will help design the new campus. Brian Sinclair, the dean of the Faculty of Environmental Design says, “With this project, we have an opportunity to stake a claim in improving this community—to roll up our sleeves, form partnerships, and contribute in an effective way.”

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Award Recognition is Painted on Thick

A U of C professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts won a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts earlier this month. Perhaps best know for his Thick Paintings, Eric Cameron covers everyday objects, like a book of matches, with hundreds-to-thousands of layers of gesso (plaster of Paris), which then changes the form and meaning of the original object. “Eric is a very important artist in Canada and internationally. It’s the combination of the mystical that makes Cameron’s work particularly interesting,” says Ann Davis, director of the Nickle Arts Museum. Learn more...

For more University of Calgary news, go to http://www.ucalgary.ca/news. You can also check out the latest issue of OnCampus Quarterly or a special issue of Fuelling our Energy Future.

Alumni Enter the Hall of Fame

Norm Minor was both a football and a hockey player while at the U of C in the sixties and seventies. Gaylene (Barry) Donald was also a two-sport Dino—playing field hockey and volleyball in the early seventies. Both alumni were admitted to U of C's Athletic Hall of Fame this month, along with Deryk Snelling, who became a member of the Builder category.

Alumni Association Awards Young Scientists
The U of C Alumni Association sponsors two awards each year at the Calgary Youth Science Fair, which was held March 17 to 20. This year, the winner of the Elementary Award was Jessie Niles of the Argyll Centre for “I Am Cricket, Hear Me … Chirp!” and the secondary award went to Roseanne Warren of Western Canada High School for “Euterpe 27:Asteroid Orbit Determination.”

Problems Needed
Does your company have a problem that they could use some help in solving? If that’s the case, U of C math researchers can come to your rescue. Professors, grad students, and researchers will attend the Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences’s Industrial Problem Solving Workshop from May 17 to 21 in Vancouver, and they are looking to take problems with them to solve. In the past, the group has attacked problems posed by Shell Canada, Microsoft, and the British Columbia Cancer Research Centre.

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Last Play of the Season
The Department of Drama will present its last play of the season, from March 23 to April 3. Written by Wendy Liss, The Fighting Days explores the fight for women’s suffrage in Canada in the second decade of the twentieth century.

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Alumni Pub Night
Alumni are invited to Alumni Pub Night on Wednesday, March 31 for Happy Hour at Ceili’s Irish Pub, Banshee Room (downstairs), 513 8th Avenue SW, Calgary from 5 to 7 pm.

Career Workshops Available
Career Services is hosting a number of workshops available to students and alumni. Interview Improvement will be held Wednesday, March 31 from 3:00 to 4:30 pm in room 142 Science B. Surfing Your Way to a Job will be Thursday, April 1 from 10:00 to 11:30 am in Craigie Hall E, room 212.

EMBA Alumni in Calgary Gather at Murrieta's
Executive MBA alumni are invited to meet at Murrieta's West Coast Bar & Grill, 200-808 1 Street SW, on Thursday, April 1 from 5 to 7 pm. For more information or to RSVP, e-mail craig@craigelias.com.

Honolulu Marathon Training Program
Join the University of Calgary on April 5 for an informal evening to learn about a marathon program with the Honolulu Marathon on December 12 being the final destination. Meet in room KNB 126 (Kinesiology Complex) on the U of C campus from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. For more information phone 220-7241 or visit: http://www.ucalgary.ca/campusrec/marathon/

Vancouver Alumni Reception
Alumni in Vancouver and area are invited to an alumni reception hosted by the Haskayne School of Business on Wednesday, April 14 from 5:00 to 7:30 pm at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Galiano Island Room. Guest speaker will be Carol D. Stewart, interim dean of the Haskayne School of Business. Please rsvp to rsvp@haskayne.ucalgary.ca or call Pam Fawcett at (403) 220-2048. RSVP deadline is Wednesday, April 7.

Book Launch for Local Architects
Three local architects, two of which are alumni and a third who teaches with the Faculty of Environmental Design are editors of a new book focused on contemporary urban issues in North America. Andrew King, Jocelyne Belisle, and Lawrence Eisler will be at the launch of Building/Art (University of Calgary Press), which offers a look at the dynamic relationsihip between form and culture in word and picture, at the EVDS Gallery on April 16 from 4 to 8 pm.

MBA Alumni Calgary Luncheon
The next MBA Alumni Networking Luncheon will be held on Friday, April 16 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm at the Delta Bow Valley in Calgary. Guest speaker to be announced. The cost of the luncheon is $25. Register by Tuesday, April 13 by e-mailing rsvp@haskayne.ucalgary.ca

Canadian Alumni Event in LA
The University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business invites all Canadian alumni living in Los Angeles to an alumni dinner. Carol Stephenson, a respected CEO in the Canadian telecom industry is the new dean of the business school, will be the guest speaker. Saturday, April 17 at the Century Plaza Hotel.

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Canadian Alumni Event in DC
McMaster University invites all Canadian alumni living in Washington DC to the event they’re hosting on Saturday, April 17 at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda. Sandra Witelson will discuss her research with Albert Einstein’s brain that she and her team are conducting at McMaster. Email damicok@mcmaster.ca or call (905) 525-9140, ext. 27909 or (202) 682-8472 in Washington.

Award-winning Alumna Writer Coming Home
Alumna award-winning writer Hiromo Goto has released her latest book and will be in Calgary to read from it. Hopeful Monsters is a collection of stories about women confounded by familial duty and the ghosts of their past. The Calgary launch of the new work will be at McNally Robinson Booksellers (10 8 Ave SW) on Monday, April 19 at 7:30 pm.

Nursing Alumni Luncheon and Silent Auction
The Nursing Alumni Committee presents Fun, Funds, and Flowers, a luncheon and silent auction on Saturday, April 24 from 11:30 to 2:00 pm at the Calgary Winter Club. The Honourable Louis Hole, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, will be the guest speaker. Tickets are $35 per person. For more information, contact Rita Lisella at 220-4644 or rlisella@ucalgary.ca

Italy in Springtime
The Edmonton Alumni Network is hosting a wine tasting event on Wednesday, May 5 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Alumni and guests are invited to taste a selection of fine Italian wines. The event will be held at Sorrentino’s in downtown Edmonton, 10162 100 Street. Cost per person is $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Please RSVP by May 1 to rsvp@haskayne.ucalgary.ca or by calling (403) 220-5688.

For more events, go to http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/