Convocation

Thursday, May 8, 2003 at 2 pm in the Jack Simpson Gymnasium

Trudy Elaine Cowan

Preserving Calgary’s, Alberta’s and Canada’s heritage is a passion for Trudy Cowan.

Cowan moved to Calgary in 1966. Shortly after, she joined the Glenbow Museum as head of interpretive programming.
After five years with Calgary’s premier museum, and one year pursuing studies at the U of C in history, fine arts, art history and administration, Cowan took up the mantle of curator/director of Fort Calgary. From 1975 to 1980, she led Fort Calgary’s development from a railway freight yard to an historic park and interpretive centre.

From there, Cowan expanded her sights to Alberta’s heritage. As executive director of the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation from 1980 to 1985, she guided heritage programs, projects and publishing throughout the province.

Cowan’s current focus is her leadership of community efforts to preserve Beaulieu, the National Historic Site built by Senator James Alexander Lougheed and Isabella Clarke Hardisty Lougheed in 1891. For 14 years, as committee chair, then founding president of the Lougheed House Conservation Society and now its executive director, she has led the volunteer, government and professional efforts to transform this treasure into a vibrant public heritage centre.

She has also served on numerous volunteer boards, locally and nationally. Some of her positions include Alberta governor and chair of the Heritage Canada Foundation; Alberta member of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, chairing the HSMBC’s Heritage Railway Stations Committee to implement the national Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act; Canadian Museums Association council member; chair of the International Council of Museums Canadian Committee; founder of the Heritage Council of Alberta, and of the Calgary, Edmonton and Central Alberta Heritage Networks.

Cowan’s awards include a Heritage Canada Foundation National Award of Honour; Museums Alberta Merit Award; City of Calgary Heritage Award; Historical Society of Alberta Millennium Award for Outstanding Contribution to Alberta History; and the Canada 125 Medal.

Eldon Smith

Dr. Eldon Smith has been at the heart of the U of C’s Faculty of Medicine for 23 years.

Smith is currently a professor in the faculty, but has held posts as head of the Department of Medicine and dean of the faculty. All the while, he has made major contributions to the Canadian cardiology and medical communities over the course of many years of research.

Smith has played a significant role in building relationships between various groups within the university as well as between the university and other community groups, organizations and corporations. Nothing better demonstrates the strength of those relationships than the $50-million Partners in Health campaign.

Smith was instrumental in articulating the vision of the medical school to key community stake-holders and donors.
All this was done while Smith also maintained an active and impressive career of scholarship. He has lectured at every major Canadian university, as well as universities and symposia in Japan, the U.S., Europe and South America. His own research has received funding and support from a variety of groups including the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as well as industry.

Among Smith’s most recent academic awards are: Certificate of Meritorious Service from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta; the creation of the Eldon R. Smith Annual Lecture in Cardiovascular Research; the Beamish Award for Leadership in Cardiovascular Science and Education; and a fellowship from International Association of Cardiovascular Sciences.

Smith has also dedicated himself to community service, volunteering with the Libin Foundation, Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre, Provincial Health Authorities Association, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Canadian Cardiovascular Society and Foundation, American Heart Association, Calgary Research and Development Authority and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.

He founded and serves as president of the Peter Lougheed medical research foundation, which is a national initiative to help retain Canada’s best and brightest researchers in Canada.