Newly elected Fellow to The Royal Society of Canada
Dr. Elizabeth Cannon was recently elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada for her outstanding contributions to engineering through her research in geomatics and her professional and scientific involvement in national and international associations. From 1997 to 2002 she held the NSERC/Petro-Canada Chair for Women in Science and Engineering (Prairie Region), and from 2002 to 2004 she was an NSERC Steacie Scholar. In July, 2004 she was appointed Head of the Department of Geomatics Engineering. Cannon is well respected internationally for her research; she has advised groups in Canada, the United States, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and Japan in the area of satellite navigation algorithms for a variety of precise positioning applications and she has provided continuing education courses to practicing engineers and scientists in government and the private sector across Canada, Europe and the United States. She holds eight technology transfer licenses and one patent. She has received an array of awards and accolades over the course of her career, including Canada’s ‘Top 40 Under 40’ in 1998, the Kepler Award from the U.S. Institute of Navigation in 2001, and the APEGGA Frank Spragins Award in 2004.

National book award
Professor Emeritus in the department of English Helen M. Buss was recently awarded the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW) national book award, the Laura Jamieson prize (2003), for her book Repossessing the World: Reading Memoirs by Contemporary Women (WLU Press, 2002). In making the award, the jury commented that “Buss involves herself directly in the learning process, as writer, reader, teacher and student. Her study is most promising in its potential to open up new questions, literary categories and questions old hierarchies in a feminist manner.” Buss shows how the form of memoir writing is changing because of the lives and selves that women bring to memoir writing. The memoir’s ability to bring together self and other, literature and history, private and public lives offers women a way to “repossess” important aspects of themselves and the world.

Top award from the botanical association
Dr. C. C. Chinnappa was recently awarded the top award from the Canadian Botanical Association at the Canadian Botanical Association Meeting on June 29, 2004, in Winnipeg. The George Lawson Medal is awarded to a Canadian Botanist in two categories of eligibility, they are: recognition of a single outstanding contribution to botanical knowledge by a Canadian Botanist at any stage of his/her career, and recognition of cumulative, lifetime contribution to Canadian Botany by a senior researcher, teacher or administrator – Chinnappa was recognized in both categories. Over the last three decades, Chinnappa’s research has looked at the origin and evolution of various plant species in North America and Eurasia, investigating the properties that lead to successful colonization and propagation of plants in a variety of environmental conditions.

Editor appointed to prestigious journal
Haskayne professor Barrie R. Nault has been appointed as the co-departmental editor at Management Science for the Information Systems Department. Nault, the school’s Robson Professor in Management and director of the Informatics Research Centre, will join professors from leading schools such as Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Michigan, Wharton, Columbia, Carnegie-Mellon and Cornell. Management Science is a prestigious journal that has played a leading academic role in the science of management for a half century, and is known for publishing breakthrough articles that push the boundaries of knowledge. As a departmental editor, Nault will play a key role in bringing innovative and high quality papers to the publication while providing timely and constructive feedback to authors.

Educational video goes international
In 2002, the Learning Commons, in collaboration with Drs. Frank Thirkettle and Ron Murch at the Haskayne School of Business, developed a short video The Business of Art, which presents an innovative case study. While most business schools use text-based case studies and focus on larger companies, The Business of Art takes a closer look at the informational challenges and opportunities of a self-employed local artist. As of summer 2004, more than 1,500 Haskayne Business students have worked with the video business case, and more recently while on sabbatical, Thirkettle presented the video to a host of universities in New Zealand, which has led to numerous requests for the video. And through word of mouth, James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland, Australia has also requested a copy. The video comes with a comprehensive set of teaching notes – creating a package rich in sensory experiences and engaging approaches to instruction.