Lecture of a Lifetime Nomination

In 2008, the University of Calgary Senate, in its desire to recognize UCalgary’s accomplishments in teaching, research, collaboration and a lifetime’s worth of wisdom, launched the Lecture of a Lifetime Series (LOALS).

It is inspired by the incredible 2007 lecture from Carnegie Mellon professor, Dr. Randy Pausch, after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Dr. Pausch’s presentation was part of Journeys, a Carnegie Mellon lecture series where faculty members were invited to share reflections on their life journey – “the everyday actions, decisions, challenges and joys that make life.”

Since Dr. Pausch’s courageous and motivating lecture, the University of Calgary’s LOALS reflects the same desire to recognize personal and career achievements.

Past lecturers include, Dr. Tom Noseworthy, Faculty of Medicine (2013), Professor Allan Bell, Faculty of Arts (2013), Dr. Gayla Rogers, Faculty of Social Work (2014), Dr. Keith Dobson, Faculty of Arts (2015), Professor Aritha van Herk, Faculty of Arts (2016), Dr. George Wyse, Cumming School of Medicine (2017), and Dr. Lynne Cowe Falls, Schulich School of Engineering (2018).

Selection Criteria

The Senate selection committee will endeavour to choose a speaker who meets the following criteria:

Excellence in teaching

Evidence of excellence in teaching throughout a career, principally but not exclusively, at the undergraduate level.

Peer support

Demonstrated peer support for their roles as mentor, colleague and academic.

Strong community member

History of service to the University of Calgary, and the broader community.

Speaker attributes

The Senate committee responsible for coordinating the lecture is looking for a speaker who will:

Translate their work

Speak about a body of work to a general audience, that includes our community members who are not academics. 

Make it current

Design a lecture to integrate their teaching and research experiences with a current issue that illustrates how the work could influence change.

Inspire people

Engage and inform the audience in a compelling way capable of moving members of the audience to action. 

Nomination and Selection Process

The Senate selection committee will accept nominations until December 31, 2019, after which the following will occur:

  • A confidential review of nominations is performed by the Senate review committee;
  • The top two (2) nominees for consideration will be interviewed by members of the selection committee and one speaker will be chosen;
  • You will be alerted as to whether or not your nominee has been chosen as the 2020 speaker. If they are not chosen, your nominee will stay in pool for consideration for at least two years.