Killam awards gala

A gala dinner on campus Wednesday evening is showcasing the university’s latest recipients of the exclusive Killam awards.

For the past 45 years, the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Pre-Doctoral Scholarship has been the most prestigious scholarship offered by the University of Calgary. The scholarship is also the cornerstone of a series of Killam awards honouring the academic excellence of students and faculty across the university.

“The Killam Scholarship allows the university to offer generous research support to truly outstanding graduate students,” said Lisa Young, vice-provost and dean of graduate studies. “Being able to offer this kind of support to truly outstanding students is moving us towards the Eyes High goal because it helps us ensure that our best students are successful in pursuing their research.”

Prominent Canadian businessman Izaak Walton Killam and his wife Dorothy J. Killam established the Killam Trust to support advanced education.

Valued at more than $400 million, the Killam Trust is distributed between five Canadian universities and the Canadian Council for the Arts.

The University of Calgary’s $24.5-million Killam endowment currently supports 28 graduate students, two postdoctoral fellows, 14 faculty members and provides a five-year salary to the Killam memorial chair holder.

Being named to the Killam awards is a tremendous career boost as the Killam name opens doors in both academic and industry circles, said Young.

“The success of these students is also the success of the university. Being able to set these outstanding students up for success this way is very important for us,” she said.

On Wednesday, the 2012 award recipients will gather in the MacEwan Ballroom to celebrate their achievements at the annual Killam Calgary Review. The highlight of the evening is when PhD recipients showcase their research through poster presentations before dinner is served to honourees and an assortment of high-profile guests.

The annual gathering is a chance for the trustees of the Killam Trust to meet the University of Calgary’s Killam scholars and award winners and learn more about their innovative research and academic achievements.

Past Killam recipients include: University of Calgary President and Vice Chancellor Elizabeth Cannon (1988), Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Ecosystems Joseph B Rasmussen (1980) and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former Chief of Staff Ian R Brodie (1994).

The 2012 Killam Scholars and Killam award holders:

 

Killam Memorial Pre-Doctoral Scholars

New scholarships

Ali Nader EsfahaniMUSI

Oleksiy OsiyevskyyMGMT

Sandy PoolENGL

Andrew David SnowPOLI

 

Honorary scholarships

Lindsay May Amundsen-MeyerARKY

Angela BardickAPSY

Jacky ChowENGO

Catherine EastwoodNURS

Jordan EngbersMDNS

Jennifer FerenceCPSY

Taya FordeVMS

Ian HargreavesPSYC

Curtis HugheyMDBC

Kohei TanakaGEOS

Patricia ThilleSOCI

Saeed Razaei NazifiENEL

Amrita RoyMDCH

 

Second-year scholarships

Kristin AtwoodSOCI

Victoria SmithPSYC

Richard UhrigBISI

 

Honorary second-year scholarships

Khaled Abdel RahmanMDCV

Shang GaoCPSC

Brett HamiltonGEOS

Tanya SchaapENGL

Joshua Alexander SlaterPHAS

Jonathan SteaCPSY

Robin WalkerMDCH

Franz ZempMDSC

 

Killam Postdoctoral Fellows

Nico Koning – PHAS
Tonya Callaghan – EDUC

 

Killam Memorial Chair

Walter Herzog – KNES, ENG, MED, VMS

 

Killam Annual Professors

Andre Buret – BISI
Nancy Moules – NURS
U.T. Sundararaj – ENCH
V. Wee Yong – Clinical Neurosciences and Oncology
Gerald Zamponi – Cell Biology and Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology

 

Killam Research and Teaching Awards

Killam Research Leader Award: Dr. Cyril Frank – MED
Killam Emerging Research Leader Award: Sean Rogers – SCI
Killam Award for Leadership in Teaching Award: Dr. Sylvain Coderre – MED and Dr. Mary O’Brien - Arts
Killam Innovation in Teaching Award: William Pelech – SOWK
Killam Graduate Supervision and Mentoring Award: Walter Herzog – KNES
Killam Interdisciplinary Research Prize: Richard Frayne – MED; Elise Fear – ENG; and Michael Smith – ENG