June 20, 2019
UCalgary community makes its mark at annual city awards night
Leighton Wilks accepts the Community Achievement Award for education at the 2018 Calgary Awards.
The City of Calgary
From community connectors to innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs, UCalgary’s family is filled with change-makers leaving their mark on the intellectual, physical and cultural landscape of our vibrant city.
On June 12, UCalgary community members, including faculty and alumni, were honoured at the 2018 Calgary Awards for their exceptional achievements and outstanding leadership over the past year.
As a long-standing tradition of more than 20 years, The City of Calgary’s annual Calgary Awards celebrate a select number of remarkable individuals, corporations and community groups for their impact throughout the preceding year.
Nihal Potdar, centre, is awarded the Youth Award, presented by George Chahal and Naheed Nenshi.
UCalgary community honoured for outstanding accomplishments
Community Achievement Award recipients:
- Education – Leighton Wilks, instructor and PhD candidate at UCalgary’s Haskayne School of Business
- Community Advocate Individual – Peter Oliver, BSC’05
- Heritage – Irene and Walt DeBoni, MBA‘80
- Grant MacEwan Lifetime Achievement – Jenny Belzberg, honorary degree recipient and member of the Cumming School of Medicine’s Community and Partners Advisory Committee for the Libin Cardiovascular Institute
- Citizen of the Year – Bill Ptacek, member of the Calgary Institute for Humanities Advisory Council in the Faculty of Arts
- City of Calgary W. O. Mitchell Book Prize – Marcello Di Cintio, BA’97, BSC’97 and former Markin-Flanagan Canadian Writer-in-Residence (2009-10)
UCalgary sponsors youth award for more than a decade
For the 11th consecutive year, UCalgary has also supported the awards as a gold-level sponsor for the youth category, a volunteer and community development award presented to a young Calgarian whose exceptional achievements have culminated in recognition of, or improved, the quality of life in Calgary.
This year’s Youth Award recipient, Nihal Potdar, a graduating student at Western Canada High School, is currently working alongside Dr. Frank Maurer, PhD, associate dean of innovation and strategic partnerships in the Faculty of Science, to develop an internship program that enables high school students to conduct cutting-edge tech research in UCalgary labs.