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ALUMNI QUARTERLY - winter 2008
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Agricultural & Environmental Sciences / Macdonald Campus

Harold Cook, BSc(Agr)'68, MSc'70, has been appointed Dean of Medicine at Dalhousie University. He previously served as Associate Dean of Research and Planning in the Faculty of Medicine and as Director of the Atlantic Research Centre. Harold is a professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Chief Omoefe J. Oyaide, MSc(Agr)'71, returned to Nigeria in 2001, following his retirement from the United Nations, where he served from 1989-2001 as Project Controller, Africa Division, of the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Rome, and as United Nations envoy in Zambia and the Kingdom of Swaziland. In retirement, Omoefe has been conferred the traditional chieftaincy title of Uwangue of Abraka and member of the Abraka Traditional Council. In addition to his traditional responsibilities, he serves on a number of company boards, including the Board of Presco Plc. and that of SSI Safetech Nigeria Ltd., where he is chairman of the board. The Chief is also an avid golfer.

Ben Anderson, BSc(Agr)'00, was named president of the Great Waters Music Festival in Wolfsboro, N.H. Ben has served as Executive Director of the festival for the past three years. Previously, he was the director of the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival in Nova Scotia, and he has served as a judge for the Juno Music Awards in the "Traditional and Roots" category. The Great Waters Music Festival is currently celebrating its tenth anniversary. For more information, see www.greatwaters.org.

Dana Mughrabi, BSc(NutrSc)'02, began working with Oxfam-Quebec after graduating from the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition. She is currently working as an Oxfam-Quebec volunteer in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on a community project called "Community-Based Economic Facilitation for Jordanian Women." The project promotes the development of micro-enterprises owned and managed by Jordanian women.

Architecture

H. Peter Oberlander, BArch'45, was appointed to the Canadian Delegation for the UN World Urban Forum (WUF) 2004 meeting in Barcelona. Peter serves as Senior Ministerial Advisor for WUF 2006 to Stephen Owen, Canada's Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of State (Sport).

Joe Carter, BSc(Arch)'70, BArch'73, has lived in China since 1985 and recently had the chance to design some large projects in Beijing. One is called the Xing Fu San Cun, a mixed-use project that will be mainly residential. Joe's firm also won an international competition last year for the design of a new campus for the China Academy of Drama. For more information, please see mkbdesign.net.cn/project.html.

Rob Miners, BSc(Arch)'87, BArch'89, and Fabrice Christen, BEng'92, passed their black belts in aikido at the New York Aikikai summer camp. They met and began training at the McGill Aikido Club, under the direction of Sensei Daniel Laurendeau, who has been teaching and inspiring students for over 20 years. They would like to salute all McGill aikidokas!

Mushtaq Rabbi, MUP'02, worked for about eight months with the city of Mississauga as an urban designer after graduation and then took up a new position as a planner with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Fort McMurray, Alta. Mushtaq would like to hear from fellow alumni and can be reached at mushtaq.rabbi@elf.mcgill.ca.

Lucas Gray, BSc(Arch)'04, relocated to Thailand upon graduation. He has been living there for only six months but already finds Bangkok changing before his eyes. Every vacant lot is quickly being overrun with construction crews, and cranes and scaffolding dot the skyline. More than 100 projects of over 30 storeys are planned to be completed by 2006, mostly high-end condominiums and hotels. These projects enticed Lucas to look for employment opportunities in order to remain in Bangkok for at least another year, but the job market doesn't seem to accurately represent the construction boom. He is now looking for architectural design jobs in the greater East Asian region.

Arts

Marilyn Mailman Segal, BA'49, was honoured as an outstanding parent educator by Parenting Press, a child guidance and children's book publisher. Marilyn is dean emeritus of the Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Peter Kohl, BA'50, snagged a minor role in the hit docudrama The Legend of Memphre, the monster of Lake Memphremagog. Peter, who lives with wife Diane on the shores of the lake, is becoming famous as the discoverer of the monster's baby, 'tit Gog. He has the only photographs extant of that little fellow.

Blema S. Steinberg, BA'55, PhD'61, was named Professor Emeritus by McGill for her scholarly accomplishments, distinguished teaching and devoted years of service. Since her retirement after 41 years in the Department of Political Science, she continues to do research and write about the interface between political science and psychology, and to see patients in her psychoanalytic practice.

Mary Jane Mossman, BA'67, went on to earn her LLB from Queen's University in 1970 and LLM from the University of London in 1971. In 2004, she received three prestigious awards: an honorary doctorate (LLD) from the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Award of Excellence of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers, and the Gordon Fellowship from York University. She is a professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto, having joined the faculty in 1977 after several years as a faculty member of the law school at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Theodore Kharpertian, MA'71, PhD'85, is a professor of English at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City, N.J. His new book, a memoir of his father entitled Hagop: An Armenian Genocide Survivor's Journey to Freedom, has been published by the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research. He also wrote A Hand to Turn the Time: The Menippean Satires of Thomas Pynchon. He lives in Montclair, N.J., with his wife, Zoe (English) Kharpertian, MA'76, a professional wallpaper hanger; daughter, Kirara, a sophomore at Mount Holyoke College; and son, Devin (to whom Hagop is dedicated), a sophomore at Montclair High School.

Jacques A. Berard, BA'77, after graduating from McGill, earned a Master's in International Relations at Université de Montréal, a postgraduate degree in Applied Epidemiology at the State University of Mexico, and a Certificate in Community-based Conflict Resolution from St. Paul University. Jacques was married to, and divorced from, Huguette Beaupré, BA'78, with whom he has two children. He worked first as a management consultant, then with the Royal Commission on Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada and, later, the Commission of Inquiry on the Reform of Unemployment Insurance. After a stint at the CBC in international relations, Jacques joined UNICEF in Ghana and Senegal. He moved back to Canada to provide consulting services to various international development agencies working in Africa and Asia, and later joined the UN in New York. Jacques returned to Canada in 2000 to work as a consultant and advisor on business practices. He recently became Director of Evaluation Services with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and also enjoys fly fishing and teaching downhill skiing.

Amy Lewis, BA'79, has been appointed Senior Vice-President of Field Operations for Laszlo Systems. She is responsible for managing Laszlo's customer-facing organizations, including sales operations, marketing, development relations, professional services and industry partnerships programs. Previously, Amy was senior vice-president of worldwide field operations for Wily Technology, a provider of enterprise application management solutions.

Peter Pitts, BA'81, has joined Manning Selvage & Lee as Senior Vice-President for Health Affairs. He is also a senior fellow for health care studies at the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco, Calif.

Anthony Guglielmin, BA'82, MBA'84, was appointed Vice-President of Corporate Development and Strategic Planning for Finning International in Vancouver, the world's largest Caterpillar dealer. Tony joined Finning in 1998 as Vice-President and Corporate Treasurer. In his new capacity, he is responsible for Finning's global mergers and acquisitions strategies and for leading the company's strategic planning process. With operations in western Canada, the UK and South America, Tony spends too much time traveling, according to his wife, Denise, and six-year-old daughter, Laura. They still enjoy living in Vancouver (having finally bought a house after moving there in 1991). Tony says hello to old friends and classmates.

Handol Kim, BA'91, recently moved back to Vancouver with his spouse, Wen-Hua Hu, to join D-Wave Systems Inc. as Vice-President, Business Development. D-Wave is a start-up company commercializing quantum computing. Handol previously worked in executive roles at two other technology start-ups in Silicon Valley, and was a trade commissioner in the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, serving as Deputy Director, Investment, and Consul in Canadian missions in Taipei, Taiwan and San Jose, Calif., respectively. Emails from long-lost contacts would be most welcome at handolkim@yahoo.com.

David Romano, BA'91, MA'93, led a team of three McGill students to Iraq for a nine-month research trip between September 2003 and May 2004. David was a faculty lecturer at McGill in 2002-03 and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Interuniversity Consortium for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies, as well as a sessional lecturer in McGill's Department of Political Science.

Shaula Evans, BA'92, is compiling a list of fellow McGill bloggers at tsuredzuregusa.blogspot.com/2004/08/mcgill-blogs.html. To add your blog to the McGill index, send Shaula an email at shaulaevans@comcast.net.

Michael Grynberg, BA'92, has joined Crédit Lyonnais as a management process consultant after three and a half years as a management and IT consultant at Crédit Agricole S.A.'s Paris headquarters. For all those who wonder what it is like to work in France, Michael has six words: nine weeks of vacation a year! He also invites any people who stop over to contact him at ba92@yahoo.com.

Melissa Sanders, BA'92, has appeared on the Food Network's Roker on the Road as part of a segment entitled "Cookie Masters." After graduation, Melissa started a cookie-making business, Melfer's Macaroons, with a friend. Initially using a family recipe and operating out of Melissa's grandmother's house, Melfer's Macaroons now offers 15 flavours, including piña colada and white chocolate raspberry, and has caught the attention of Bon Appétit magazine. For more information, see www.melfersmacaroons.com.

Jeff Gaulin, BA'94, and Alana (Zabilnowicz) Gaulin, BA'94, are pleased to announce the birth of their second child, Audrey Jael, in Calgary in August 2004. Jeff is the Director, Industry and Regulatory Affairs, for Molson Canada.

Chris Taylor, BA'94, married Line Jean-Louis in September 2004 in Chester, N.Y. He is a senior writer in New York City for SmartMoney, the Wall Street Journal's personal finance magazine, and has won journalism awards from the National Press Club, the Deadline Club and the National Association of Real Estate Editors.

Jacqueline Thompson, BA'94, married Sean Oussoren at her family cottage in the Thousand Islands in July 2002. Weeks later, she and her husband moved to Quito, Ecuador, to teach at Academia Cotopaxi International School. They are soon to embrace their third year of teaching and traveling in Ecuador. Jackie earned her MA in Elementary Education from the University of Alabama in May 2004.

Amira Meir, PhD'95, presented a paper entitled "And There Are None to Say Restore: Sforno's Commentary on the Pentateuchal Poetry" at the International Society of Biblical Literature meeting in Groningen, the Netherlands, in July of 2003. On returning from the Netherlands, she continued her four-year term as head of Biblical Studies at Beit Berl College in Kefar Saba, Israel, and is also a lecturer in the Hebrew College in Jerusalem.

David Price, BA'95, recently joined his father, Michael Price, in his publishing business, Price-Patterson Ltd. Price-Patterson focuses on publishing short-run books, especially local history. Past titles include Skiing Legends and the Laurentian Lodge Club; A View of their Own: The Story of Westmount; and Zegota: The Rescue of Jews in Wartime Poland. This year the firm will be publishing Quebec: Bonjour, Imprints III; and Sir William Hingston: Montreal Mayor, Surgeon and Banker. David can be reached at davidprice@pricepatterson.com.

Carrie Lee Chung, BA'96, recently moved to Ethiopia to accompany her husband, Xavier Furtado, on his posting with the Canadian International Development Agency. She is currently working as a consultant for the Ethiopia-Canada Cooperation Office. She is also drinking lots and lots of Ethiopian coffee.

Stéphane Guevremont, BA'96, moved to Ottawa upon graduation, where he taught French with the federal government and completed an MA in War Studies at Royal Military College in Kingston in 2002. He then moved to Vancouver and became the secretary and webmaster of the local McGill chapter, which was great fun. Stéphane moved to Calgary in the summer of 2004 and is doing a PhD in Military History on the RCAF and the creation of a Canadian aviation industry, 1939-1960. He is also the research assistant of Dr. Frits Pannekoek, Canadian historian and Director of Information Resources at the University of Calgary. Stéphane is single, doing lots of sports, some volunteer work and enjoying life to the fullest.

Joanna Hedstrom, BA'96, went on to complete a Master's in Evaluative Clinical Science at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. She recently began a fellowship in Medical Ethics at the Harvard Medical School in Boston. The fellowship will span the 2004-05 academic year and Joanna will be focusing on research ethics.

Anne Woolliams Ross, BA'96, graduated from Dalhousie University in 1999 with an MSc in Human Communication Disorders-Audiology. She married Bradley Ross in 2000 in Summerland, B.C. Anne earned a Doctor of Audiology degree in 2004 from the School of Audiology, Pennsylvania College of Optometry, in Elkins Park, Pa. She currently lives in the Calgary area, and can be reached at awoollia@yahoo.com.

Darryl Levine, BA'97, left behind discussions about runaway trolleys and sentient vending machines for a degree in journalism at Concordia University. Today Darryl is married and a copywriter at Kelly+Aylen, a marketing-communications firm in Old Montreal. Next time you read the back of a beer bottle, a corporate website or an interesting news release, you may be reading his prose. Visit www.DarrylLevine.com for more information or to contact him.

Christie Smith Hooper, BA'97, is pleased to announce that, despite the distance, six amazing friends from her McGill years came to her wedding in Brisbane, Australia, in November 2004. Christie has recently taken a full-time position teaching business and management at a community college.

Terry Fong, BA'98, has completed his Master's in Taxation at the University of Denver and has joined the Research and Development Tax Incentives group at Deloitte & Touche in Chicago. He will be having his wedding in Phuket, Thailand, in December of 2005.

Matthew Rippeyoung, BA'98 (for-merly Matthew Young), and Phyllis Rippeyoung, BA'98 (formerly Phyllis Rippey), are excited to announce the birth of Jack Farley Rippeyoung in April 2004. Jack is enthralled with his older brother, Max. Matthew continues to work as a psychotherapist at the Community Mental Health Centre for Mid-Eastern Iowa in Iowa City and has started his own group practice, Turning Point Counseling and Psychotherapy. Phyllis is working on her PhD in sociology at the University of Iowa and intends to graduate in 2006. The Rippeyoungs are very happy and invite old friends from McGill to visit them in Iowa City.

Nadia (Lubow) Smith, BA'99, is teaching first grade at St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School in Washington, D.C., after finishing her MEd in Elementary Education at George Washington University in May 2003. Nadia married Brian Smith (unfortunately for him, not a McGill alum) in June 2004.

Jennifer Michelle Rakitt, BA'00, was awarded a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine at the commencement of June 2004. Jennifer is currently doing an internship at Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine/North Broward in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Brian Ker, BA'02, is an investment analyst at CB Richard Ellis Québec Ltée, and is also the Vice-President, Programs, for the McGill Montreal Young Alumni association.

Dentistry

Gordon Denovan, BSc'49, DDS'51, invites correspondence from classmates living in or visiting beautiful Vancouver, B.C. Contact him at jdenovan@direct.ca.

Education

Margaret Tourond-Townson, BEd'62, launched two new publications at IDEA 2004's congress in Ottawa in July 2004: Fun With Drama Volume 2 and Le théâtre en classe.

Engineering

Frank Meier, BEng'51, has lived and worked in the U.S. since 1957, using his engineering skills in the construction industry. He believes that his engineering background has helped greatly in his business career; after all, he says, "We engineers view the world in a different way!" Frank has been away from Montreal for 47 years, except for a brief visit three years ago, and has lost touch with all of his classmates. He would be delighted to hear from them at frankmeier@mindspring.com.

Michael A. Millard, BEng'62, has finally "retired" and moved west to Kelowna, B.C.

Alain Berranger, BEng'69, MBA'73, has been elected to the International Advisory Council of SATELLIFE, a non-profit organization based in Watertown, Mass. SATELLIFE, the Global Health Information Network, is a leader in developing solutions to the everyday information needs of front-line health professionals working in communities where AIDS, TB and malaria are commonplace but medical journals and the Internet are not affordable.

John Iwanic, BEng'78, began a new position in June 2004 as Strategic Business Development Manager, International, for the Dallas-based company Luminator. He works out of a home-based office and handles sales and marketing activities for Canada, the U.S. Northeast and the Far East for the company's line of lighting, electronic displays and communications systems sold to mass transit authorities and subway/commuter rail car builders.

Maria Hambira, MEng'85, has recently relocated to Canada from Africa. She would love to get in touch with her McGill friends, who can contact her at hambiramk@yahoo.ca.

Salim Brahini, BEng'89, was awarded the 2004 Fred F. Weingruber Award from the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) for his outstanding efforts to promote and develop standards for the fastener industry, especially in the area of hydrogen embrittlement. Salim is president and founder of IBECA Technologies Corp. in Montreal, a licensed member of the Quebec Order of Professional Engineers and an ASTM International member. He is working towards a master's and a doctorate in metallurgical engineering at McGill.

Fabrice Christen, BEng'92, and Rob Miners, BSc(Arch)'87, BArch'89, passed their black belts in aikido at the New York Aikikai summer camp. They met and began training at the McGill Aikido Club, under the direction of Sensei Daniel Laurendeau, who has been teaching and inspiring students for over 20 years. They would like to salute all McGill aikidokas!

Warren Dunn, BEng'95, is proud to announce the birth of his son, André Nicolas, in January 2004, and the completion of his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ottawa in October 2004.

Praveen Prasanna, BEng'96, MEng'98, and Karen Sum, BEng'96, MEng'99, are pleased to announce the birth of their son, Felix. Felix was born in July 2004 in Cambridge, Mass. Contact Praveen, Karen or Felix at praveen.prasanna@mail.mcgill.ca.

Health Sciences

Peter Benjamin, BSc'51, MDCM'55, retired from Texas Children's Pediatric Associates in June 1999. In retirement he has done the expected things, such as being a very active grandfather and doing more traveling, gardening and non-medical reading. In April 2004, he was invited to be the Interim Medical Director of the Texas Children's Health Plan, a large HMO servicing Houston and the surrounding counties. He never realized that retirement could be so busy.

Edward J. Kelty, MPS'54, is the director of psychological services at Pain and Rehabilitation Medicine in Bethesda, Md. He was formerly the Assistant Director (International) of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, and in 2004 was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Psychology.

Francisco-Javier Campos, DipPsych'70, is a consulting psychiatrist at the Dermatology Service, General Hospital of Mexico, in Mexico City. He was appointed as a mentor for a BSc Honours student in Psychology at McGill and he says he finds it a highly gratifying human and academic experience. (Ed. note: For information on becoming a mentor, see www.mcgill.ca/alumni-mentor/.)

Lynne McVey, BSc'81, MSc(A)'85, was honoured by the Board of Directors for Achievements in Nursing at the Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital, a McGill teaching hospital. Lynne is Nursing Director of Medicine, Psychiatry, Oncology and Geriatrics and Assistant Director of Nursing at the hospital. She is one of the first graduates of the Direct Entry Master's Program of the McGill School of Nursing.

Law

Marc Denhez, BCL'73, was sworn in as a Member of the Ontario Municipal Board, which adjudicates planning disputes. Marc has published eight books on urban/regional planning and law, and he has also taught courses at the McGill School of Urban Planning.

William D. Hart, LLB'77, BCL'78, was elected President of the Chambre de commerce française au Canada, which includes some 1,300 members carrying on business with France. The Chambre has sections in Montreal, Toronto, Quebec and Vancouver and is one of the oldest of more than 80 French chambers of commerce throughout the world. Bill continues to sit on the board of his law firm, Langlois Kronström Desjardins, where he practises in the field of mergers and acquisitions and represents senior executives in charge of control situations. He can be reached at william.hart@lkdnet.com.

Ian C. Pilarczyk, BA'92, LLM'97, DCL'03, moved to Cambridge, Mass., in August 2003, and is self-employed in the field of securities training. He currently serves as a Regional Director of the McGill Alumni Association for the Northeast U.S., Co-Chair of McGill's Annual Volunteer Phonathon, and Acting President of the Boston Young Alumni. He is Director of Peace at Home, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to advocacy in the fields of human rights and domestic violence, and is a lead researcher for the Massachusetts Domestic Homicide Study. Ian was presented with the E.P. Taylor Award for outstanding volunteer service by McGill in May 2004.

Renée Thériault, BCL'93, LLB'93, recently returned to Canada after working for over six years in Paris as part of Shearman & Sterlin's international arbitration group. She has since joined Ogilvy Renault's litigation and international arbitration group in Ottawa. Renée and her husband have two children, Camille and Justin, and live in Chelsea, Que.

Martin-Pierre Boulianne, BCL'95, LLB'95, après avoir travaillé pendant plus de sept ans au sein de l'Étude McCarthy Tétrault, occupe maintenant le poste de directeur principal et secrétaire adjoint de la Banque Nationale du Canada.

Management

Arnold Eaves, BCom'39, moved in 1979 with the head office of RCA Inc. to Toronto, along with his wife, Rhoda, and retired in 1983. Rhoda conducted many ski trips, and Arnold attended several of these. However, a quadruple bypass in '94 and a third hip replacement in '95 limited him to the condo gym and swimming pool, and to playing duplicate bridge and working on the computer. Arnold and Rhoda have three sons: David, who lives with his family at Ile Bigras, Laval; John, who lives outside of Calgary; and Bruce, who lives at Mont Tremblant.

H. Arnold Steinberg, BCom'54, LLD'00, was appointed Chair of Canada Health Infoway's Board of Directors. He has been a member of Infoway's board of directors since October 2003. Infoway's mission is to accelerate the development and adoption of compatible electronic health information systems. Arnold is currently principal of Cleman Ludmer Steinberg Inc., an investment holding company, and is a governor emeritus of McGill University.

Richard M. Wise, BCom'62,has been elected Vice-Chair of the Business Valuations Standards Committee of the 6,500-member American Society of Appraisers based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1936, the ASA includes all of the specialized valuation disciplines and is the oldest major professional valuation society.

Maqbool H. H. Rahimtoola, BCom'68, was awarded the Achievement Award by the Overseas Universities Alumni Club of Pakistan. The OUAC gives this award every other year to its most outstanding member. Maqbool is on the Board of Directors of Dadex Eternit Ltd., Soneri Bank Ltd., Ray Shipping Enterprises Ltd., Mirpurkhas Sugar Mills Ltd., Berger Paints Pakistan Ltd., and Security Investment Bank in Pakistan. He is also CEO of Bandenawaz (Private) Ltd., in Karachi. Maqbool can be contacted at bdnwz@cyber.net.pk or hmr@super.net.pk.

Isabelle Plante, MBA'86, has been appointed Vice-President, Finance and Human Resources, of TELUS Quebec. She began her professional career in the field of corporate financing before joining TELUS Quebec in 1996 with the mandate of developing the organization's mergers and acquisitions activities. She later became Director of Human Resources and Assistant Vice-President, Finance and Regulatory Affairs, before assuming her current duties.

Mark Kornbluth, BCom'87, has been named Senior Vice-President of Internet Strategy at JPMorgan Chase's Commercial Bank in New York City. Mark resides in Connecticut with his wife, Betty, and sons, Zachary and Daniel.

Michael Papadatos, MBA'90, works for HSBC Bank USA in Manhattan and has been appointed Executive Vice-President of International Trade Finance for North America. He lives in Scarsdale, N.Y.

Julie Dzerowicz, BCom'94, says that life certainly has been very full over the last few years. She completed an MBA at the University of British Columbia (finishing her last term at the London Business School) and studied Spanish in Spain. Professional life included a stint as Deal Lead for the e-commerce division at the Bank of Montreal and taking on a number of roles in a small biotech company, including helping the company go public in 2000. Julie lives in Toronto and is working in politics as Senior Policy Advisor to the Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet, the Honourable Gerry Phillips. Julie would love to hear from old friends at julie.dzerowicz@sympatico.ca.

Jonathan Mogil, BCom'94, is working as a portfolio manager at Brencourt Advisors, an NYC-based hedge fund. He can be reached at jonathan@mogil.net.

Music

John McKay, BMus'61, recently retired from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, after teaching piano and Music History there for 28 years. He and his wife, Sara (Hayden) McKay, BMus'62, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in September.

Alan Fraser, BMus'80, MMus'87, has pursued a dual career as concert pianist and practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method for the re-education and improvement of neuro-muscular function. Holding true to McGill's tradition of creativity and innovation, he completed professional training in the method in 1992 with the aim of developing a new approach to piano technique. He moved to Yugoslavia in early 1990 to work with Kemal Gekich, one of the top pianists in the world. Their 15-year collaboration led to Alan's publishing The Craft of Piano Playing (Scarecrow Press, 2003). Alan lives with his wife, Jelena, and their 4-year-old daughter, Masha, in Novi Sad, Serbia, where he is on the staff of the University of Novi Sad Piano Department. He also teaches in numerous European cities. His first daughter, Megan, 17, lives in Montreal. Visit Alan's website, alanfraser.faithweb.com/, or email him at afraser@musician.org.

Jason Fowler, BMus'92, was awarded first place in the Instrumental category of the Songs From The Heart Competition for his solo guitar piece, "Midwestern Lament." The piece is featured on his latest CD, Temporary Ground, released in January 2004. This fall, Jason has been traveling the globe with the Cottars (October), the Irish Tenors (November) and John McDermott (December).

Science

Sonny Pancham, BSc'60, was honoured by the Kingston and District Immigrant Services for his charitable work, including canvassing for the Salvation Army, the Kidney Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Cancer Society. He also volunteers, along with his wife Ira, for Save the Children Canada, an organization that helps needy children in Canada and around the world. Before retirement in 2001, Sonny practised obstetrics and gynecology through the Kingston General Hospital and Queen's University, where he taught medical students.

Irwin B. Levitan, BSc'67, MSc'69, PhD'71, has been elected Secretary of the Society for Neuroscience. He is Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Director of the Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences. His two-year term began at the Society's 2004 Annual Meeting in October.

Neal Madras, BSc'79, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2002. He is currently Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at York University.

Douglas A. Smith, BSc'80, has been elected to the Board of Directors for Portland Center Stage, a resident company of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts and the city's largest professional theater. Douglas is Senior Vice-President, West Coast region, at AMEC Earth & Environmental. In addition to his McGill degree, he also has an MSc from the University of Chicago.

Christian Houdré, PhD'88, is a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Université Paris XII, and was named Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS). The induction ceremony took place in July 2004 at the IMS annual meeting in Barcelona, Spain. He received the award for his outstanding work in the theories and applications of non-stationary, non-Gaussian processes, wavelet transforms and isoperimetric inequalities.

Sophia Nadur, BSc'88, was posted on an international job assignment to Masterfoods Ireland as Marketing Director. She can be reached at s_nadur@yahoo.com.

Xavier Bonnin, BSc'91, a été recruté par le CNRS au sein du Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Matériaux et Hautes Pressions sur le campus de l'Université Paris XIII (Paris-Nord). Il travaillera sur le thème des "Plasmas de Bord dans le cadre du Projet ITER," le grand projet international pour la production d'énergie par fusion thermonucléaire contrF4lée. Il est rejoignable à bonnin@limhp.univ-paris13.fr.

Pierrette Caron, BSc'91, and her husband, Philippe Nicolle, would like to announce the birth of their son, David Alexis Nicolle, in July 2004. David was welcomed by big brother Daniel.

Simon W. M. John, PhD'92, received the prestigious Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize from the New York Academy of Medicine. The $50,000 prize recognizes his significant contribution to understanding primary congenital glaucoma, which strikes one in 10,000 newborns in the United States. Simon is Associate Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. The Academy awards the Rudin Prize annually for the most outstanding glaucoma research published during the previous year. Simon was senior author on a paper in the March 7, 2003, issue of the journal Science, entitled "Modification of ocular defects in mouse developmental glaucoma models by tyrosinase."

Linda Lieberman, BSc'96, has completed a PhD in Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. She has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

Joanna Kim Welford, BSc'97, earned her PhD in Geophysics/Seismology from the University of British Columbia in fall 2004.

Colin Hill, MSc'98, was named to the 2004 list of the world's Top Young Innovators by Technology Review, MIT's Magazine of Innovation. He was also named the winner of Black Enterprise's Rising Star Award, which recognizes an individual under 35 whose outstanding skills, professionalism and perseverance have established him as a future business leader. Colin is the CEO and co-founder of Gene Network Sciences (GNS), a leader in systems biology using biological and chemical data to create robust computer models of cell function and human biology. Colin develops the strategic roadmap and vision for GNS, and brings to his role years of hands-on scientific experience and expertise in computational physics and systems biology.

Social Work

Jeffrey Steen, MSW'01, has been promoted to the position of Manager, Permanent Supportive Housing, a new initiative of Connections for the Homeless in Evanston, Ill. Since graduating from McGill, he's dabbled in doctoral studies and concentrated most of his work on promoting justice and dialogue with disenfranchised people and communities.

Sandra J. Miller, BSW'02, MSW'03, accepted the position of Clinical Director, Wood Street Centre, in Truro, N.S. Wood Street Centre is a secure treatment facility for adolescents.

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