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Agricultural and Environmental Sciences / Macdonald Campus

SONDRA SHERMAN, BSc'76, BSc(FSc)'78, is a clinical dietitian and certified diabetes educator at the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. Sondra, TINA KADER, MDCM'86, an endocrinologist and certified diabetes educator, and Joyce Arsenault have worked together in the Endocrinology Department/ Diabetes Centre at the Jewish General for many years. In March 2007, the three of them joined Team Diabetes Canada, part of the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA), to participate in a 42.2 kilometre marathon in Rome, Italy, and raised over $35,000 for the CDA.

Architecture

Raymond Moriyama
RAYMOND MORIYAMA, MArch'57, DSc'93, was awarded a Fellowship from Upper Canada College this past May, the highest distinction that UCC bestows on non-student members of its community. Raymond's many architectural projects include the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, the Ontario Science Centre and the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, as well as the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo and the new Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. Raymond has received many honours, including the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal, the highest national honour bestowed on individual architects, an Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arts Foundation of Greater Toronto. Raymond, an Officer of the Order of Canada, has received the Order of Ontario and the Order of Rising Sun Gold Rays with Rosette in Japan.

JIANG ZHU, MArch'02, is an architect with Stantec Architecture Ltd. in Vancouver. Jiang was nominated by the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and appointed by the Vancouver City Council to the City of Vancouver's Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee until December 2008.

Arts

Paula Barbary-Shannon
PAULA BARBARY-SHANNON, BA'83, was recently named "Best Canadian Executive" by the prestigious Stevie Awards for Women in Business at a ceremony held in New York. The Stevie Awards honour accomplished women executives and entrepreneurs from around the world. Paula was presented with her award by CNN anchor Randi Kaye (pictured with Paula, who is on the right). Paula is Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer of Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. "Paula Shannon epitomizes the modern international sales executive," says Henri Broekmate, Lionbridge's Senior Vice President for Worldwide Operations. "She works as easily and effectively in Shanghai as she does in San Francisco." Paula is married to Patrick Shannon, BA'82.

DOREEN KIMURA, BA'56, MA'57, PhD'61, was awarded the 2006 Kistler Prize from the Foundation for the Future (futurefoundation.org). The prize, a 180-gram gold medallion and $100,000 cash award, recognizes original contributions to the understanding of the connection between the human genome and human society. Doreen is an expert on sex differences in the brain and author of Sex and Cognition (MIT Press, 1999), which discusses known sex differences in cognitive and motor skills and the probable hormonal bases of some of these differences. She is currently Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

MARY LOU DICKINSON, BA'58, published her first book, One Day It Happens (Inanna Publications, 2007), a collection of short stories. More information about Mary Lou and her book can be obtained on the publisher's website at www.yorku.ca/inanna.

GARTH STEVENSON, BA'63, MA'65, received the Donald Smiley prize for the best book on Canadian politics published in 2006. His book, Parallel Paths: The Development of Nationalism in Ireland and Quebec, was published by McGill-Queen's University Press. The prize is given annually by the Canadian Political Science Association.

SEYMOUR MAYNE, BA'65, was awarded the Louis L. Lockshin and Brenda Freedman Memorial Award in Poetry, a part of the Canadian Jewish Book Awards, for his latest book of poetry, September Rain (Mosaic Press, 2005). This is the fourth Canadian Jewish Book Award that Seymour has won. Over the past four decades Seymour has also authored, edited or translated more than 50 books and monographs. The Canadian Jewish Book Awards celebrate excellence in Canadian writing that reflects Jewish concerns and themes.

Jamie Elman
JAMIE ELMAN, BA'99, co-stars with Armand Assante in the feature film California Dreamin' (Endless), which recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and which earned the Prix un certain regard at the Cannes Film Festival. In the movie, set during the Kosovo War, Jamie plays a U.S. army sergeant who has a brief romance with a young Romanian woman when his transport train is delayed en route to delivering radar equipment to Kosovo. Jamie was featured frequently on the NBC drama American Dreams, and has appeared in episodes of such series as CSI: NY, The Closer and Without a Trace. In his next film, When Nietzsche Wept, Jamie portrays Sigmund Freud.

LOIS BARON, BA'70, is a Professor of Education at Concordia University. Lois has published a book entitled Contemporary Issues in Youth Sports (Nova Science, 2007). The book addresses five significant topics: parental involvement, fair play, child abuse, the commercial side of sports and mental training as life skills development for youth.

JANYNE HODDER, BA'70, MA'83, left her position at McGill as Vice-Principal (Inter-Institutional Relations) in May 2006 to become President of the College of The Bahamas in Nassau. Janyne was Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Bishop's University from 1995 to 2004 before taking office at McGill, and this spring was awarded an honorary degree from Bishop's.

DONNA NYILASI, BA'71, is Director of Foundation Studies at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, where she heads a team of eight ESL teachers. Previously, Donna spent five years as an instructor with Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait.

RICHARD S. LEVY, BA'72, joined the Montreal law firm of De Grandpré Chait as a partner in January 2007. Richard specializes in intellectual property law and Internet law. Previously, Richard served as general counsel for a group of companies in the hockey, fitness equipment and toy businesses. He and his wife have three children, and their son, DANIEL LEVY, BA'06, just graduated from McGill.

CHARLES "CHAD" GAFFIELD, BA'73, MA'74, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. Chad is a full professor in the History Department at the University of Ottawa and the author, editor or co-editor of 12 books. Among many other awards and citations, Chad was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society's Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, the highest honour attained by scholars, artists and scientists in Canada. Chad is president and chair of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

LOIS DUBIN, BA'74, was promoted to Full Professor in the Department of Religion at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. In fall 2006, she began a three-year term as Department Chair. In 2008, Lois will return to Harvard University, where she received her PhD, as a Starr Fellow at the Center for Jewish Studies and a member of the research group "The Family in Jewish History." Lois also studies and does research on mercantile cultures as well as feminist religious rituals.

JOHN L. WITHERS II, MA'75, was nominated by U.S. President George W. Bush to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Republic of Albania. John is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and has served as Director of the Operations Center at the Department of State. John also served as Director of the Office of North Central European Affairs at the Department of State.

SHARON LONDON-LISS, BA'76, compiled and edited a fine arts book entitled Jack Culiner Collected Works: Baycrest and Mount Sinai (Boston Mills Press, 2007).

DAN ALPERT, BA'77, joined Corwin Press, a division of Sage Publishing, as Senior Acquisitions Editor. Dan and his partner live in the Outer Sunset district of San Francisco with their cockatiel, Shabbos.

AUDREY LAWRENCE, BA'77, was selected in August as the new Academic Chair, School of Health and Human Services, at the Kingstec Campus of Nova Scotia Community College, in Kentville, N.S. (www.nscc.ca).

SUSAN STROMBERG-STEIN, MA'77, has been invited to exhibit her artwork at the sixth edition of the Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy, which will take place at the historic Fortezza da Basso this coming December.

STEPHEN FALLON, MA'78, published Milton's Peculiar Grace (Cornell UP, 2007), about the 17th-century English poet John Milton and how his sense of self-representation developed throughout his work.

DANIELLE MURRAY, BA'86, won the 2007 Qantas Media Award for Magazine Feature Writing - Social Issues. The 34-year-old award program began by recognizing excellence in news photography and has developed to include recognition of the best in all disciplines in New Zealand journalism. Danielle lives in northern New Zealand with her husband and three children.

PHOEBE STRIMENOPOULOS, BA'87, has been living in the sunny country of Greece for the last 15 years, teaching English both in language schools and foreign universities. Phoebe presently works in the editing department of a publishing house and writes TESL books used in many countries around the world.

IAN SIROTA, BA'88, MA'91, recently argued and won a case before the highly influential United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, following an earlier victory at the trial-court level. The case, which is precedential in all United States Circuit Courts, involved a motor vehicle accident, and whether New Jersey's or Pennsylvania's wrongful death law would apply. Ian was successful in convincing the Court that New Jersey's law should prevail.

CAROL DEVINE, BA'89, coordinated Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) activities at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2006 by helping to push for pediatric and new AIDS drug formulations. Carol is also on the board of Dignitas International, an AIDS non-government organization working in Malawi. She has published a novel, Irma (Vauve Press, 2004), about an Estonian-Canadian immigrant living with multiple sclerosis, which was translated into Estonian and launched at a Baltic MS conference in 2005.

JORGE PASSALACQUA, BA'90, MA'96, has been appointed Director of Communications and Planning at the Consumer Protection Agency of Quebec. Jorge lives in Montreal with his wife and two children.

BESSIE ASIMAKOPOULOS, BA'92, MA'95, has been appointed Chair and Program Coordinator of the Department of Modern Languages at Champlain Regional College in Saint Lambert, Quebec. Bessie is happily married and the mother of two.

FRANCO IACONO, BA'92, was Justin Trudeau's campaign director for his Liberal Party of Canada (Quebec) nomination in Papineau. Franco's career in federal politics dates back to his teenage years and includes a decade of public service as policy, regional and legislative advisor to several cabinet ministers. Franco has also served as Director of Government Relations at the Business Development Bank of Canada and is President of Agora Government Relations and Senior Associate with Sussex Strategy Group, where he manages the company's Ottawa office. Franco would love to hear from old McGill friends at fiacono@sussex-strategy.com.

ERIC AVNER, BA'93, was named Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Cincinnati Development Fund (CDF), a non-profit lending institution established in 1988 to finance affordable housing development and community revitalization in the Greater Cincinnati Area. CDF currently manages a portfolio of $103-million in urban residential real estate, and a $52-million new markets tax credit allocation.

JONARNO LAWSON, BA'93, received the 2007 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry for his book Black Stars in a White Night Sky (Pedlar Press, 2006).

TRISTAN JAMES MABRY, BA'93, received his PhD in Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, which was a comparative study of language and Muslim minority separatist movements, and completed his fieldwork in Iraq, Pakistan, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Tristan works in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. He was married in 2001 and last year welcomed the birth of his daughter.

ROBERT ASTROFF, BA'94, is the president of Astroff Consultants Inc., an educational consulting firm specializing in offering strategic advice for applicants to professional and undergraduate university programs in Canada, the United States and overseas. Robert would love to hear from classmates at robert@astroffconsultants.com.

DEAN ROSENTHAL, BA'96, recorded Underpinnings, a work for chamber orchestra, which was released by the Parisian experimental record label Trace Label (www.tracelab.com). The composition was written in 1998 and recorded in Valencia, Calif.

LAURA ACCURSO, BA'98, has joined Sidley Austin LLP and works from their New York City office as an associate in the litigation department.

JENNIFER CLAIRE SHARPE, BA'98, had her essay, "Tove Jansson and the Divided Self," published in a scholarly collection entitled Tove Jansson Rediscovered (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007). Jennifer presented this paper at the Tove Jansson Conference at Pembroke College, Oxford, in March.

LINDA GRAY, PhD'99, was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach American History and History of the Borderlands at Dnipropetrovsk National University in the Ukraine from February to July 2007. Linda is part of the Adjunct Faculty in the Department of History at Norwich University, in Northfield, Vt.

JEFFREY CHANG, BA'01, graduated with his second graduate degree in Organizational Leadership Development in May from Columbia University, in New York City.

DARYA SHAIKH, BA'03, is U.S. Executive Director for the PeaceWorks Foundation's OneVoice Movement, a grassroots movement pushing for a return to negotiations and a two-state solution that is based in both Israel and Palestine. Darya joined OneVoice in January 2003 as the public education coordinator and program developer and has been involved in reconciliation efforts in the Middle East since she was nine years old. Over the course of three years, Darya worked as the facilitator and moderator for a delegation of Jewish-Israeli, Arab-Israeli and Bedouin youth.

VINCENT CHANDLER, BA'05, was one of 25 recipients of the 2006 J. Armand Bombardier Foundation Internationalist Fellowships. The Foundation was created in 1965 to honour Joseph Armand Bombardier and awards $10,000 to each of the fellows. Vincent will pursue his interest in microcredit, an increasingly important element in the economies of developing countries whereby small loans are granted to individuals to create local businesses. His international fieldwork for the Bombardier award is being completed with the Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network. Vincent is also completing a master's degree in economics at the Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms University in Bonn, Germany.

SALIMA VALLA, BA'05, was selected by Horizon Cosmopolite to participate in a six-month internship sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency and the Bangladesh non-governmental organization Young Power in Social Action. Salima lived in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and was assigned to the HIV/AIDS Prevention Program among street-based sex workers. Salima interviewed sex workers and compiled the interviews into case studies, which were published as "They think I work in garments": HIV and Sex Work in Chittagong.

NUSTA CARRANZA KO, BA'06, completed a master's degree in international relations at the University of Windsor in August 2006, and the following September she entered New York University to begin working on a second master's degree, in Political Science.

Dentistry

GEORGE FREEDMAN, BSc'75, DDS'78, was appointed the International Editor-in-Chief of Dental Tribune International. This publication, which reaches 700,000 dentists, is published in 25 editions in 20 languages and is distributed in 91 countries around the globe.

DAVID I. HIRSCH, BSc'88, DDS'93, became a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics and is a fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada. For the last 10 years, David has been in practice with offices across Ontario and has been a lecturer and clinic demonstrator at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Undergraduate Orthodontics.

MITCHELL JOSEPHS, DDS'88, published a book and marketing kit entitled Achieving the Million-Dollar Practice Without Working Hard. Mitchell gives all-day seminars on marketing for doctors in two cities every month all over North America for the Madow Group, while maintaining a private cosmetic and implant dental practice in Palm Beach, Florida. Mitchell also hosts a weekly radio show called Tooth Talk (WBZT, Radiotoothtalk.com), and every Wednesday in the Accent section of the Palm Beach Post you can read his "Ask the Dentist" column, which maintains a readership of over 500,000.

Education

Bill Conrod
BILL CONROD, MEd'70, is a retired educator who taught and administered at schools in Montreal, California, British Columbia and, for 15 years, at Algonquin College in Ottawa, where he eventually served as Vice-President of Continuing Education and Development. Bill has published a new book, Memories of Snowdon in the 50's, a collection of reminiscences and photos from 90 contributors about the Montreal neighbourhood where Decarie Boulevard meets Queen Mary Road and where Sam Pollack, the late, legendary Montreal Canadiens general manager, once played for the Snowdon Major Fastball League. To order the book, contact Bill at 613-236-5472 or email him at jillbillc@sympatico.ca

OUIDA WRIGHT, DipEd'53, MA'56, and her husband, LEEBERT AUGUSTUS WRIGHT, BSc(Agr)'55, MSc'57, received joint Lifetime Achievement Awards from the 2007 Harry Jerome Awards, honouring outstanding and inspirational African-Canadians. Now retired, Ouida was superintendent of curriculum for the Toronto District School Board and Assistant Deputy Minister of Ontario's education ministry. Ouida spent more than 50 years in the education field in Jamaica, Quebec and Ontario, including 15 years as the superintendent of curriculum in the Toronto Board of Education, where she won the Colonel Watson Award for curriculum development and the Canadian Women in Science Award for outstanding contribution to mathematics and science. Leebert, a biochemist, standardized clinical chemistry tests across the country and was president of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists, which under his guidance founded a central laboratory in Ottawa where biological samples could be analyzed according to strict guidelines. Leebert's work led him to win an Ames Award in 1979, the highest Canadian honour bestowed in the field of chemistry.

DENIS BRAULT, MEd'80, teaches Latin, ancient Greek and Greco-Roman civilization courses to the Montreal community for La Fondation Humanitas, a non-profit organization that promotes classical studies in Quebec.

ANASTASIA KAMANOS GAMELIN, BEd'91, MEd'95, PhD'01, has been involved in establishing universities for women in the Middle East. Her first assignment was in Saudia Arabia, where she helped to establish the first private university for women. Anastasia works at the Royal University for Women in Bahrain, where she is Associate Professor in the Education Faculty and Program Director of the Faculty of Liberal Arts. She was instrumental in developing the Education and Liberal Arts programs at this new university. She is presently writing The Sand Diaries, which explores her experience of teaching, living and learning in Saudi Arabia.

GARETH REID, BEd'94, has been promoted from Senior School Principal to Principal of Turnbull School in Ottawa. CRAIG DUNN, BEd'94, has been appointed Senior School Vice Principal and EDGAR (BUDDY) CLINCH, BEd'93, has been appointed Junior School Vice Principal of Turnbull. All three have been working together for almost ten years, and several other McGill graduates also teach at Turnbull School.

ANN MARIE CAMPBELL, BEd'04, and her husband, PIERRE-ÉTIENNE MORAND, BCL'04, LLB'04, announce the birth of their first child, Joseph-Antoine, in July in Lévis, Que. Ann Marie is a teacher at A.S. Johnson High School in Thetford Mines, and Pierre-Étienne practises law at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Quebec City.

JUSTIN SAKOFS, BEd'06, announces his engagement to RACHEL ELANA MILLER, BSc'05. Justin and Rachel met at McGill during their first week of courses.

Engineering

Kimberly Woodhouse
KIMBERLY WOODHOUSE, BEng'79, is the new Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science at Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario. Kimberly began her five-year term in July 2007. Kimberly was a professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry at the University of Toronto and is the associate director of the Advanced Regenerative Tissue Engineering Centre (ARTEC) at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She is an expert in the design of novel materials made from both synthetics and recombinant proteins and her research focuses on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. She has been awarded both the (Ontario) Premier's Research Excellence Award and the Professional Engineers of Ontario Engineering Excellence Medal.

GERALD KENNEY, BEng'54, worked for Bell Canada in the 1960s and 70s, where he was responsible for the engineering aspects of the telephone system based on short-wave radio that served the eastern half of the Northwest Territories, Labrador and Nouveau Québec. Gerald has long been fascinated with the Arctic and in his new book, Dangerous Passage, he explores the accomplishments of Roald Amundsen, the Norweigan explorer who successfully completed the first-ever transit of the Northwest Passage by sea.

BRUCE BRADY, BEng'72, has been appointed Manager, Mine Development with Western Prospector Group Ltd. (WNP). WNP is evaluating a uranium deposit in northeast Mongolia and is undertaking a feasibility study with a view to establishing an underground mining operation.

Maher Arar
MAHER ARAR, BEng'95 (pictured on the right), and his wife, MONIA MAZIGH, PhD'01, were awarded honorary doctorates by Nippissing University on June 9. Maher, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was deported by U.S. authorities to Syria in 2002, where he was tortured into false confessions of terrorist links before he was released and returned to his adopted home. During his incarceration in Syria, his wife worked tirelessly for his release. She also successfully lobbied the Canadian government to hold an inquiry into her husband's deportation and imprisonment. He has received formal apologies for his ordeal from both the RCMP and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as well as a $10.5-million settlement from the Canadian government. Maher and Monia recently created a $20,000 scholarship at Thompson Rivers University to support the work of students committed to issues of social justice. The University of Ottawa has also created a scholarship to honour the couple. The Canadian Muslim Network Arar-Mazigh Scholarship will be awarded to a common law student specializing in human rights.

RAMI HOUBBY, BEng'94, was promoted to Vice President of Strategic Accounts and Alliances for Allied Telesis for the European, Middle East and African regions. Rami is based out of Reading in the United Kingdom.

KIMBERLY RAFUSE, BEng'95, is currently completing her Master's in Environmental Security and Peace in San José, Costa Rica, at the United Nations Mandated University for Peace. Kimberly can be reached at kimrafuse@yahoo.ca.

Health Sciences

David Levy
DAVID LEVY, MDCM'79, MSc'83, was named as a Principal with PricewaterhouseCoopers. David joined the firm in June 2005 as a managing director for the Healthcare Advisory Practice, leading his team in analyzing Louisiana's health system following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and drafting a report to the Lousiana Recovery Authority for rebuilding a stronger health system for the state. A resident of Rockland County, New York, David founded the not-for-profit foundation Health Insurance for All in 2005 and was appointed as a commissioner of the National Health Council's Patient-Centered Care Initiative in 2004.

GORDON DICKIE, MDCM'58, has retired from his medical practice in Hawaii to become an author. Gordon's recent book, Fracture, takes place in the skiing mecca of Aspen, Colorado. Gordon's previous books have dealt with themes such as scuba diving, biological warfare, sociobiology and fetal intelligence.

ANN TOFFEL, Dip(PTh)'63, completed a Clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Des Moines University in Iowa in May, and an MBA at the University of New Haven in Connecticut in 1998. Ann works in an acute care hospital in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., as Assistant Administrative Director of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, overseeing a department of 40 staff members. Ann is also a Clinical Faculty Associate at New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y.

GAIL CAWKWELL, MDCM'88, lives in Bedford, N.Y., and works at Pfizer Inc. in New York City. Gail volunteers in the pediatric rheumatology clinic at Columbia University Hospital, teaching and seeing patients. Gail is married and has four children: Philip, a high school senior, Rachel, a high school freshman, Samuel, a 5th grader, and Rebecca, a 3rd grFader.

DIANE E. LOWDEN, MSc(A)'88, works as a clinical nurse specialist in the Multiple Sclerosis Program of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). She is the current President of the International Organization of Multiple Sclerosis Nurses and was recently awarded the MUHC Eureka Fellowship in Nursing Research. Diane lives with her husband, PAUL JENSEN, BSc(Agr)'82, MSc(Agr)'85, in Rosemere, Quebec.

LISA ANDERMANN, BA'89, MDCM'96, and Michael Prokaziuk happily announce the birth of their daughter, Hannah Julia Stephanie, born in April 2007 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

Law

Pierre-Étienne Simard
PIERRE-ETIENNE SIMARD, BCL'02, LLB'02, was elected President of the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal, the largest business network of young managers, professionals, entrepreneurs and self-employed workers under the age of 40 in North America. Pierre-Etienne practices corporate law at Fasken Martineau, where he specializes in mergers, acquisitions and securities.

MICHAEL CYTRYNBAUM, BA'62, BCL'65, was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hostopia.com Inc. in June after serving as a director of the company since 2003. Michael is also President of First Fiscal Management Ltd., a private consulting company, and Executive Chairman of Look Communications Inc., a communications service provider, and Ignition Point Technologies Corp., a broadband communication provider, both publicly traded companies. In addition, he is a director of two junior resource companies and a director of Peer 1 Network Enterprises, Inc., a provider of high-performance Internet bandwidth.

FRANK H. BUCKLEY, BA'69, LLB'74, is Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason School of Law in Arlington, Virginia, and Director of its Law & Economics Program. Frank's most recent books are The Morality of Laughter (University of Michigan Press, 2003) and Just Exchange (Routledge, 2004). His daughter, Sarah, graduated from MIT last spring and is studying medicine.

FRANK VAN DE CRAEN, DCL'78, previously Belgium's Envoy to Bolivia (2003-2006), was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Belgium to Malaysia and began his assignment in Kuala Lumpur in November 2006.

Donald J. Johnston
DONALD J. JOHNSTON, BCL'58, BA'60, LLD'03, received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun of Japan, the second most prestigious Japanese decoration and the highest one that can be bestowed on a non-Japanese citizen. Donald received the decoration from Emperor Akihito of Japan at a ceremony in November 2006 at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The Order was awarded to Donald in consideration of his accomplishments as Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development from 1996 to 2006. Donald is counsel and founding partner of Heenan Blaikie. He was recently appointed to the board of directors of the Montreal Economic Institute.

HAIG OGHIGIAN, BA'76, LLB'79, has been named a Partner in the Japanese law firm of Baker & McKenzie GJBJ Tokyo Aoyama Aoki Koma (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise), specializing in dispute resolution. Haig has many years of experience representing Japanese and international clients in the fields of international commercial arbitration, particularly with cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and licensing and distribution agreements. Previously, he served as a Foreign Service Officer at the Canadian Embassy in Japan. Fluent in English, French and Japanese, Haig is a contributing writer for the Simon & Schuster book The Law of Commerce in Japan, and lectures on international arbitration at the University of Tokyo.

ALAN MARCOVITZ, BCom'77, BCL'81, LLB'81, was appointed President of the Westcliff Group of Companies, one of Canada's largest privately held real estate development, management and investment companies, with offices in Montreal, Toronto and Dallas.

KIRSTEN HILLMAN, LLB'93, BCL'93, is a Foreign Service Officer and international trade litigator with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and has recently taken up the position of Counsellor and Senior Legal Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

JONATHAN LEVINSON, BCL'95, LLB'95, was appointed Chief of Staff for Claude Lajeunesse, the President of Concordia University, having been in the position on an interim basis since February 2007. Jonathan joined the Concordia community as Assistant General Counsel in April 2006 and was a part-time professor in Concordia's communication studies program last fall and in Spring 2005, teaching communications, corporate and contract law. Jonathan is also a lawyer and member of the Quebec, New York and Massachusetts bar associations.

GARY D. TICOLL, BSc'72, MSc'80, BCL'99, LLB'99, is a special counsel in the Financial Restructuring Department at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP. Gary works from the firm's New York office representing debtors, individual creditors and other parties in all aspects of Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and out-of-court financial restructurings.

Management

Jean-François Bussières
JEAN-FRANÇOIS BUSSIÈRES, MBA'93, was named Canadian Pharmacist of the Year for 2007 by the Canadian Pharmacists Association. Jean-François is the Director of the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine's pharmacy department, where he spearheaded a departmental reorganization that led to the creation of a new pharmaceutical practice research unit. He is also an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université de Montréal and the winner of five teaching awards.

GORDON PIMM, BCom'50, lives in Ottawa with his wife, June, and his trusty West Highland White Terrier, Duncan. Gordon served during World War II as a Signalman in the Royal Canadian Navy, primarily in the North Atlantic Convoys. Following wartime service, he earned his management degree from McGill. Gordon's new book, Leo's War: From Gaspé to Vimy, chronicles the experiences of his uncle Leo, who served in the Montreal Victoria Rifles during World War I. More information about the book can be found at www.leoswar.com.

IAN COOK, BCom'70, earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the International Federation of Professional Speakers. Fewer than 10 per cent of member speakers worldwide hold this designation. Ian received his award at the 2007 NSA Convention in San Diego. His leadership development company, Fulcrum Associates Inc., is based in Vienna, Va., with an office in Toronto.

LINE RACETTE, BCom'82, DPA'83, is a Partner in Advisory Services at KPMG, a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services, in Montreal. Line was awarded membership into the Fellowship of Chartered Business Valuators with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators.

JOHANNE BERNARD, BCom'86, is Deputy Commissioner of Competition at the Competition Bureau of Canada. The Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that investigates anti-competitive practices and promotes fair competition in the Canadian marketplace.

ASIF MUSTAFA, BCom'87, DPA'91, has accepted a postion as a director in the UBS Wealth Management Group, one of the world's largest investment bank and asset management firms. Prior to this, Asif was with Bloomberg LP, and has also held various finance and advisory positions with Fortune 500 companies in the New York City area. Asif has also been travelling the world for work and leisure, but having four young children has slowed him down somewhat. He is active in various civic and non-profit boards and is an amateur photographer.

David Armour
DAVID ARMOUR, MMgmt'03, is the new President of the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), an organization with five million members across Canada. The CAA provides its members with a wide range of services, including roadside assistance, and leads national advocacy efforts on traffic safety and other public policy issues that affect Canadian motorists. David is the former president of the United Way of Canada — Centraide Canada, a position he held for nine years. David is also a member of the trust funds advisory committee of the Canadian Red Cross and a member of the board of directors of the Pembina Institute, which promotes the development of sustainable energy sources.

TIMOTHY MATTIMOE, MBA'92, married Christine Jacobsen in August 2006 in Kleinburg, Ontario. Tim is a product solutions manager with Filogix Inc., Canada's leading technology provider to the mortgage and real estate industries.

MARTIN KON, BCom'93, has been named head of the New York office of Oliver Wyman and remains head of the firm's Global Media & Entertainment practice. Martin's previous firm, Mercer Management Consulting, recently joined forces with Mercer Oliver Wyman and Mercer Delta Organizational Consulting under the name Oliver Wyman. The Oliver Wyman Group has sales of $1.3-billion and 3,300 staff in 16 countries.

RIÉ SHIGEMATSU-COLLETT, MBA'96, has opened Embody Wellness Spa (www.embodyspa.com) in Mountain View, Calif. Together with her business partner, RICHARD KARASIK, MEng'69, they offer health and wellness services to stressed-out Silicon Valley-ites. Rié has worked for ABC TV in New York, the Walt Disney Company in Los Angeles and, most recently, at a number of high tech companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rié, who is married and has one daughter, has served as President of the McGill Alumni Association of Northern California since 2002.

DAVID CHAN-JUNG KUO, BCom'97, was appointed Vice President of the Board of the Canadian Society in Taiwan.

DEEPAK DAVE, BCom'98, recently set up his own corporate financial advisory firm. Deepak is also working on separate mandates, which include raising a $400-million African private equity fund, a $200-million property investment trust and a $100-million structured debt fund. He splits his time between London, Toronto and Nairobi.

SALIM SAMAHA, BCom'98, joined Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity joint venture between Crédit Suisse and General Electric, as a principal in October 2006 and works in New York. Salim was previously a vice president in Crédit Suisse's Investment Banking Division, also in New York.

BROOKE FISHBACK, MBA'02, is International Sales Manager for Health Enterprises, Inc. (www.healthenterprises.com), which was recently awarded an international trade achievement award from the Massachusetts Alliance for International Business for demonstrated best practices in international business and expansive presence in markets around the world. Brooke also earned the NASBITE Certified Global Business Professional designation, and received their Centurian Award for Leadership in International Business.

Music

Solon McDade Jeremiah McDadeSOLON MCDADE, BMUS'02, (second from right), and his brother, JEREMIAH MCDADE, BMus'02 (second from left), make up part of the McDades, who won the award for Best Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (Group) at the 2007 Juno Awards, for their CD Bloom. Last fall, the McDades received two Canadian Folk Music Awards, one for Best World Album and the other for Best World Group. Both brothers compose music for the band. Solon is the McDades' bass player, while Jeremiah provides vocals in addition to playing a variety of instruments, including tin whistle, saxophone, fiddle and flute.

KELLY WILLIAMSON, BMus'92, and her husband, Mike Lamothe, relocated to London, Ont., in June 2006. In May 2006, Kelly was appointed a teacher trainer in flute with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, one of nine in North America, and is one of the youngest people to have achieved this position. As a teacher trainer, she travelled to Peru in January 2007 to teach at the 22nd Festival Internacional de Musica Suzuki in Lima. Kelly can be reached at kelly@amaryllis.ca.

NATALIE BONIN, BMus'93, a violinist, recorded as a guest soloist with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra on September 6. The band recorded a new piece called "Portrait in Seven Shades," composed by saxophonist Ted Nash. The piece is divided into seven movements, each one inspired by a different modern painter, including Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso. Natalie is a member of the jazz quintet, Ted Nash and Odeon, and has toured with the Cirque du Soleil, Gino Vannelli, Bruno Pelletier, Bran Van 3000, Moist and other pop music artists. She is also a member of the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal and plays regularly in the Orchestre Métropolitain.

EVAN JONES, BMus'93, has served on the faculty at the Florida State University (FSU) College of Music since 2001. He was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of Music Theory in August 2007, receiving a University Teaching Award in April 2007 as well. Evan serves on the national Society for Music Theory Professional Development Committee and was a fellow at the 2006 Mannes Institute for Advanced Studies in Music Theory, held at Yale University. Evan is an active cellist and has performed with MAY PHANG, BMus'92, MMus'94, at the University of Cincinnati, DePauw University and FSU. Evan also gave a recital of solo repertoire at UCLA and premiered Clifton Callender's Metamorphoses at the 16th Annual Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival.

MARIA DIAMANTIS, BMus'95, a soprano, performs with another Montrealer of Greek descent, tenor Dimitris Ilias, on the recently released CD Refraction, a Chroma Musika (Montreal) and Music Mirror (Athens) co-production. The CD pairs the music of Greek composer Hrysanthos Mouzakitis and the poetry of Vasos Vogiatzoglou. Greek Consul General Maria Karnoutsou was the guest of honour at the official launch of the CD, held in Montreal at the Hellenic Community Centre in February.

SHAWN MATIVETSKY, BMus'98, MMus'00, teaches tabla and percussion, both privately and at McGill, where he directs the McGill Tabla Ensemble at the Schulich School of Music. He recently released a new CD of music for tabla, Payton MacDonald: Works for Tabla and Percussion, a collaboration with composer Payton Macdonald, which combines Shawn's interest in both Indian classical and Western classical music.

STEVEN SHERWOOD, BMus'00, has been a tenor with the Canadian Opera Company chorus since 2003. Steven recently made his mainstage debut with the COC this past January in the role of the Drunken Guest in Dmitry Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

JULIA MACLAINE, BMus'03, a cellist, is a fellow at the Academy — a Program of Carnegie Hall, Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute. Established in January 2007, this two-year fellowship serves postgraduate musicians embarking on their careers by helping bridge the gap between their academic and professional lives. Julia is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York City.

JESSICA MUIRHEAD, BMus'03, MMus'05, was part of the cast for the Canadian Opera Company's recent production of The Marriage of Figaro. Since receiving her degrees at McGill, Jessica has performed for the San Francisco Lyric Opera and was selected to participate in the prestigious Belvedere Competition in Vienna, Austria, where she was a finalist.

Religious Studies

EDWARD SEARL, BTh'73, completed a five-book series of quote collections for Skinner House Books. Four of the books — Bless this Child, Coming of Age, We Pledge our Hearts and Beyond Absence — belong to the Rites of Passage anthology, while the fifth, In Praise of Animals, belongs to the Animal Kingdom anthology. The Rites series anthologizes quotes from the four great passages of life: birth, coming-of-age, marriage and death, and contains Edward's vision of the evolution and transformation of human life from birth to death. The fifth book places humankind within nature. See http://members.authorsguild.net/edwardsearl.

JAMES SIEMENS, BTh'96, is completing his PhD at the University of Wales, Lampeter, the oldest degree-awarding institution in Wales and the third oldest in England and Wales after Oxford and Cambridge. James is examining the thought of Theodore of Tarsus in a text called Laterculus Malalianus. James left the Anglican priesthood to be received into the Catholic Church in September 2005 and is now lecturing in religion at a college in Cardiff, Wales. He is married to Kim and together they have four children: Nicholas, Ambrose, Chloé and Dominic.

Science

Wilbert Keon
WILBERT KEON, MSc'64, an internationally renowned cardiac surgeon and cardiologist, was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame on October 2. The hall, located in London, Ontario, recognizes the accomplishments of Canada's health care heroes. Wilbert was also recently presented with the Canadian Medical Association's F.N.G. Starr Award, the highest honour that the CMA can bestow upon one of its members in recognition of outstanding achievement, and a prize that has been described as the "Victoria Cross of Canadian Medicine." Wilbert was the founding director general of the University of Ottawa's Heart Institute and performed both the first heart transplant and the first artificial heart transplant in Canada. A member of the Canadian Senate, he is the deputy chair of a Senate special committee on aging, and chairs a Senate subcommittee on population health.

VIVIANE WEINBERGER KLUSKA, BSc'69, MSc'72, has retired and paints as art therapy. Viviane is interested in hearing from classmates in order to catch up and can be emailed at viviane.weinberger@gmail.com.

PHYLLIS FERGUSON, MSc(A)'75, and her husband, LINDSAY BOTTOMER, MSc(A)'75, live in Vancouver, B.C., after having lived in Australia for eight years. Lindsay, a mineral exploration geologist, has worked in 28 countries in the last three decades, and Phyllis, a speech language pathologist, recently combined her professional knowledge of autistic spectrum disorders with her personal interest in the novels of Jane Austen to write a cross-disciplinary book entitled So Odd A Mixture: Along the Autistic Spectrum in "Pride and Prejudice" (Jessica Kingsley, 2007). Their two children study at McGill: Jan is in her second year of a master's program in Counselling Psychology and Tim is in his first year of Law.

SHELDON H. JACOBSON, BSc'81, MSc'83, is a Professor and Director of the Simulation and Optimization Laboratory in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sheldon co-authored the paper "The Economic Impact of Obesity on Automobile Fuel Consumption," in The Engineering Economist (Volume 51, Number 4, 2006), which received international attention in newspapers and on radio and TV.

MICHAEL LYONS, BSc'83, returned to academia after a decade working as a senior research scientist at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Labs in Kyoto, Japan. Michael is a professor in the College of Image Arts and Sciences at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.

JOHN DAICOPOULOS, BSc'88, runs RenegadeScience.tv, where he produces satirical and edgy video podcasts promot-ing and defending science. John invites alumni to visit his site and have a look at renegadescience.blogspot.com.

STEPHANIE WRAGG, BSc'88, MSc'91, lives in Delray Beach, Florida, with CHRISTOPHER M. BURNS, BSc'89. Stephanie is Research Assistant Professor and Director of Medical Education and Faculty Development at the Regional Campus of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, while Christopher is Assistant Professor in the College of Biomedical Sciences at Florida Atlantic University.

VIC NANDA, MSc'96, was awarded the Feigenbaum Medal by the American Society for Quality during its World Conference on Quality and Improvement in April. Vic was recognized for her innovative contributions in the area of quality methodology as Quality Manager at Motorola in Marlton, New Jersey. Vic was also recognized for her leadership in the quality profession, evidenced by enhancement of organizational maturity, international institutionalization of quality management systems, authorship of scholarly books and articles on quality, and her volunteerism.

Social Work

CAMERON RUSSELL, MSW'04, won a South London and Maudsley National Health Service Clinical Governance Award for his involvement in bringing caregivers' perspectives into the services that their loved ones receive. Cameron works at Lambeth Hospital in London, England, as a forensic mental health social worker.

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