U of S Alumni Honoured at Gala Dinner

The University of Saskatchewan Alumni Association's showcase event had over 225 alumni, friends and community leaders pause to honour six U of S alumni who serve as prime examples of leadership and service to the community. Sharon Laflamme (BEd'91, PGD'01), chair of the Alumni Association's Alumni Successes Committee, says, "The awards gala is an opportunity to not only recognize the accomplishments of individual recipients, it is an opportunity for all U of S graduates to be proud of the many ways we can, and do, impact the communities in which we live and serve."

This year marks the 30th year of the Alumni Award of Achievement. The five other award categories are: Alumni Excellence in Aboriginal Achievements Award, Alumni Humanitarian Award, Alumni Mentorship Award, Alumni Service Award, and Outstanding Young Alumni.

The evening began with a champagne reception, where attendees were able to mingle with the award recipients and community leaders and swap campus stories with fellow alumni. "It's a great opportunity to see some familiar faces, catch up with friends from our days on campus, and have fun celebrating our fellow alumni," says Laflamme.Dr. Malcolm Wilson (MSc'77, PhD'81), recipient of the Alumni Award of Achievement, was also the evening's guest speaker. He spoke of his work as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—for which he was co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore—and his work on various provincial, national and international carbon capture initiatives. Dr. Wilson currently serves as director in the Office of Energy and Development at the University of Regina.

The evening's other award recipients were: Cort Dogniez (BEd'79, PGD'92), coordinator of First Nations, Inuit and Metis education with the Saskatoon Public School Board; Susan Milburn (BComm'78, MBA'80), vice-president of Raymond James in Saskatoon and a current member of the U of S Board of Governors; Lorne Gelowitz, S.V.M. (BA'83), staff sergeant with Saskatoon Police Service; Betty-Ann Heggie (BEd'75) (a.k.a. The Stilletto Chick), a former senior vice-president of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan; and Dr. Alika LaFontaine (MD'06), anesthesiology resident at the U of S and Canada's Next Great Prime Minister (as declared on the CBC's 2008 program of the same name).

"This evening wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of members of both the Successes Committee and the Awards Selection Committee. I'd also like to thank our generous sponsors for making the evening a special event for our award recipients and all those in attendance," says Laflamme. Evening sponsors include Arscott and Associates, Industrial Alliance Pacific, Mobo Promotional Products, Saskatoon Media Group (owner of radio stations CJWW 600, Magic 98.3 and 92.9 The Bull), The StarPhoenix, and TD Insurance Meloche Monnex.

Nominations for next year's awards are now being accepted. The deadline for nominations is June 15, 2010, with the gala dinner likely taking place in November of 2010.

For more information on the awards and recipients, visit www.usask.ca/alumni/awards.