(October 27, 2008 - Thunder Bay, ON) Lakehead University's Board of Governors is pleased to introduce new Chair Kevin Cleghorn, new Vice Chair Colin Bruce, and new members Ewan Downie, Anthony LeBlanc, Darlene Palmer, Frances Picherack, Gillian Siddall, Ethel Gardner, Vonnie Cheng, and Slim Babay. Members were approved at the Board's October 17, 2008 annual meeting. All new members indicated that they are delighted to join the Board, and are eager to share their thoughts and ideas to help serve the university.
The Board of Governors meets six times throughout the year. Its membership comprises representatives from the University community including students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the Aboriginal Management Council; the City of Thunder Bay; Lieutenant Governor and Council appointments; and members who are elected at large. "Our Board is representative of the people and regions that it serves and offers valuable perspectives, allowing Lakehead University to support continued excellence in education," says Don Campbell, Chair of the Board of Governors.
"Our new members will bring their thoughts, experience, and expertise to the functioning of the Board, and I am pleased to have them join us," says Lakehead University President, Dr. Fred Gilbert.
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Media: New member profiles are included on following pages. Board members may be contacted for interview. Please call Patti Merriman to arrange interview times. Patti can be reached at 343-8614.
Dr. Gilbert and Don Campbell may also be contacted for interview. Please contact Lisa Pelot, Communications Officer to arrange interview times, or for any questions about this media release at 343-8177 or commun@lakeheadu.ca; or Eleanor Abaya, Director of Communications, 343-8372 or eabaya@lakeheadu.ca.
About Lakehead
Lakehead is a comprehensive university with a reputation for innovative programs and cutting-edge research. With a main campus located in Thunder Bay, Ontario and a campus in Orillia, Ontario, Lakehead has over 7,700 students and 2,250 faculty and staff, and is home to the west campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. In 2006, Research Infosource Inc. named Lakehead University Canada's Research University of the Year in the undergraduate category. For more information on Lakehead University, visit www.lakeheadu.ca
Member profiles:
Kevin Cleghorn
Kevin Cleghorn has been practicing law in Thunder Bay since 1984, leaving briefly for a two-year interlude. Kevin earned his B.A and LL.B. at the University of Manitoba, and was called to the bar of Ontario in 1984, the bar of Manitoba in 1993, and the bar of Saskatchewan in 1994. Kevin is certified as a specialist in family law by the Law Society of Upper Canada, serves as a deputy judge for the Small Claims Court in the Northwest Region, and is a sessional lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Lakehead University.
Currently, Kevin serves as the Director of the Family Law Office for Legal Aid Ontario. Aside from the Board of Governors, Kevin is also involved in his community. For instance, Kevin is the President of the United Way of Thunder Bay, and organizes an annual fundraising dinner for the Canadian Diabetes Association.
When not working or serving the community, Kevin enjoys the company of his family, wife Julie, and daughters Jacqueline and Kristen.
Colin Bruce
Colin arrived in Thunder Bay in 1994 to take on duties as publisher and general manager of The Chronicle-Journal. A career journalist, Colin began as a copy boy and graduated through the newsroom ranks, eventually becoming City Editor, and later Managing Editor of some of Thomson Newspapers largest dailies. Since arriving in Thunder Bay, he has been actively involved in many aspects of the community. He has been a volunteer for the United Way, serving at various times as President, Chair of the annual campaign, and on provincial and national task forces for the United Way of Canada. He was also a member of the successful scholarship fundraising team for the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM).
He is a past President of Port Arthur Rotary, and continues his board duties with the Ambassadors and The Chamber of Commerce.
He is married to Grace, and has two sons, Jonathan and David.
Ewan S. Downie
Mr. Downie serves as a Director and/or Officer of several publicly traded companies, and has long experience in the mining industry. He is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Premier Gold Mines Limited (TSX:PG). Mr. Downie is formerly President of Zinifex Canada, which he joined in May 2007 following the acquisition of Zinifex Limited of Wolfden Resources Inc., a company formerly listed on the TSX, which he founded and served from its inception in March 1999, as President and Chief Executive Officer. It was under Mr. Downie's tenure that Wolfden discovered the High Lake polymetallic base metal deposit in Nunavut, a discovery for which it received the Prospector and Developer Association of Canada's Prospector of the Year Award in 2003. Mr. Downie also serves as a Director to several other public companies, including Newstrike Resources, Ltd., Halo Resources Ltd., Skybridge Development Corp., Benton Resources Corp., and Marksmen Capital Inc.
Anthony LeBlanc
Anthony LeBlanc spent over eight years as a key executive at one of Canada's most successful Information Technology companies, Research in Motion (RIM), the manufacturer of the Blackberry. Most recently, Mr. LeBlanc was Vice President of Global Sales.
Anthony joined RIM in January 2000. He initially led the focus of Blackberry in the North American government sector. At the time, Blackberry was nearly unknown in government circles. Within one year, Blackberry had received the FIPS 140-1 certification and was available on a number of government procurement vehicles. Currently, the government vertical accounts for approximately 10% of the net Blackberry installation base, and continue to be the largest vertical market for the communication device. In the fall of 2005 the model used for government accounts was extended to all Corporate and government accounts worldwide. Anthony's focus in his capacity as Vice President of Global Sales was leading a team that was responsible for the direct interaction with RIM's largest customers worldwide.
In July 2008 Mr. LeBlanc decided to spend more time focusing on some key projects and venture investments that he is passionate about. His first project, the Northwestern Ontario Major Junior Sports Corporation is currently investigating the potential of locating sports franchises in his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Prior to joining RIM, Anthony was with Corel Corporation and Giga Information Group in a number of sales and marketing positions. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Canadian American Business Council, an organization based in Washington, D.C. that works to foster trade relations and business links between Canadian and U.S. businesses.
Darlene Palmer
Darlene Palmer is the General Manager of Newcap Radio in Thunder Bay, operators of 105.3 the Giant and Magic 99.9 radio stations. Ms. Palmer moved to Thunder Bay in March of 2006. She had been the General Manager of Newcap Radio station in Sudbury.
A Sudbury native, Darlene was active in the community, and was on the Board of the Sudbury Theatre Centre, the Sudbury and District Chamber of Commerce, the Sudbury Economic Development Commission, and Science North. She chaired various committees on those boards, ranging from the Finance Chair of Science North, to the Tourism Chair for the Economic Development Commission.
Darlene also worked with Sudbury YMCA's $22m capital campaign in the area of corporate, government donations and grants for their new facility. She also worked on the $1m refurbishing campaign for the Sudbury Theatre Centre.
Since moving to Thunder Bay, Darlene was elected to the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, and is a volunteer for the capital campaign for the George Jeffries Capital Campaign.
Frances Picherack
Frances Picherack is the President of Petrine Consulting Inc., specialising in governance, strategic policy, and program development in the regulation of health, education, and community development in the private, public, and voluntary sectors. She has extensive experience in multi-sector systems level collaboration and innovation for population health, systems capacity development, and sustainability. Over the years, Ms. Picherack has developed a niche focus on, and expertise in, the implications of changes in public policy and administrative law for clients, such as complex health systems, universities, private and public foundations, and professional regulators, adapting to global trends and developments. In such capacity, she assists clients in the design and application of interventions in regulatory affairs that ensure accountability, transparency, privacy protection, and fairness in governance, administrative processes, and services to customers and stakeholders. More currently, she has provided globally aligned leadership at national, provincial, and local levels in such matters as disaster and business contingency planning (SARS, Pandemic Planning), infection prevention and control in the health and community sectors, the mobility of regulated professionals across borders, accreditation of health and community services, conflict management and alternate dispute resolution at the systems and individual service levels, workplace health and balance, and reform of professional regulation in the public interest.
Ms. Picherack has taught in Nursing and Health Science at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Ontario at Lakehead, McMaster, and Ryerson Universities, and has enjoyed adjunct appointments in faculties of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Administration at the University of Toronto, University of Alberta, and the University of British Columbia. She has served on a number of boards, foundations, public commissions, task forces, and committees. She has published, presented, and engaged in background research on the above matters solely, on behalf of clients, and in collaboration with a diverse range of accomplished colleagues. Frances was one of the "40 Friends of Lakehead" that created a founding bursary for the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), and annually sponsors the Frances Guzzi Picherack Saydana Award endowment for a NOSM student.
Gillian Siddall
Dr. Gillian Siddall joined the English Department at Lakehead University in 1998. She has published on Canadian literature, focusing on gender, history, and improvisation as represented in Canadian literature. She has also become involved in several collaborative research projects on educational development, in partnership with other Canadian universities, and is a collaborator on a seven-year MCRI SSHRC grant on improvisation and culture, along with colleagues from Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Australia.
Dr. Siddall was promoted to Associate Professor in 2001, and in 2005 she became the Director of Lakehead University's then newly established Instructional Development Centre. This role has provided her with exciting opportunities to pursue her commitment to teaching, as she provides professional development opportunities to faculty and graduate students interested in enhancing their teaching practices; consultation to academic units engaged in curriculum design and development, and consultation on a number of university-level committees on strategies for academic planning.
Dr. Siddall is also a member of the jazz duo, Siddall and Fedderson, who have performed many times in Thunder Bay.
Ethel Gardner
The Chair of the new Aboriginal Education Department at Lakehead University, Dr. Ethel Gardner is an experienced administrator with a Master's degree from Harvard, a PhD from Simon Fraser University, and an abiding interest in Aboriginal education, language, and culture.
Gardner was born outside Hope, British Columbia, and is a member of the Skwah First Nation. She came to Lakehead in January 2006 after spending three and a half years and Simon Fraser University. Prior to that, she worked as Associate Director for the First Nations House of Learning at the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Gardner provides leadership, vision, and direction to Lakehead's Faculty of Education to advance all areas of Aboriginal education, including policy, programs, research, and service. Gardner spearheaded the development and accreditation of the innovative Honours B.Ed. (Aboriginal) program, the only one of its kind in Ontario. Additionally, she oversees the Native Teacher Education Program (NTEP) and the Native Language Instructor Program (NLIP). Her passion for revitalizing Indigenous languages has resulted in successfully acquiring substantial SSHRC grants, such as "Language Planning for Anishinaabemowin Language Revitalization in Treaty #3."
Vonnie Cheng
Vonnie Cheng grew up in Hong King, and came to Thunder Bay in 1968 to attend Lakehead University, where she obtained her BSc. in Mathematics, HBA in English, and a graduate diploma in Business Administration. She is in the process of completing her thesis for a MA degree in English.
Vonnie is an insurance and investment advisor at Sun Life Financial in Thunder Bay, where she takes great pleasure in helping both individuals and businesses achieve their lifetime financial goals. Her holistic, client-centred approach has made her one of the top advisors among Sun Life's 3,500+ national sales force. Vonnie also took on the responsibilities of the Recruiting and Sales Manager from 2005--2007, where she was responsible for growing Sun Life Financial's sales force in the Northwestern Ontario region, as well as training, coaching, and mentoring new advisors to become successful professionals in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Sun Life in 2000, Vonnie worked at Lakehead University as Delivery Supervisor - Distance Education and Development Officer.
Vonnie is a past President of the Alumni Association of Lakehead University. She is also the Communication Chair of the Financial Advisors Association of Canada (Advocis), Northwestern Ontario Chapter. Committed to giving back to the community, Vonnie has served on boards of many non-profit organizations, including the Rotary Shelter House, Thunder Bay Chinese Canadian Association, and the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association. In addition to her present Board involvement with Lakehead University Alumni Association and Advocis, Vonnie is a member of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, Thunder Bay Business Exchange Network, and Rotary Club of Thunder Bay (Port Arthur).
Slim Babay
Slim has been involved with the Lakehead University Student Union (LUSU) Board of Directors for over a year, and continues to do so presently. Last year he earned his HBSc. with a major in applied bio-molecular science. During his final undergraduate year, he aided in the publication of two research articles, published in medical journals. The research was done at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre. Slim has also conducted research into P. aeroginosa lung infections at NOSM, and has participated in a volunteer trip with Rotaract to Guatemala. Mr. Babay is trilingual.
This year Slim is enrolled in the Masters of Science, Biology program, and is investigating the psychoactive properties and neurobiology of omega-3 fatty acids in mice, under the supervision of Dr. Brian Ross at NOSM. He is also registered in his fifth year with the Canadian ski patrol system at Loch Lomond. Aside from his duties as a Teaching Assistant, he also teaches piano, and is also a lifeguard for the city, as he hopes to attend a provinci
