Dayan (Yan) Huang is the recipient of the Fall Convocation Three-year Degree Medal in the College of Arts and Science for the 2010 Convocation. He graduates today with a Bachelor of Science Three-year Degree with a major in Biochemistry with Great Distinction.

The late Daryl K. “Doc” Seaman was born in Rouleau, Saskatchewan and passed away at the age of 86 on January 11, 2009. Doc was announced as one of Hockey Hall of Fame’s 2010 Inductees, for his achievements in the builder category. He attended the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), receiving a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1948, as well as receiving an honourary Doctor of Laws degree in 1982.

More information on Doc is available in the College of Engineering website and the D.K. Seaman Chair website

Neil Kalra, 19, is an ambitious young man and as such, has been recognized as one of the country's top 20 young people under the age of 20.

U of S Physics Engineering grad (2008) Drew Henson has made it to the final group of 10 in an international competition to work with a formula-one racing team.

Venkateswara Rao Surisetty, a chemical engineering graduate student at the University of
Saskatchewan, placed third at the Graduate Student Poster Competition for the 21st Canadian
Symposium on Catalysis in Banff, Alberta.

Danae Lockert is one smart Huskie. For the past five years, the 6’4” Lockert has been a mainstay on the U of S volleyball court and the university’s honour roll.

A player on the Huskies women’s hockey team who tied the Canada West record with 28 goals this season, and a men’s basketball player who became only the second Huskie to ever lead the Canada West and CIS scoring race by averaging 28.1 points per game, have been named athletes of the year.

Chelsea Himsworth, a student in the Department of Veterinary Pathology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) was recently recognized by the Wildlife Disease Association for her poster.

A bone health study 20 years in the making has proven what researchers in the College of Kinesiology suspected - that diet and exercise during adolescence has life-long effects on bone strength and a person’s risk of osteoporosis as an adult. But some of the results, like how bones actually develop during this time, are a bit of a surprise.

Being part of the Olympic games has been Crystal Parton’s dream since she was a little girl, so her participation in the 2010 Torch Relay might bring on a few tears.

The College of Law won two awards at the Canadian National Mediation Advocacy Competition (CNMAC) in Toronto including the Louise Otis Award for excellence in educating students on non-litigation alternatives to resolve disputes.

Current Acting Vice-President Research Karen Chad has accepted a five-year renewable term as permanent VP effective January 1, 2010.

story by Teri Rosenfelt

Things are happening quickly for Sarah Sundquist.

She is graduating this fall with her Master of Nursing but Sundquist has already switched from the role of student to the immunization program manager at Public Health Services. She is planning the public immunization sites for the Saskatoon Health Region, which, with H1N1 vaccinations just underway, is a busy job these days.

story and photo by Teri Rosenfelt

Dr. Anurag Saxena has proven he can keep a secret.

Although he was told in May he would be honoured with the Master Teacher Award at fall convocation, he was asked not to tell anyone until the winners were officially announced. Despite the time that has passed since he first heard the news, Saxena remains flattered by the accolade.

By Doris Wang

Athiann Makuach Garang is a civil engineering student with a passion for poetry. Athiann was born in Southern Sudan and left home with his uncles at the age of seven to escape a civil war. Arabs from the north had attacked his village and he witnessed the killing of his uncle and the abduction of women and children. They journeyed by night to avoid detection.

Two U of S engineering students have an extra $5,000 to help with the costs of their educations thanks to scholarships from the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC). Bram Neufeld and Mike Ehman were both awarded their scholarship at a gala dinner on Sept. 28.

As the recent recipient of a Bachelor of Science Honours in physiology from the College of Arts and Science, Brittany Cazakoff understands what it means to work hard. She was surprised but pleased when her dedication was rewarded with the Governor General’s Silver Medal Award, an honour given at convocation to the top undergraduate student at the University of Saskatchewan.

Brittany Cazakoff

When Zachari Logan finished his undergraduate degree in fine arts, he chose to stay at the University of Saskatchewan to continue his education. It appears to have been the right decision, as Logan will receive the University of Saskatchewan’s Graduate Thesis Award in the area of humanities and fine arts at spring convocation.

Zachari Logan

It didn’t take Ellen Wardell long to realize that, at the University of Saskatchewan, she could combine her interests in the environment and urban space. Wardell is now graduating with an honours degree in regional and urban planning from the College of Arts and Science, and a Bachelor of Arts in physical geography.

Ellen Wardell

Bryan McCrea has always had big ideas.

Bryan McCrea

Being part of the University of Saskatchewan women’s wrestling team helped Amy Dyck grow not only as an athlete but as a person.

Amy Dyck

Moving from China to Saskatoon to continue a university education was a big step for Bo Yu, but it turned out to be the catalyst for success. He will receive the University of Saskatchewan’s Graduate Thesis Award at this year’s spring convocation, an honour given to only five graduate students each year.

Bo Yu

When Julie Bakke returned to the University of Saskatchewan after taking 13 years away from school, she dedicated herself to learning as much as possible, both inside the classroom and out.

Julie Bakke with Odin

The path to law school was a unique one for Alison Fingas.

Alison Fingas

The importance of people working together in a supportive environment is something that Daniel DeLury has come to value through both his work and education. DeLury will graduate with a master’s degree in sociology from the College of Arts and Science this spring. He previously completed an undergraduate degree in animal science, also from the University of Saskatchewan.

Daniel DeLury

A variety of volunteer work and a completed degree in physiology have reaffirmed Cassie Pancyr’s dream of becoming a doctor. She will graduate this spring with an honours degree from the College of Arts and Science, and will return to the University of Saskatchewan in the fall to start her medical degree.

Cassie Pancyr

Greg Saretzky, a U of S alumnus and College of Engineering lecturer, is this year’s recipient of the Sylvia Wallace Sessional Lecturer Award.

The U of S Range Team from the College of Agriculture and Bioresources placed fourth in a recent competition in New Mexico that tested their knowledge in areas such as range ecology, range improvement and grazing management.

The range team, shown in New Mexico, includes (backrow left to right) Hilary Steinbach, Tori Enns, Andrew Stewart, Amy Wheeler, and Sarah Anderson and (front row) Kimberly Will (associate coach), Adrienne Tastad, Kara Fowler, Christiane Catellier, Kimberly Lansdall, and Meagan Reed.
Submitted photo

In a special ceremony Jan. 8 in Convocation Hall, the College of Dentistry recognized 27 second-year students by presenting each with a white coat.

Students in the class of 2011 received their white coats Jan. 8.
Photo provided by the College of Dentistry

Two teams will share the $50,000 grand prize in this year's University of Saskatchewan Industry Liaison Office (ILO) BioVenture Business Plan Challenge.

At a Nov. 29 luncheon, two College of Engineering students received scholarship and business capital funds from the Saskatchewan Rotary Youth Foundation's My Future is Here (MyFiH) initiative, and from the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC).

On Oct. 19, three chemical engineering graduates from the University of Saskatchewan placed second in the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) SNC-LAVALIN Undergraduate Plant Design Competition in Ottawa.

From left to right: Allyse Kreiser, Kevin Sundquist and Kevin Mamer.
Photo provided by the College of Engineering

A team of five chemical engineering students from the University of Saskatchewan recently received an award of $3,500 from Dow Chemical Company for their fuel ethanol plant design.

Chemical engineering students (L-R) are Nicole White, Robyn Sherstobitoff, Lindsay Haeusler and Stephanie Trask. Missing is Colin Saraka.
College of Engineering photo

At fall convocation Oct. 25, Angela Ward will be presented with the university's Master Teacher Award, recognition of her special qualities in the classroom.

Master Teacher Angela Ward

The Department of Chemistry held its second annual Chemistry Undergraduate Research and Awards Day recently, with a variety of posters highlighting undergrad research in areas ranging from synthesis to molecular modeling.

Back Row: Athanasios Karagiannis, David DesRoches, Curtis Ball, Ryan Snitynsky, Brook Danger, Gage Sonntag, Toby Bond
Front Row: Christina Calver, Kate Slowski, Janice Holmes, Natasha Vetter, Alexandra Anderson, Grey Wilkinson, Howard Meng
Photo courtesy the Dept. of Chemistry

Baljit Singh has won seven teaching awards as a professor in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) since he began teaching at the University of Saskatchewan, but not a single one hangs on his office wall.

Master teacher Baljit Singh with grad students
Photo by Mark Ferguson

Their rig may look small, but the Sled Dogs Quarter-Scale Tractor Team packs a big punch and landed the team fifth place at an international competition in Peoria, Illinois – sparking the interest of some major manufacturers.

The U of S Sled Dogs Quarter Scale Tractor Team
Submitted Photo

After being honoured for his environmental work as one of Canada’s Top 20 Under 20, Bobby Jo Bodnar is bringing his enthusiasm for a sustainable province back to the U of S campus.

Graduate student Nancy Bawa is producing ethanol research so important that she received a scholarship only given to a few students worldwide.

The University of Saskatchewan honoured many great minds during 2008 Spring Convocation held May 27-29.

Mark Matthews of DreamWorks Animation, whose credits include Bee Movie, used some of the characters he helped create to illustrate a speech he gave recently to prospective U of S students.

Dr. Alika LaFontaine has aspired to many things in his life – a chemistry degree, a career in medicine, social activism – but not once did he hope to get into an argument about Quebec independence with former Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Dr. Alika LaFontaine
Photo by Colleen MacPherson

Those who thought Guy Vanderhaeghe had lost his marbles when the supposed “serious writer” embarked on penning a Western, well, cue the crickets.

Guy Vanderhaeghe, author and visiting English professor at STM
Photo by Kirk Sibbald

A U of S student in Mechanical Engineering has received one of five ECO Canada Student Ambassador Awards for 2008.

According to a news release, Chris McCaig was selected from more than 50 award applicants for designing and developing a wind turbine on the U of S campus. Each of the five recipients of the ECO Canada award will receive a grant worth $2,500 and the opportunity to preset their research during GLOBE 2008, a conference on business and the environment being held March 12 to 14 in Vancouver.

Established in 1992, ECO Canada develops programs that help both employers and job seekers in the environment sector by developing business programs and providing various career resources, internships and certification.

Students from the U of S have launched a unique entrepreneurial program with aboriginal high school students that promises to produce beneficial results for all involved.

The team has been dedicating much of their extracurricular time teaching local aboriginal high school students the importance of financial literacy as part of their “Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship Program.” The U of S students started this project through their involvement with Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), a program operated by ACE (Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship) that encourages students to create economic opportunities in their communities.

As part of the students’ involvement in this program as well as the HSBC SIFE Financial Education Challenge, the U of S team will present the results of their project at a regional competition, the 2008 ACE Regional Exposition, in Calgary on Feb. 29. If they advance through the regional event, the team will present their project at the national competition later this year.

Through the Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship Program, the U of S team meets regularly with aboriginal high school students at the White Buffalo Youth Lodge in Saskatoon to teach them how to finance a business. The program is hoped to provide these high school students with financial skills they can utilize in their own lives and pass on to other in the aboriginal community.

A recent inventory of greenhouse gas emissions on campus has proven that 30 years of paying attention to the issue of sustainability in the University's approach to building, planning, design, operation and maintenance has paid off.

A group of University of Saskatchewan nursing students, along with Assistant Dean June Anonson, have returned home to Prince Albert after helping to clean up South Korea’s largest and most disastrous oil spill.

U of S Nursing students help clean up South Korea's most disastrous oil spill. The students were in South Korea as part of an international nursing practicum in January, and volunteered to help with remediation efforts related to the spill.
Photo courtesy the College of Nursing

Four young University researchers swept a recent awards event in Saskatoon presented by the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF).

Three undergraduate computer programmers have become the first U of S team in more than a decade to qualify for a prestigious global competition.

Undergrad programmers, from left to right: Travis Calder, Christoph Dittmann and Kung Chi Cinnati Loi.
OCN Photo

Ten undergraduate students in the College of Agriculutre and Bioresources have been awarded $1,000 scholarships thanks to a new initiative established by Bayer CropScience.

U of S President Peter MacKinnon has been appointed to a new Science, Technology and Innovation Council set up by the federal government to provide advice on science and technology issues as well as monitor Canada’s progress relative to international standards.

Peter MacKinnon
AUCC photo

Technology, athletics and campus beauty were among the top-rated aspects of the University of Saskatchewan in a recent student survey released by The Globe and Mail.

A young University student who initiated a music program for autistic children has been named one of Youth in Motion’s Top 20 Under 20 Canadians.

Raymond Ko

Engineering students Rylan Grant, Herb Mueller and Cory Anderson took third place is a recent national contest designed to give individuals and teams opportunities to engage in significant information and communication technology projects.

The first certificate in the University of Saskatchewan Certificate of Art & Design (USCAD) program was awarded in early August.

Jean Dudley
USCAD photo

There was a gathering recently to recognize the 2007 Excellence Award Laureates who each won an entrance scholarship from the Millennium Scholarship Foundation.

Submitted photo

In May, the Dentistry Canada Fund (DCF) Education Sub-Committee and the DCF Board of Directors, announced that Nekky Jamal from the U of S College of Dentistry was the recipient of the 2007 DCF Eaton Award for Excellence.

Nikky Jamal

Pravintheran (Pravin) Pillay, a recent Master of Fine Arts graduate, was named one of six winners of the Innovative Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) Award and also winner of the Innovative Learning Through ETD Award by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.

Ernie Walker has become the latest University of Saskatchewan professor to receive a 3M Fellowship, this country’s most prestigious award for teaching excellence.

Archaeology Professor and new 3M Fellow Ernier Walker.
Photo by Silas Polkinghorne

Three WCVM students received honours for their research posters and presentations at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians’ annual meeting that took place sin Orlando, Fla. March 3-6.

Juno nominee Neil Currie didn’t really want a career in music.

A team of students from the University of Saskatchewan will be competing in Toronto in May after winning the Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship (ACE) innovation challenge recently in Calgary.

The College of Engineering recently made its facilities available to help with an international project committed to ensuring the safe delivery of health services in developing nations.

The University of Saskatchewan Jeux Du Commerce (JDC) West 2007 team took home top honours in January in a competition that pits university against university in a test of student business savvy, athleticism and social skills.

The University of Saskatchewan men’s curling team led by skip Steve Laycock finished just out of the medals at the 23rd Winter Universiade in Torino, Italy.

Eve Townsend, a recent U of S graduate with a BA double honours in Art and Art History, is one of two curators who have put together a showcase of innovative explorations and movement in architecture.

Competing against 185 other bright minds from 48 countries, the four Canadian students participating in the 2006 International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Argentina July 9-16 managed to win four medals – two silver and two bronze.

Fred Phillips managed to make it though his first class as a university teacher by pretending he was the ideal instructor. Today, he is that ideal instructor as well as the most recent recipient of the University’s Master Teacher Award.

A $25,000 prize in the 2006 Venture Forward Business Plan competition was a fine graduation gift for Western College of Veterinary Medicine graduate Lorraine Forster.

A music graduate from the U of S with a reputation as one of North America's premiere organists is set to appear as a featured performer at a prestigious concert in Chicago.

Allison Stene, Physical Therapy Student
Photo courtesy the College of Medicine

Allison Stene was elected President of the Physical Therapy National Student Assembly at the organizations Annual General Meeting held in Vancouver in May 2006.

Students and faculty from the U of S were recognized with three entrepreneurial and business leadership excellence awards from in Toronto recently.

Heather Rodger, a master of science in civil engineering student, has been selected as one of only two recipients of the $10,000 Inco Limited Masters Scholarship in Engineering from Inco Limited and the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation.

Former U of S student, Jennifer Welsh has been awarded a Trudeau Foundation Fellowship valued at $225,000.

Philip Brost, 4th year Medical Student
Photo Courtesy the College of Medicine

U of S medical student Philip Brost is the President Elect of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS).

This year, spring convocation ceremonies will run over three days - May 23-25 at TCU Place (formerly the Centennial Auditorium).

Heather James (left) and Rayna Gunvaldsen (right)
Photo courtesy WCVM

Two students from the WCVM have received awards from a prestigious American organization.

An owl that can’t fly. A pug that has eaten rat poison. A calf that can’t burp. Meet the stars of the second season of Campus Vets.

The 2005-06 Greystone Singers.

The University of Saskatchewan’s Greystone Singers were the runners up in the CBC’s national choral competition in the University Choirs category.

Two research groups – one from the University of Saskatchewan, the other from the University of Western Ontario – have published the first papers that result from experiments done at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron.

Six students from the College of Commerce have won the 42nd annual International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition in San Diego.

The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union (USSU) recently announced the recipients of this year’s Excellence Awards that recognize outstanding teachers, volunteers and staff.

Holly Luhning, a PhD student in the Dept. of English finished second in the CBC's 5th Annual Poetry Face Off which ran April 3-11.

U of S student Kelly Rapko is one of 20 outstanding Canadian students who will travel to Botswana in May to participate in a six-week internship on HIV/AIDS in the Southern African country.

Two U of S students have each been awarded $5,000 National Millennium Excellence Awards.

Commerce students recently returned from BC and Manitoba with new hardware.

Fourth-year chemical engineering student Amanda D'Cruz placed second in the Robert Auld Undergraduate Student paper competition in Toronto recently.

Eight U of S students received $3,000 World Petroleum Council (WPC) millennium scholarships on Dec. 1, 2005.