Year-in-Review

November 2001

Renowned theorist visits Memorial

Faculty, students and industry partners had a chance to learn from one of the creators of modern seismic theory. Dr. Klaus Helbig, an explorationist since 1952 and retired professor of exploration geophysics at the Universities of Utrecht and Amsterdam and the Free University of Amsterdam, gave a one-day course called Seismic Anisotrophy for the Rest of Us. According to Dr. Helbig, the purpose of the course was "to spread literacy of anisotrophy so that people who are dealing with practical applications can understand what all the technical terms mean and how they hang together."

A living memorial

Memorial University held a ceremony of remembrance to honour those Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who paid the ultimate price for the protection of our freedom in the wars of this century. Memorial University College saw 310 former students enlist for active service in the Second World War and those names were remembered at the Nov. 7 ceremony. Capt. John Powell of the Newfoundland Regiment presented to President Axel Meisen one of 20 commemorative banners unveiled during the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Beaumont Hamel.

All-Canadian honours for MUN athletes

Sarah Arnott, soccer, Tevin Oliver-Job, soccer, and Anne Barrington, running, are three student athletes who made an impact on the sporting field this year. Fifth-year striker Sarah Arnott capped off a great season with the Memorial Sea-Hawks women's soccer team by being named a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Team All-Canadian. In fact, for her solid play, Sarah was also named an Atlantic University Sport (AUS) First Team All-Star. Third-year sweeper Tevin Oliver-Job of Memorial Sea-Hawks men's soccer team was named a CIS Second Team All-Canadian. He was also named an AUS First Team All-Star. Anne Barrington continued her strong running into the 2001-2002 season. After winning the AUS title, she earned the right to compete in the CIS championships and ran to a sixth place finish. For her efforts, she was named as a First Team All-Canadian.

Awards for excellence recognize top faculty

The top teachers and researchers at Memorial were recognized this month. Distinguished Teaching Awards were presented to Dr. Norman Wayne Garlie, Education, and Dr. John Quaicoe, Engineering. The President's Award for Outstanding Research went to Dr. Christopher Marshall, Classics, Dr. Kristina Szutor, Music, and Dr. Peter Pope, Anthropology. Meanwhile, Dr. Tran Gien, Physics, and Dr. Ronald Rompkey, English, were honoured with the designation of University Research Professor.

MUN debaters tops again

For the second year in a row, MUN Debating has taken all the top prizes at the Atlantic Canadian University Debating Championships. The Memorial debating club sent five two-person teams and two judges to Sydney for the event. John Whelan and Tom Dunne won the Top Team award in the final round against the top Dalhousie team. Mr. Whelan was also named Top Speaker and Top Public Speaker. Erin Farrell and Lesley Mulcahy were the third place team and Tim Kelly and Mark Russell finished in fourth place.

Movin' on up

Memorial University has moved up one notch in the Maclean's magazine annual ranking of universities. In the 2001 version of Maclean's Guide to Canadian Universities, MUN sits at fifth place in the comprehensive universities list. For the first time ever, Memorial has a presence on the reputational rankings - the results of Maclean's surveying high school guidance counsellors, university officials, heads of organizations, CEOs and recruiters at corporations across Canada. Of the 11 comprehensive universities included, Memorial ranks fifth in the Highest Quality and Best Overall categories, and fourth in the Leaders of Tomorrow list, for an overall Reputational Survey ranking of five.

MUN in top 20 for research funding

Memorial University placed 19th in a national ranking of Canada's top 50 research universities. Sponsored research income for all Canadian Universities was just under $2.8 billion in fiscal 2000. This represented a jump of 24 per cent over 1999 according to Canada's top 50 Research Universities List, released by Research Infosource Inc. Memorial researchers received about $34 million in total research income for the 1999-2000 fiscal year.

New Canada Research Chair

Former federal Industry Minister Brian Tobin announced the approval of a new Canada Research Chair position for Memorial University. The chair in Irish studies Tier 2 was awarded to Dr. Peter Hart. Dr. Hart's research chair will examine questions about Irish identity and mobilization in Britain in the 1910s and the 1920s. His research will focus on nationalist activists and their relationships with their perceived homeland, the wider immigrant communities and the British population and state as a whole.