Ref. No. 13

Memorial University will hold its annual fall convocation on Friday, Oct. 19, in St. John's. Over 600 graduate and undergraduate degrees will be awarded during two sessions of convocation at the Arts and Culture Centre. During the ceremonies, two honorary degrees will also be awarded. Dr. Ian Rusted and Peter Gardner will both be honoured with doctor of laws and letters degrees respectively.

In addition, three Memorial professors will formally receive the distinction of professor emeritus at the fall convocation: Dr. Jorge Segovia retired from Memorial's Faculty of Medicine; Dr. John Walsh, retired from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science; and Dr. Arya Bal, retired from the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science.

The category of professor emeritus is open only to retired members of the faculty. To be eligible, a person must have served at least 10 years as a regular full-time faculty member at Memorial and must have held the rank of professor upon retirement. The prime criterion for nomination is sustained, outstanding scholarly work and/or service to the university.

Peter Gardner
Peter Gardner is the general and artistic director of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra (NSO). Mr. Gardner completed his formal training as a violinist at Trinity College, London, under noted violinist Nicholas Roth, a student of the great Hungarian teacher Jeno Hubay. Mr. Gardner worked extensively in England and Wales as a freelance performer and teacher before coming to Newfoundland in 1971 as the resident artist and concertmaster of the St. John's Symphony Orchestra (now the NSO). During the past 30 years he has been instrumental in the development of many NSO activities including the NSO Sinfonia, the Philharmonic Choir, the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Choir, the NSO Hibernia Gala and most recently, the NSO Light Orchestra. He founded and was for a number of years the first violinist of the Atlantic String Quartet.

Mr. Gardner is the founding director of the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Orchestra and at various times has held the positions of vice-president, executive director and festival director of the Canadian Association of Youth Orchestras. Mr. Gardner is currently the executive director of the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the associate director of the Music and Sound Summer Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta. He is also the executive director of Festival 500-Sharing the Voices, a highly successful biennial international choral festival held in Newfoundland. Mr. Gardner has acted as a jury member for various arts boards in Canada and for the Governor General's Awards, and this year was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Canadian Conference of the Arts. 1n 1984, Mr. Gardner was nominated for the Silver Medal of the Royal Society of Arts for services to music in Atlantic Canada. In 1995 he was the recipient of the Northern Telecom Arts Achievement Award, presented by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council for lifetime achievement in the arts, and in 1996 was awarded the Association of Canadian Orchestras Award, "in recognition of outstanding contributions and dedication to the orchestral community in Canada", an award that carries with it a lifetime membership of ACO (now Orchestra Canada).

Dr. Ian Rusted
Ian E. Rusted was born in Upper Island Cove, Newfoundland. Following high school years in Carbonear and St. John's, he spent two years at Memorial University College (1938-40), followed by three years at Trinity College, University of Toronto. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1943. At Dalhousie University in Halifax he completed the MD, CM program and a rotating internship in 1948, followed by a master of science degree from McGill University in 1949, with research support from a National Research Council.

The award of a Fellowship in Medicine from the Mayo Foundation led to additional postgraduate experience at the Mayo Clinic. However, two summers spent on the Newfoundland Government coastal boat S.S. Kyle along the coast of Labrador, as well as his childhood years in Newfoundland, led him to choose to return to what had then become the province of Newfoundland.

Dr. Rusted served as director of medical education at the St. John's General Hospital, chair of the Newfoundland Medical Association's (NMA) Education Committee, and a member of the NMA executive. He was a member of the Board of Regents of Memorial University, the council of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and a member of councils of numerous other organizations. This facilitated the collection of information regarding the possibility of a new medical school in Atlantic Canada which led to his appointment in 1966 by Memorial University as co-ordinator of medical school planning. In 1967 he was appointed the first dean of medicine for the university. These two appointments overlapped with his term as vice-president of the Royal College, with memberships on the executive and other committees. In 1974 he was appointed as the university's first vice-president (health sciences and professional schools) and served in this position until September 1988.

Recognition of Dr. Rusted's many activities has included three honorary degrees, being named an Officer of the Order of Canada, an Honorary Member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and a Master of the American College of Physicians. In 1999 he was Newfoundland's representative on the Canadian Coordinating Committee for the International Year for Older Persons. On April 5, 2000, he cut the ribbon at the official opening of the Faculty of Medicine Founders' Archives, to which he has contributed a large collection of materials gathered throughout his career.

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Editors note: Photos of Dr. Ian Rusted and Peter Gardner are available at http://www.mun.ca/univrel/photos.html.

For further information, please contact Ivan Muzychka, manager, Memorial University News Service, 737-8665.