Alumni News

September 20, 2019

Author and conservationist Graeme Gibson, BA’58, is being remembered as a writer who was in the vanguard of Canadian literature.

September 17, 2019

Sajjed Fazel, MPH’18, began a social-media blitz for public health in Tanzania – and launched a movement that continues to grow in the east African country.

September 6, 2019

Gillian Mandich, BHSc’07, MSc’12, PhD’19, has a message for students: Make time for gratitude, regardless of circumstances on any given day.

September 5, 2019

Author Lisa Bowes, BA’88 (Physical Education), recently released Lucy Tries Basketball, the fifth book in her Lucy Tries Sports series which encourages children to get active and participate in sports and recreation.

September 4, 2019

David Lee Tracey, BA’81, (Physical Education), Western Mustang Cheerleaders Coach, is entering his 40th year with a squad still motivating fans and winning championships across North America nearly a century after its founding.

August 23, 2019

During her lifetime, botanist Kate Crooks received international acclaim for her work. But the whereabouts of those labours today – 500 pages of plant samples Crooks collected and pressed in the 1860s – remain a puzzle Anna Soper, MLIS’16, is determined to solve.

August 23, 2019

Thalia Ranjbar, BA’19, and Jake Schindler, BMus’18, Bsc’19, are presenting Where Do We Begin?, a musical about four friends coming to terms with the suicide of their friend and finding ways to speak out about their own struggles with mental illness.

August 15, 2019

Sisters Madison, BMOS’20, and Jenessa, BA’14, MSc’18, Olson run STMNT, a clothing rental service the pair founded where our users can rent clothes from local boutiques.

August 15, 2019

Vicki St. Pierre, BMus’96, MMus’98, spent the week as conductor of the Ontario Youth Choir, Aug. 9-16, at Western.

August 14, 2019

Curated by Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD’12, the recent CURTAIN exhibition at Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant showed expressions of memory, love, death, kinship and grief, by artist Jeff Bierk.

August 12, 2019

Dave Crocker, BESc’86, is at the forefront of innovative engineering design in the defence industry worldwide.

August 7, 2019

Her office consists of goats, dogs, chickens and horses. To some, a menagerie like that would make for unusual co-workers. But for Morrigan Reilly-Ansons, BA'07, they are part of her commitment to helping others cope with life’s challenges.

July 21, 2019

A senior official with the Toronto Stock Exchange and an up-and-coming real estate lawyer – both community-driven Western alumni – have been named among Canada’s Top 25 immigrants in an award sponsored by RBC and Canadian Immigrant magazine.

July 19, 2019

Daniel Kharlas, BSc’16 (Psychology), MSc’19 (Psychology), General Manager of VRcadia, is building on his earliest gaming success by expanding virtual reality’s role in society, especially focused on seniors.

July 17, 2019

Growing up with exposure to the food industry through farming, Sharon Flaherty, BESc’15, had an underlying interest in learning where our food comes from.

July 15, 2019

Stefania Wisofschi, BSc’16, MMASc’17, is heading to Nairobi for an eight-month fellowship through the Aga Khan Foundation Canada’s International Youth Fellowship Program.

June 21, 2019

Christy Bacik, BA’92 (Political Science), is showcasing her passion for volunteerism after being named Chair and Chief ChangeMaker for the 2019 United Way Elgin Middlesex campaign.

June 12, 2019

Mario Naric, BESc’14, has founded Motif Labs, a full-service cannabis and hemp extraction company.

June 10, 2019

Karl Toulouse, BA’09, has been courtside as a statistician for the Toronto Raptors for the last 24 seasons.

June 7, 2019

Joy SpearChief-Morris, BA’17 (History, First Nations Studies), has been added to the Athletics team. She will run the 100m hurdles as part of the games in Italy.

May 23, 2019

Linamar Corporation CEO and philanthropist Linda Hasenfratz, BSc’89, MBA’97, has been named Western’s 23rd Chancellor.

May 15, 2019

By using technology to create social impact, Natasha Jimenez, BA'14, BESc'14, has built a career that seamlessly combines her two degrees towards her passion for humanitarian design.

May 6, 2019

Wherever John Vandertuin, BMus'82, MMus'88, has played – in practice rooms at Western and concert halls of California; in a cathedral in Paris, France, and in St. Paul’s United Church in Paris, Ont. – the organ has been his compass.

April 30, 2019

John Gerry, BA’77, will be presented with a Lifetime Membership Award for his dedication and vision in founding Music Theatre Productions, which started as London Musical Theatre 30 years and 75 productions ago.

April 29, 2019

Andrea Kalyn, BMus’87, MA’90 and Phil Murphy, BA’59, are the 2019 Don Wright Faculty of Music Wall of Fame inductees for 2019.

April 23, 2019

Brendan Fernandes, MFA’05, is among 75 artists featured in this year’s Whitney Biennial, an exhibition widely considered the most important showcase of contemporary art today.

April 23, 2019

The 2019 recipient of the Lauchland Medal is Tony Vysniauskas, BESc’74 & MESc’76, CEO of Virtual Materials Group (VMG), Professor at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Engineering and former VP of Hyprotech.

April 18, 2019

Catherine Karakatsanis, BESc'83, MESc'91, is the 2019 recipient of the Engineers Canada Gold Medal Award.

April 12, 2019

Awais Khan, BA’08 (Economics), is Director of The Writing Institute, Pakistan’s largest Creative Writing Institution.

April 10, 2019

Noted academic and alumnus David C. Malloy has been named the ninth Principal of King’s University College.