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ALUMNI STORIES

January 2010

History in the Making

Alumna’s bequest honors professors, funds annual grad student gathering

Of the more than 60 professors in five different universities who tried to teach Jenny Cook (PhD ’96) the meaning of history, one – only one – actually nailed it.

“There was no greater challenge to a professor than having me as a student,” says the Canadianist. “And Dalhousie’s Michael Cross survived the experience.”

In recognition of that mentorship, Ms. Cook recently took the laudable step of including a sizeable bequest in her will to establish a graduate scholarship in History at Dalhousie. “The award is made not to the history department, but to Michael,” says Ms. Cook. “Having had no training in Canadian history prior to coming to Dalhousie, Michael really took a big leap into the unknown accepting me as a PhD student. This bequest honours Michael and the fact that he never stopped teaching me history.”
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October 2009

Send in the Clowns

Germaine Gibara (MA’70) is one of those people who makes things happen. One of Montreal’s foremost business leaders, she’s the president of Avvio Management, a change and technology management consulting firm, and serves as a director on numerous boards, including insurance giant Sun Life Financial and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

But when Olivier-Hugues Terrault came to her with a proposal, it was much different than what she was used to. Was he just tweaking her nose or was he serious about clowning around?

Mr. Terrault, a professional artist with training in theatre, storytelling and clowning, was looking for a way to combine his art with social work. His idea was to specialize as a therapeutic clown to bring joy to sick children and senior citizens.

“I was already thinking I wanted to make a difference in an organization, rather than just sit on a board,” says Ms. Gibara, who came to Canada from Egypt in the late 1960s to take her master’s degree in political science and economics at Dalhousie, learning English along the way.  “Plus, I have always loved the arts and this is a way to help artists.”
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September 2009

All in the family

After graduating from Dalhousie, each of Charles and Maria Tsouluhas’ seven children made a gift of their diplomas to their parents. Today the degrees proudly hang in a room in the family home.

“I think that in many ways it signifies my parents’ legacy to us,” says Peter (LLB’03), the youngest, who followed his six sisters to Dalhousie. “The greatest thing that a parent can give to their child is an opportunity. What that room speaks to is the opportunity that they gave us through their hard work.”

Charles and Maria journeyed separately from Greece to Halifax’s Pier 21, seeking a better life. They met and married in the city. Charles co-owned two restaurants – one of which, The Armview Restaurant, Peter owns today with two friends. Maria ran a grocery store/lunch counter.
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July 2009

From coast to coast ... to coast

It's April 12, 2009. The sun, always shining at this time of year, sits low in the North Pole sky. Dave Shannon (LLB'90) is exhilarated. After months of planning, he says to Christopher Watkins, a fellow lawyer from Thunder Bay, Ont., "Wow! Are we really here?"

"Here" is the North Pole where Dave, a 45-year-old paraplegic, has proved anyone with a disability can achieve if the heart and mind are willing.

Dave grew up in Dartmouth, N.S. and graduated from Prince Andrew High School. While attending Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., Dave broke his neck when trying out for the rugby team. At 18, he became a quadriplegic. Undeterred, he completed his arts degree. Homesick for Nova Scotia, Dave earned his law degree at Dal and then received an LL.M. from the London School of Economics, specializing in disability law.
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May 2009

Ian Bruce (1946-2008): a Passion for Life, Education and Engineering

Ian Bruce, PEng, (DipEng'68, BEng'70 Ind NSTC), lived his life large. Whether it was his relationships with family, his career or his pastimes of skiing, sailing and motorcycling, he pursued life with gusto. His bequest to Dalhousie's Faculty of Engineering reflects this passion.

In university, Ian won several medals as a member of the varsity swim team. After graduation, he worked with the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa, where he participated in many trade missions.

Upon his return to the East Coast, Ian joined Clearwater Fine Foods, retiring in 2003, as President of Clearwater subsidiaries, Grand Banks Seafood Inc. and Pursuit Fisheries Ltd.
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Farewell to a friend of Dalhousie

Friend. Confidant. Tireless volunteer. To those who knew Christopher Coulter (MBA'93) well, these are but a few of the words they use to describe him. Sadly, Chris, a member of the Dalhousie Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2006, passed away at the age of 40 in Toronto on November 9, 2008.

Chris came to Dalhousie from Ontario in the early 1990s to study his MBA. Although he knew no one in Halifax and had only visited the city briefly as a child, he was looking for a unique university experience. Dalhousie fit the bill.

During his student days, Chris didn't hesitate to get involved. He was vice-president of the MBA Association and manager of Career Services within the School of Business Administration. Chris described his "great student experience" as his reason for volunteering for the University as an alumnus.
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The Independence Factor

"Everything I do is motivated by the word independence," says Brian Wade (BSc '98), who works with The War Amps in Ottawa. "Whether it's my independence or whether it's assisting someone else to be independent - that's a huge motivation for me as well."

It's a trait his parents encouraged from an early age. From making his own lean-to in scouting, to playing the bass drum in band, or helping to build sets for his high school musical, Mr. Wade - who was born with multiple amputations - didn't let opportunities pass him by.
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Equal Opportunity

New Mark A. Hill Centre ensures level playing field for Dal students with Disabilities

Attaining a post-secondary education isn't easy. For students overcoming obstacles such as mobility issues, chronic illness and dyslexia it's an even greater challenge. But a new centre and scholarship at Dalhousie will ensure students with disabilities have every opportunity to succeed.
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She's So High

Deidry Brooks has only one goal in life - to conquer every fear that has ever stood in her way

Dangling from the top of a high rise building 300 feet above Hollis Street, a system of guy ropes snaking across her body, Deidry Brooks is all smiles and professionalism.

Given that mere months ago, the 48-year old mother of three couldn't even handle a step stool without experiencing a rush of vertigo, this is a triumphant moment indeed.
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Giving to the Gambia

Melanie King realizes her dream of international volunteerism

She couldn't get Kenya off her mind. Melanie King (BScN '07) knew the arguments against going to the country to volunteer her nursing skills. There had been political conflict that worried her family. There were student loans to be considered, and there was the fact that her career was just getting started.
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A Grave Concern

Forty years after his death, the brilliant Howard Bronson still commands an audience

It's a typically pretty April afternoon in Camp Hill Cemetery. In a far corner of the sun-dappled graveyard, a small troupe of people gathers around a modest grave. After a moment or two, one of them leans forward, placing a bouquet of daffodils at the base of the headstone. Then, the simple ceremony complete, the group disperses, leaving Dr. Howard Bronson alone once more.
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Leading Lights

Young philanthropists establish Pharmacy award

They may live in different cities, be strikingly different in appearance, and be two years apart in age, but brothers Ryan and Eric Post are as close as any set of identical twins.

Even their voices are identical.
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Brains of the Beach
Let it be said that surfers really are a die-hard group. Who else, after all, could you talk into donning a wet suit and staking out the surf on a foggy but frigid January afternoon, just for the sake of a photo?

It's all in a day's work for Juel McCallum (BA '05) and Beth Amiro (BA '03), surfers, activists, and founding members of One Life Surf School, Eastern Canada's first women's surf centre.
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