TUCFA honours faculty

By Вen Li

The University of Calgary Faculty Association honoured three distinguished members of the community on Tue., Dec. 3. U of C Professor of Geomatics Engineering Elizabeth Cannon was recognized with the Community Service Award for her efforts in making science careers accessible to female scholars, while Allan Markin and Jackie Flanagan jointly received the Recognition Award for their contributions to the university.

U of C French instructor Dr. Eileen Lohka, TUCFA Vice-President and Treasurer, and Chair of the TUCFA Awards Committee spoke positively of the recipients’ contributions to both the university and community through bidirectional dialogue.

“The generosity of today’s award winners let us [have] that intellectual stimulation and debate,” said Lohka. “The awards help us celebrate two sides of the same golden coin by celebrating the fantastic symbiosis that exists between academic staff and the community. Together we become more than the sum of our parts.”

TUCFA President Dr. John Baker described Cannon’s work with young academic women, specifically her participation in WISE, SCIberMENTOR, Explore IT and various other initiatives.

Cannon thanked the faculty association for the award.

“I think it’s wonderful to recognize academics’ work beyond the eight to five that has impact on Calgary and beyond,” said Cannon. “We’ve created a wonderful program to ensure women are successful in their programs.”

Baker also spoke highly of Markin and Flanagan’s breadth and depth of contributions to the university.

“The university and community are deeply connected,” said Baker. “This support is as necessary now as it was in any of the university’s 36 years. Their separate and joint contributions to the university are too numerous to list here.”

Markin and Flanagan have contributed to many areas of the U of C through awards, scholarships, research grants and research chairs, such as the Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Programme.

Flanagan, emotional, described why recognition was important to her.

“For myself, this award is very meaningful because it is from a faculty association,” said Flanagan, a former English lecturer at Mount Royal College. “I know the joys and challenges of being on the academic staff in an institution of higher learning.”