Welcome
Welcome to the December 2023 issue of Letter from the President. It has been wonderful to get to know the UBC community since I officially started in this role on November 1, and it gives me great pleasure to share highlights from this first month at UBC.
Highlights from around UBC
- Fall 2023 Graduation
- Fall Honorary Degree Recipients
- UBC Board Leadership
- UBC Okanagan
- Land and Food Systems
- UBC Forestry
- UBC Arts
- Integrated Renewal Program (IRP)
Fall 2023 Graduation
It was a great pleasure and honor to take part in 10 wonderful graduation ceremonies, from November 22-24, and to award degrees to over 3,400 UBC graduates who are on their way to successful and self-determined lives. Let me reiterate all my congratulations to all graduates as well as to their families and friends, as well as thanks to everyone who joined us and contributed to make fall graduation such a great success!
Fall Honorary Degree Recipients
Thomas Ming Swi Chang, O.C.
As an undergraduate student at McGill University, Thomas Chang accomplished the remarkable feat of creating the world’s first artificial cell, sparking a new and dynamic field of research and development. After completing his MDCM and PhD at McGill, he remained to become a Professor of Physiology, Medicine and Biomedical Engineering and director of the Artificial Cells and Organs Research Centre. His work on the medical uses of artificial cells brought him to international prominence, including three nominations for a Nobel Prize and his installation as an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Setsuko Thurlow, C.M.
A survivor of the 1945 Hiroshima atomic bombing, Setsuko Thurlow’s commitment to anti-nuclear advocacy began in 1954 when she voiced her opposition to tests of even more powerful hydrogen bombs by the U.S. in the Marshall Islands. Highlights of her long career include testifying widely before world leaders on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. She also served as a social worker in a number of Toronto-based agencies and led the establishment of the Japanese Family Services of Metropolitan Toronto.
UBC Board Leadership
I want to express my gratitude to Board Chair Nancy McKenzie for her service as her term as a member of the Board and as Chair draws to a close at the end of December 2023. Nancy stepped up to take on the leadership of the Board during the early stages of the pandemic. She guided the Board in its oversight of the University’s response to the pandemic; lead through a Presidential search and transition; and through a two-year land use planning exercise for the Vancouver Campus. The role of UBC Board Chair is a very demanding volunteer role, and Nancy’s passion and dedication to the University and her care for all the students, faculty, staff and alumni who make up the UBC community have been evident throughout her time in the role. While I have only worked with Nancy since my transition began earlier this fall, her support has been invaluable to me as I have undertaken the role of President and Vice-Chancellor. It has been an honour and a pleasure to work with Nancy, and I thank her for all she has done for me and for UBC. I look forward to working with the Board and its next Chair in the coming weeks.
UBC Okanagan
UBC Okanagan researchers take an interdisciplinary approach to learning to live with wildfires after the 2023 summer of wildfires across the BC interior.
Okanagan Nation Alliance and UBC Okanagan recommit to formal agreement.
UBCO successfully hosted it’s second debate on Free Speech is not Dead. In the second event of its kind, UBC Okanagan Debates hosted four leading experts from the world of academia, law and media to debate whether the digital age has choked off free speech or empowered it to thrive.
UBCO was privileged to be part of a name-giving ceremony with the En’owkin Centre during which the building currently under construction along Alumni Avenue was gifted the name x̌əl sic snpax̌nwix̌ʷtn. The name gifting demonstrates the profound cultural and collaborative essence of this project. Previously referred to as the Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Innovation Building, x̌əl sic snpax̌nwix̌ʷtn will be the building’s name from here forward.
Land and Food Systems
Land and Food Systems was a lead convener of the official North American World Food Day event in Vancouver. More than 30 panelists shared their diverse perspectives about opportunities and challenges they face in the food system from an environmental, economic, and social lens. Some of these ideas will be carried forward to COP28 in Dubai. Congratulations to faculty members who were recently awarded 2023 NSERC Discovery Grants: Drs. Siyun Wang, Dan Weary, Tianxi Yang, and Jennifer Grenz (Forestry/LFS). Also, four faculty members received CFI John R. Evans Leaders Funds to expand their research labs: Drs. David Kitts and Anubhav Pratap-Singh (BC Food and Beverage Innovation Centre at UBC); Dr. David Wright (Kinesiology/LFS); and Dr. Tamara Cohen (Nutrition and Eating Behaviour Laboratory).
UBC Forestry
UBC Forestry is excited to announce a continued partnership with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program (MCFSP) for the 2024/25 academic year. This collaboration plays a crucial role in empowering the next generation of leaders from economically disadvantaged communities, providing them with the education and skills needed to contribute to social and economic progress in their home countries. Danielle Igance selected as ESA Excellence in Ecology Scholar. Cindy Prescott and Shannon Haberman receive IUFRO Scientific Achievement Award. Guangyu Wang awarded Royal Commonwealth Society Platinum Jubilee Medal.
UBC Arts
UBC’s Arts Student Centre recognized for prestigious architecture award.
UBC Anthropologist Dr. Andrew Martindale has been awarded the nationally prestigious Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Impact – Connection Award 2023 for his scholarship in partnership with Indigenous communities.
Researchers from UBC Faculty of Arts will be partners in the newly announced NSF Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS) – a five-year, $30 million international NSF Science and Technology Center based at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Learn more.
Nun key’ Daahwéhsats (Dancing with the Land) is a new collaboration between and the UBC Centre for Climate Justice that seeks to advance understanding of how climate science, policies, and solutions will affect Indigenous self-determination, cultural values, and rights. Learn more.
Integrated Renewal Program (IRP)
IRP 2023 has been a successful year for the Integrated Renewal Program – Student (IRP Student). The team successfully completed Launch 1 of Workday Student in October of 2023. The system is, for the most part, working well and as expected. That said, as is typical with any major technology implementation, some bumps and bugs are to be expected and the team has been working to support our community through any issues that have arisen with the system. Learnings are being captured for Launch 2, which will occur in February of 2024. It’s important to note that Workday Student will not be implemented all at once – capabilities will come online following the academic cycle. As such, training is being thoughtfully rolled out to ensure users can become familiar with capabilities closest to when they will use them. Learn more about IRP Student here.
I am truly grateful for your trust in me and am humbled in the knowledge that I stand on the shoulders of my predecessors who have helped shape UBC into the world-leading institution it is today.
For over 100 years, they worked to articulate a bold path forward for UBC. I am inspired by their collective vision, and I pledge to uphold the values of UBC and to advance our core mission as an academic and research institution that always strives to shape a better world through the immense power of higher education.
To everyone who has contributed to bring me to UBC and who have offered such a warm welcome: specifically, Chancellor Point, who chaired the search committee, our Board Chair Nancy McKenzie, all members of the search committee, the Board and Senates, our great senior leadership team – VPs, Deans and AVPs, student leaders, and everyone I’ve had the chance to meet so far – faculty, students, staff, alumni and friends. Thank you!
I wish everyone a wonderful Holiday Season.
Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor