Roderick MacIsaac Graduate Scholarship
Roderick Maclsaac was a PhD student in public administration at the University of Victoria. During a co-op term at the Ministry of Health, Roderick, along with several colleagues, was dismissed after being wrongly accused of professional and criminal misconduct relating to the handling of data. Roderick—a quiet, gentle and very private man—found his career and reputation ruined by the baseless allegations. In December 2012, he took his own life.
Subsequent investigations fully exonerated Roderick and his colleagues. In 2017, BC's ombudsperson released a comprehensive report determining that Roderick and his colleagues had been mistreated and that their dismissals were improper and unjustified. Among the ombudsperson's many recommendations was that the provincial government endow a scholarship in Roderick's memory.
Roderick was a rigorous academic committed to knowledge not for its own sake, but for the good it could do for the people and communities of BC. Roderick's family hopes that this scholarship will encourage and enable similarly minded individuals to pursue meaningful careers in the public service.