In Profile: UVic's Class of 2007
Years of effort and determination culminate next week for more than 3,100 University of Victoria students at spring convocation ceremonies. The twice-daily ceremonies begin Tuesday and conclude next Friday in the University Centre Farquhar Auditorium.
Each graduate has a story to tell about his or her UVic experience and here’s a sampling of some of them:
James Letts (Biochemistry and Microbiology) shows remarkable promise in research involving the use of X-rays to produce three-dimensional images of protein molecules. His findings have already been published in scientific journals. Next up: a full scholarship from New York’s Rockefeller University, where he’ll pursue his PhD with Roderick Mackinnon, co-winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize for chemistry.
Jonny Morris (Child and Youth Care) has been making a difference in the lives of young people ever since his school days in England where he set up a peer-helping program in response to bullying. During his UVic studies he volunteered for the NEED crisis line and instituted a suicide prevention program during a practicum term at Parkland Secondary School in Sidney.
Jennifer Richardson (Business) juggled her commerce degree work with the responsibilities of raising her daughter and working nearly full-time. Her perseverance inspired retired business professor Bill Buckwold to include her name alongside his on a new Faculty of Business student award established in honour of his teaching skills. “At the beginning Jennifer was struggling, but it wasn’t from lack of interest,” says Buckwold. “It was from lack of sleep.” Richardson now works as an analyst at the ministry of community services.
Dave Segal (Psychology) combined environmental studies with his psychology major, becoming involved with a group that provides outdoor recreation therapy for people living with special needs. He also designed and implemented a study with the Centre for Addictions Research that examines whether beer drinkers can tell the difference between low-alcohol and regular beer.
Melinda Skeels and Jonathan Hanvelt (Law) co-led the UVic chapter of Pro Bono Students Canada, matching dozens of student volunteers with supervising lawyers to provide law-related services to communities in need. Under their leadership, about one-third of UVic law students participate in the program.
Dawn Smith (Indigenous Governance), receiving her master’s degree next week, became chief of the Ehhatesaht people of northern Vancouver Island in 1998 and was recently re-elected to the band council. She’s overcome the impact of residential schools on her family with the guidance of her great-grandmother and grandmother—influences she hopes to carry forward to support, in particular, the women of her community.
Liuguo Zhang (Computer Science). As a five-year-old boy in Haikou, China, Zhang received a gift that would shape his future: a Nintendo entertainment system. “Working in the video game industry has been my wish since I was very young,” says the computer ace, now 22. Zhang is living his dream as a software engineer at Vancouver’s Need for Speed, a developer of sports games for Electronic Arts, the world’s largest computer game publisher.
Contact information for the graduating students is available on request.
Each graduate has a story to tell about his or her UVic experience and here’s a sampling of some of them:
James Letts (Biochemistry and Microbiology) shows remarkable promise in research involving the use of X-rays to produce three-dimensional images of protein molecules. His findings have already been published in scientific journals. Next up: a full scholarship from New York’s Rockefeller University, where he’ll pursue his PhD with Roderick Mackinnon, co-winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize for chemistry.
Jonny Morris (Child and Youth Care) has been making a difference in the lives of young people ever since his school days in England where he set up a peer-helping program in response to bullying. During his UVic studies he volunteered for the NEED crisis line and instituted a suicide prevention program during a practicum term at Parkland Secondary School in Sidney.
Jennifer Richardson (Business) juggled her commerce degree work with the responsibilities of raising her daughter and working nearly full-time. Her perseverance inspired retired business professor Bill Buckwold to include her name alongside his on a new Faculty of Business student award established in honour of his teaching skills. “At the beginning Jennifer was struggling, but it wasn’t from lack of interest,” says Buckwold. “It was from lack of sleep.” Richardson now works as an analyst at the ministry of community services.
Dave Segal (Psychology) combined environmental studies with his psychology major, becoming involved with a group that provides outdoor recreation therapy for people living with special needs. He also designed and implemented a study with the Centre for Addictions Research that examines whether beer drinkers can tell the difference between low-alcohol and regular beer.
Melinda Skeels and Jonathan Hanvelt (Law) co-led the UVic chapter of Pro Bono Students Canada, matching dozens of student volunteers with supervising lawyers to provide law-related services to communities in need. Under their leadership, about one-third of UVic law students participate in the program.
Dawn Smith (Indigenous Governance), receiving her master’s degree next week, became chief of the Ehhatesaht people of northern Vancouver Island in 1998 and was recently re-elected to the band council. She’s overcome the impact of residential schools on her family with the guidance of her great-grandmother and grandmother—influences she hopes to carry forward to support, in particular, the women of her community.
Liuguo Zhang (Computer Science). As a five-year-old boy in Haikou, China, Zhang received a gift that would shape his future: a Nintendo entertainment system. “Working in the video game industry has been my wish since I was very young,” says the computer ace, now 22. Zhang is living his dream as a software engineer at Vancouver’s Need for Speed, a developer of sports games for Electronic Arts, the world’s largest computer game publisher.
Contact information for the graduating students is available on request.
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Media contacts
Mike McNeney (Alumni Communications) at 250-721-7642 or mmcneney@uvic.ca