St. Jerome's proud of archbishop

St. Jerome's University is glowing with pride after the announcement last weekend that Most Rev. Thomas Collins (left), who graduated from UW and St. Jerome's in 1969, has been named Archbishop of Toronto.

The college revealed yesterday that Collins had been chosen to receive its Father Norm Choate Distinguished Graduate Award for the current year, an honour that's scheduled to be presented in February. "Prescient, aren't we?" laughed Dana Woito, director of mission and communications for St. Jerome's.

Collins, currently Archbishop of Edmonton, is scheduled to take over from the present leader of the Toronto archdiocese, Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, who is retiring at 76. He will arrive at his Toronto post early in the new year.

Kitchener-Waterloo is in the Roman Catholic Church's Hamilton diocese, not the Toronto archdiocese, but the Archbishop of Toronto is seen as a key leader of English-speaking Catholicism in Canada. Not only Ambrozic but also his predecessor as Archbishop, George Emmett Carter, was named a cardinal. (Carter is the subject of a biography written by St. Jerome's faculty members Doug Letson and Michael Higgins.)

Collins, a native of Guelph, graduated with a BA degree in English and later took a master's in English from the University of Western Ontario and a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained priest in 1973 and served in two parishes and then at St. Peter's Seminary, London, Ontario, and the Gregorian University until being named a bishop. He served in that role first in Saint Paul, Alberta, and then since 1999 in Edmonton.

An announcement from St. Jerome's says Collins will address "an audience of donors, graduates, and friends of St. Jerome’s" on February 16, when the Distinguished Graduate Award will be presented.

He is "the third St. Jerome’s graduate to be given a key episcopal appointment in southern Ontario over the past several months," the college says. "In August of 2005, Most Rev. Gerard P. Bergie was named Auxiliary Bishop of Hamilton, and Most Rev. Peter Hundt was named Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto in April of 2006." Says interim president Myroslaw Tataryn: “One aspect of our mission as a Catholic university is to educate leaders for service of the community and the Church. These appointments are gratifying in that they provide clear evidence of the important contributions that can be made by individuals and by institutions in the service of the larger Church.”

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Donor supports accountancy building

from UW's 2005-06 donor report

Karen Wilkinson (Master of Accounting 1990) is a tax partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP (Burlington) and has been giving back to UW in several ways ever since she graduated. The main focus of Wilkinson’s work has been assisting private companies and their owners in maximizing wealth and transitioning the business to the next generation.

She has pledged $100,000 to the School of Accountancy Building Fund for improvement and expansion of the School’s facilities. A few years ago, she also made a planned gift through a life insurance policy, which she directed to the School of Accountancy for undergraduate scholarships.

“I am fortunate to be in a position where I can make a significant contribution to the communities where I live and work. Part of the reason for this is the education I received at UW. My gift to the university is my way of giving back to the university and also helping future grads to be in a position to make a difference,” says Wilkinson.

For a number of years she served as a lecturer in tax for the School of Accountancy and as a member of the Planned Giving Advisory Committee at UW. In addition to her extensive support for UW, she is very involved in the community. Among the organizations she has assisted are the United Way of Cambridge and North Dumfries (she served as campaign chair in 2005) and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra Association.

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In the not-so-bleak midwinter

UW's school of pharmacy has announced a key appointment: Ken Potvin will become director of admissions, professional relations and undergraduate affairs, starting at UW on March 19. "Ken brings diverse experience," a memo says, "in community and hospital pharmacy, industry and associations. Most recently, he served as Executive Director of the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities, where he played a leadership role in policy development, strategic planning and the establishment of collaborative stakeholder relationships. Prior to his work with NAPRA, Ken was the Director, Research and Analysis, with Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D). At Rx&D, he was responsible for identifying and analyzing research evidence, with a focus on optimizing patient care, as well as writing submissions to governments on pharmaceutical policy and practices." He's a licensed pharmacist (University of Toronto graduate) with an MSc in epidemiology from the University of Ottawa. . . . Working closely with Dr. Jake Thiessen, Hallman Director of the School of Pharmacy, Ken will take a leadership role in all activities related to student recruitment, undergraduate admissions, and the accreditation process. He will initiate and develop formal linkages with professional associations, and participate in curriculum development."

A note from the UW police: "At approximately 8:55 a.m. on Monday, December 18, a cyclist and a van collided near the entrance to Parking Lot D. The cyclist received minor injuries while the driver of the van was uninjured. Police Services are requesting assistance from anyone witnessing this collision, specifically an unknown male and female who stopped and provided first aid to the injured party. Anyone with information is requested to contact Staff Sergeant Wayne Shortt at ext. 3-6966 or email hwshortt@uwaterloo.ca."

Wilfrid Laurier University announced yesterday that Max Blouw (left) will be its next president, taking over from Robert Rosehart next September. Blouw, a biologist, is currently vice-president (research) at the University of Northern British Columbia (where UW's dean of arts, Ken Coates, was also a vice-president for a time). “Laurier has grown vigorously over the past decade under Dr. Bob Rosehart’s outstanding leadership,” Blouw said in a statement. “The university is positioned to finish its first century of operations as a very successful undergraduate institution. I believe it will enter a new century of operations as a comprehensive university with a clearly defined identity and niche among the other Ontario and Canadian universities.”

It wasn't just UW that lost its Internet connection to the outside world yesterday afternoon but, apparently, all the customers who connect through the Toronto "point of presence" of Cogent Communications. The outage lasted for about 90 minutes starting at 4:15 p.m. Outcome, according to a memo from information systems and technology: "Cogent fixed their stuff."

The "standard configurations" for UW computers, as listed on the Dell UW Premier Page, have been updated to include the company's new product line, the Optiplex 745. • Today's the deadline set by UW's finance office for submission of internal financial transactions, before things start getting caught up in plans for down-time of the Oracle Financials system early in the new year. • The Record newspaper has had several articles lately about the mystery of who's going to be the new Warrior football coach, with various speculations about top candidates.

Finally, a campus gourmand has suggested that I should have described my lunch in the Modern Languages coffee shop the other day as "panino", singular, rather than "panini", plural. And I learn from Wikipedia that eating such delicacies makes me a paninaro. From Heather Kelly of the food services department, I learn that the panini recently added to the menu in ML are the same creations that were a popular offering at Bookends café in South Campus Hall until it was recently replaced by a Tim Horton's.

CAR

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