Dalhousie’s success depends on the hard work, skills and ingenuity of a lot of people, including the thousands of employees who report for duty each and every day.
On Tuesday, Dal held its annual Milestones Tea to honour the contributions of dozens of those individuals with long service to the university.
Professors, custodial staff, administrators and others from across the university with 25 and 35 years of service were recognized at the event, held in the atrium of the Steele Ocean Sciences Building.
Dal President Richard Florizone was on hand to thank the honourees personally and present them each with a commemorative certificate and pin.
"It really is your energy, your enthusiasm and your talents that have brought this university to where it is,” he said at the event.
Kathie Wheadon, director of facility and business services with Athletics and Recreation, began her Dal career in the equipment room at Dalplex about a year after the facility first opened and has worked in various supervisory and administrative roles over the past 35 years.
“"I have been very fortunate to be able to grow and advance through the system,” she said. "I have had the opportunity to have new challenges placed in front of me and they've been great and I've relished them."
Along the way, Wheadon has also done some coaching with the women’s basketball team at Dal and served on the Health and Environmental Safety committee when it brought in a no-smoking policy at the university.
Ruben Ko works in computing and media services with the Medical Information Technology (MedIT) office in the Faculty of Medicine and says people have made all the difference in his 25 years at Dal.
"It's a fun place to work," he said. "The people are good and they don't give you any hassles or problems, and if there are any issues they understand."
Ko helps medical researchers troubleshoot problems with their computer-linked equipment. Although he has been with the same office since joining Dal, he says the particulars of his role have changed a lot over the years, and he has had the opportunity to do everything from maintaining servers to programming and software development.
Below are the individuals recognized this year for their long service to Dalhousie:
35-year honourees
John Baxter - English
Barbara Bleasdale - Nursing
Rodney Burns - Facilities Management
Deborah Carter - Human Resources
Joan Chiasson - Killam Library
Susan Corkum - Dental Clinical Sciences
Penelope David - Kellogg Library
Raymond Dorey - Facilities Management
Gail Fraser - Kellogg Library
Melissa Furrow - English
David Hamilton - Mathematics & Statistics
Larry Hartt - Facilities Management
Katherine "Marie" Law - Agriculture (Dean's Office)
Kathryn Lunn - Dental Clinic
April MacDonald - Fountain School of Performing Arts
Laurel MacIntosh - Plant and Animal Science
Thomas MacRae - Biology
Daryl Mullin - Environmental Sciences
Anne Murphy - Pediatrics
Janice Ruppert - Dental Clinic
Ingrid Sketris - Pharmacy
Catherine Smith - Arts (Dean's Office)
Louise Smith - Project Management Office
Lydia Somers - Financial Services
Pierre Stevens - Mathematics & Statistics
Bruce Stewart - Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alice Stover - Killam Library
David Vaughan - Networks and Systems
Katherine Wheadon - Dalplex
25-year honourees
Debra Bangay - Killam Library
Christine Barnes - Microbiology & Immunology
Martha Barnstead - Architecture & Planning (Dean's Office)
David Bell - Urology
Lesley Brechin - Fountain School of Performing Arts
Frederick Burge - Family Medicine
Susanna Burns - College of CE Prof Dev (Admin)
Rachel Caissie - Human Communication Disorders
Jiunn-Ming Chuang - Mechanical Engineering
Christopher Connors - Print Centre
Tiffany Coolen-Jewers - Law (Dean's Office)
Shirlene Dancause - Dental Clinic
Linda Dodds - Pediatrics
Karen Dodge - Enterprise Application Services
Sandra Dwyer - Killam Library
Gordon Fenton - Engineering Math & Internetworking
Michael Fleming - Continuing Professional Development
Donna Franey - Legal Aid Program
Brigid Garvey - German
Donna Gaudet - Research Services
Marianne Hagen - Management (Dean's Office)
Dennette Hanna-Shea - Science (Dean's Office)
Christine Hatton - Killam Library
Kellie Hawley - Killam Library
Tod Heart - Facilities Management
Tony Kane - Facilities Management
Melanie Kelly - Pharmacology
Ruben Ko - MedIT - Computing & Media Svcs
Keith Laybolt - Facilities Management
Catharine Lee - College of CE Prof Dev (Admin)
Denise Lynds-Brown - Applied Oral Sciences
Cynthia Martin-Magdy - General University
Patricia McMullen - Psychology and Neuroscience
Claire Isobel McNeil - Legal Aid Program
Sara Mersereau - Housing & Conference Services
Glen Minty - Academic Computing Services
Angela Mitchell - Occupational Therapy
Vilis Nams - Environmental Sciences
Peter Nicholl - Pharmacology
Diane Oram - Academic Computing Services
Dieter Pelzer - Graduate Studies
Gail Power - Agriculture (Dean's Office)
Carol Richardson - Killam Library
Barry Siddle - Grounds Trucking Maintenance
Donna Smith - Facilities Management
Frank Smith - Medical Neuroscience
Amanda Sparks - Sexton Design & Tech Library
Ernest Stacey - Custodial Services
Andrew Stadnyk - Pediatrics
Carl Stevens - Anesthesia, Pain Mgmt & Periop Med
Alan Thomson - Academic Computing Services
Gail Tomblin Murphy - Nursing
Michael West - Medicine
Anne Marie Whelan - Pharmacy
F Edward White - Academic Computing Services
Heather Williamson - Human Resources
Dalhousie also recognizes individuals who’ve reached 45 years of service to the university, though there were none reaching that plateau this particular year.
This list was compiled by the President's Office and Human Resources in consultation with faculties and departments. Those guests who were invited but not able to attend the event will receive their certificate and long-service pin in campus mail. Anyone with questions about the event can contact the President’s Office at (902) 494-3804.