MacLeod Among Three

To Be Honoured by Assumption

Assumption University conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws on internationally known theologian, Dr. Gregory Baum; longtime federal MP for Windsor West and former Deputy Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Herb Gray; and Dublin Impac Award winning author and English professor, Dr. Alistair MacLeod, at its spring convocation on Friday, April 25 at 8 p.m.

Currently Baum is professor emeritus of McGill University, MacLeod is professor emeritus of the University of Windsor, and Gray, is Chair of the Canadian Section of the International Joint Commission, an organization that oversees water and air issues across boundaries between Canada and the United States.

Alumni Hall

Rising five stories up on Sunset across from the Clark residence, is the new 348-bed suite-style residence. Now officially dubbed "Alumni Hall and Conference Centre," the new $17.6 million residence is well on it way to completion. When completed, the 117,000-square-foot building will house 348 students and will include five especially designed suites for students with disabilities. With the addition of a state-of-the-art multipurpose room on the first floor, the residence will become a full-service Conference Centre from May to August each year. The multipurpose room will be the new home of the Leon Z. McPherson Alumni Reception Centre.

Health Education and Learning Centre

The construction of the Health Education and Learning Centre has been delayed somewhat mostly due to weather conditions. Despite this, it would appear the classrooms in the building will be ready for use in September; other parts of the building will be ready for occupation later in September and October. The three-storey facility will provide additional seating for almost 1,100 students during a single class session in six classrooms ranging from 100 seats up to a 268-seat lecture theatre.

The centre will house the Faculty of Nursing with undergraduate and graduate programs for nurses and nurse practitioners; six major new classrooms; and state-of-the-art communications technologies. Offices of the Associate Dean and administration for the new Windsor interns program of the Southwestern Ontario Medical Education Network (SWOMEN) will also be in this building.

Dramatic Art Facility

The $8-million Dramatic Art facility exterior is now completely bricked to match Essex Hall. Inside, workers are beginning to finish the performance, teaching and office spaces. The building will be ready for occupation on schedule at the end of June even allowing for the delays caused by the cold weather last winter.

38 Faculty Receive Nearly

$4 Million From NSERC

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has notified 38 professors at the University of Windsor that they will receive $3,972,531 over five years in "Discovery" funding support for their research. In total for 2003, Windsor will receive a total of $840,000 in"Discovery" grants from NSERC.

This funding allows many research initiatives already underway to continue, and enables 24 of those researchers to launch new programs in biology and the environment, chemistry, computer science, physics, psychology and engineering.

9 NSERC Equipment Grants

Total $462,000

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) this year has awarded nine "Research Tools and Instruments" grants to Windsor professors totalling $462,115 that will enable professors to purchase specialized, state-of-the-art equipment to carry out their studies.

For example, Professor Hugh MacIsaac at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, has $117,000 for a controlled environment chamber to be used by professors and students at the institute on research ranging from species invasions to fish genetics, biogeochemistry, ecological dynamics of organic contaminants.

Dr. MacIsaac, who is quoted in the June 2 cover story in Maclean's, Nature Under Seige, is an internationally recognized expert on ecological effects of exotic species. He is speaking next week at the Aquatic Invasive Species Conference at the Cleary International Centre.