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Second annual Provost’s Circle of Distinction 

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On May 26, Provost David Graham was pleased to honour six new inductees into the Provost’s Circle of Distinction at a ceremony and cocktail social event at the Montefiore Club on Guy St.

“You represent the most distinguished members of Concordia’s faculty,” said Graham. “Your outstanding achievements have brought and continue to bring recognition to the entire university.”

The Circle is now in its second year (see Journal, June 4, 2009). Inductees are nominated by their Deans on the basis of their prior recognition by distinguished external organizations. Nominees are approved by the Provost’s Academic Cabinet.

Following short speeches from President Judith Woodsworth and Graham, more than 70 attendees watched as the Circle welcomed History Professor Ronald Rudin, Physics Professor and Science College Principal Calvin Kalman, and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Professor Ali Dolatabadi. The new inductees were presented with a certificate and a lapel pin by the President and the Provost, respectively.

Professor Françoise Sullivan, part-time faculty member in Studio Arts, who was among 36 inductees during the Circle’s first ceremony last June, received special mention at this year’s ceremony for her promotion to Officer within the Order of Canada in November (see Journal, Nov. 26, 2009).

Inductees unable to attend the event included Music Professor Christopher Jackson, Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Abdel Sebak and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Professor Ramin Sedaghati.

“I’m very happy we’re able to acknowledge these individuals,” said Rama Bhat, Vice-Provost Academic Relations and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Professor. “It’s their career-long commitment to their profession and the university community here at Concordia that we’re so pleased to celebrate. When we have people such as this among us, it’s quite an honour.”

Rudin was inducted as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada in fall 2009, and also received a 2010 Book Award from the National Council of Public History in the United States for his book Remembering and Forgetting in Acadie: A Historian’s Journey Through Public Memory. Rudin served as Academic Convenor for Congress 2010.

Kalman, at Concordia since 1968, was honoured by the Canadian Association of Physicists with the Medal for Excellence in Teaching Physics in 1999.

Both Sedaghati and Dolatabadi were inducted as Fellows of the Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineering in 2009.

Jackson was elected as a Fellow into the Royal Society of Canada in 2009 (see Journal, Sept. 17, 2009). He also received an honorary doctorate from Laurentian University in 1999.

Sebak was inducted as a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2009.

Bhat thanks Andie Zeliger, Faculty Relations Manager, and Sarah Comrie, Office of the Provost, for organizing the event with meticulous care for details. He says he looks forward to recognizing more people as the Circle grows in future years. He says when the numbers grow, it’s an indicator of excellence within the university.