Phelim Boyle
Phelim Boyle earned his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Trinity College, Dublin. He then went on to have a highly distinguished academic career at leading schools in Canada and the United States. He joined the Laurier School of Business & Economics in 2006 to help launch a doctoral program in Financial Economics.
As noted in his Wikipedia entry, Phelim is “best known for initiating the use of Monte Carlo methods in option pricing. Other well-known contributions in the area of quantitative finance include the use of the Trinomial Method to price options. His seminal work on Monte Carlo-based option pricing facilitated the 1980s explosion in the world of derivatives.”
Phelim also made quantitative finance accessible to non-specialist readers when he authored with his son Feidhlim Boyle, the book titled Derivatives: the Tools that Changed Finance.
Phelim has received many honours and accolades for his work. Phelim has been awarded the Centennial Gold Medal of the International Actuarial Association, the Gold Medal of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and was the recipient of the IAFE/SunGard Financial Engineer of the Year in 2005. In 2019, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Born in Ireland, Phelim never has lost his Irish charm. Over the course of many years, including his time at Laurier, Phelim was known for his dedication and kindness to students. Under his care and tutelage, Phelim inspired a generation of scholars who owe their careers to him.
Submitted by Brian F. Smith
Glenn Buhr
Glenn Buhr began at Laurier in 1984. A lifelong Winnipeger, Glenn’s career has involved many renowned opportunities, partnerships, and accolades from Canada’s major artistic institutions. As a composer, he has received numerous commissions from notable national and international organizations such as the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, and Birmingham Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), to name only a few. As a performer, he has performed many of his works with these, and many more, ensembles. Glenn’s music can be heard on CBC radio. In 2013, he published a collection of essays entitled Our Native Song through Counterpoint.
Glenn has had a tremendous impact on the musical community of Laurier and the Waterloo region. His institutional and community involvement has developed many significant opportunities for his students. Many of them have gone on to prominent careers. As a tireless advocate for contemporary music and progressive approaches to the making of music, his most recent impact on the Bachelor of Music program is the creation of an innovative Integrated Musical Arts concentration in 2019.
Submitted by Renee Ellis
Mike Carroll
Mike joined WLU a decade ago when he accepted the position of Dean of the Faculty of Arts. He came to Laurier from the University of Western Ontario where he had distinguished himself as a scholar, teacher, administrator and union leader. Educated at Stanford, Mike spent 8 years at McGill University before joining the Sociology Department at Western. He was Vice-President and then President of the UWOFA at the same time as serving as Chair of his Department.
Mike arrived at Laurier at a transformational moment for the Faculty of Arts. The center of gravity at the University was shifting away from Arts, enrolments were declining, and there was talk of the Faculty being bloated, adrift and in need of a new direction. Having worked with him during this period, I can assure you that Mike took his job as an innovator very seriously. He is tough to argue with and he likes to get his way. He is also highly principled, prickly, a tireless worker, and deeply committed. Under Mike’s leadership Arts saw the introduction of a number of important innovations, including the creation of Active Learning Classrooms, Residential Learning Communities, an expansion of experiential-learning courses, an option in Social Entrepreneurship and First Year Seminars. The goal of all of this was to enrich the experience of Arts undergraduates by increasing their engagement in their learning.
I got to know Mike best during the debate over IPRM and he made critical contributions to the discourse on that initiative. Over espresso one afternoon (I’m sure you’ll not be surprised to learn that he enjoys his coffee strong and straight) he offered me a crucial bit of advice that I took to heart: play the long game, be clear-headed about what you’re trying to achieve, and keep your eyes fixed on your goal. I also learned, at that time, how deeply Mike was committed to the idea of collegial governance and I have since seen his effectiveness on both Senate and the Board of Governors. His involvement in collegial governance continues and he has been an ardent, insightful member of WLUFA’s Governance Committee, where he has proved to be an enthusiastic and valued colleague. The knowledge and energy he brings to that Committee are going to be missed.
Mike’s specialization is the sociology of religion and he is the author of seven monographs and close to a hundred scholarly articles. Although much of his work focuses on popular Catholicism, he has written on a stunning range of subjects including sociological theory, historiography, psychoanalysis, foodways and folklore. But his expertise doesn’t stop there. Mike seems to have seen every series ever offered on Netflix and he is an invaluable source of information on good things to watch. For this, and for his many other contributions to the university and WLUFA, we extend our thanks and best wishes to Mike Carroll for a wonderful and fulfilling retirement!
Submitted by David Monod
Nashifa Carter
Nashifa Carter served the Organizational Behaviour/Human Resource Management area in the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics with distinction for 25 years before her retirement at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year. Nashifa was already a mainstay in the area by the time I arrived at Laurier 21 years ago. She served at various times as full time Limited Term appointee and Contract Teaching Faculty and covered a number of our courses, including all our required courses at the undergraduate level. Not only was Nashifa an excellent teacher, she was an excellent colleague. She was always quick to pitch in in any way that would assist her colleagues and keep the area running smoothly. I always looked forward to running into Nashifa in the faculty lounge where we would chat not only about work-related issues, but also about family. She was extremely proud of her son who followed the “family business” by pursuing postsecondary studies in education. Now that she and her husband are both retired, I hope they will get to enjoy their love of travel. Nashifa is definitely missed in the OB/HRM area.
Submitted by Greg Irving
Michael English
Mike English joined the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies in 1986, following completion of his PhD at McGill University in 1985. Mike’s research specializes in northern water science. He has published widely on this topic, supported by research grants from several agencies, and he brought this experience to the classroom in his undergraduate and graduate courses in hydrology and climate change. His research took place in Ontario, Alberta, but mainly in various locations throughout the Northwest Territories, including many years spent at the Daring Lake Terrestrial Environmental Research Station. During his entire career, Mike demonstrated unwavering support of and passion for northern science exemplified by his focus on field-based research, hands-on mentoring of junior colleagues, postdoctoral researchers, and undergraduate and graduate students, and active engagement of northerners in his research and that of his students. Mike has made highly valued contributions as a builder at Laurier, playing critical leadership roles in the establishment of the Cold Regions Research Centre (1987), which he was the director of for many years, the Laurier Institute for Water Science, and the WLU-GNWT Partnership Agreement, now in its second decade of operation. To foster these university strengths, Mike envisioned the role that research chairs could play, spearheaded their recruitment, and strongly supported their research and training programs. Laurier now houses
one of the largest groups of northern hydrologists in Canada, which has translated into large collaborative research grants, development of unique northern-focused partnerships, and a means to attract high-calibre graduate students and research professionals. In the latter stages of his career, Mike effectively led the department as Chair of Geography and Environmental Studies from 2010 – 2016.
Submitted by Brent Wolfe and William Quinton
Robert Feagan
Dr. Robert Feagan received his MA from Guelph in Geography and Resource Development and then completed his PhD at Simon Fraser University in Geography. In 2001, he joined the Brantford campus of Wilfrid Laurier University as a contract faculty member and a founding member of the campus. One of his major contributions in the early days of the campus was a course on the Grand River; it still exists to this day in a modified form. Dr. Feagan’s retirement will leave a huge hole in the heart of the campus.
Rob’s research (which warranted a merit award and inspired countless undergraduate and graduate students) focuses on human geography, environmentalism, sustainable food systems, community activism and development, and social justice. He has been highly involved in two key programs at the Brantford campus: Social and Environmental Justice and the graduate program in Social Justice and Community Engagement. Within these programs, he has been a champion of community service learning and he’s led expeditions to El Salvador with Habitat for Humanity; in addition, he has undertaken myriad local community engagements such as the “Save the Evidence” campaign and the Community Gardens. He has published extensively and thoughtfully on the challenges and merits of experiential learning, and he has been tireless in making sure that students had opportunities to engage in these kinds of meaningful activities.
Students will remember his big laugh, his bare feet, his office space, and his deeply caring nature. Colleagues will remember an energetic friend who always advocated for greater cohesion and conversation within our own academic community. We have been so lucky to benefit from the warmth and sagacity he brings to teaching and to our shared faculty life.
Submitted by Kathryn Carter
Kevin Hendricks
Kevin Hendricks joined the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics as a Full Professor. He has published over 10 articles in FT50 journals and his work has been cited by more than 50 practitioner publications and has close to 10,000 citations in academic journals. He played a major role in the Supply Chain and Operations Management PhD program. He has been the Centre Director of the Supply Chain Centre, Field Coordinator of the PhD program and the Area Coordinator of Operations and Decision Sciences.
He is well known for his outspokenness and integrity. He has been a very active member of the Operations and Decision Sciences Area. He is always at hand when we need to strategize, plan for the future, need advice or just a sympathetic ear. He is always willing to roll up his sleeves and work when approached for help with pretty much any Area related matter.
Submitted by Sapna Isotupa
Martha Kumsa
Martha has been a faculty member in the Faculty of Social Work since 2002. In her many years at Laurier, she has distinguished herself as a wonderful teacher and colleague and as an important scholarly voice in the field of social work.
Martha has been recognized for many years as a pioneer in research toward strengthening human rights and social change in local and international contexts. She has used her lived experience as a refugee from extreme violence to ground her courage and passion for social change, resulting in over 20 refereed journal articles and 3 books. Just a few of the awards honouring her work include:
· OSA Life-Time Achievement Award (Oromo Studies Association, 2017) (https://www.oromostudies.org/)
· Courage Award for Human Rights, Herbert Carnegie Future Aces Foundation, 2012.
· New Pioneers Award, Skills for Change, 2003.
· Hellman/Hammett Award for Free Expression, Human Rights Watch, 1996.
· The Dr. Wilson Head Memorial Award for Outstanding Work in Anti-Racism, Peace, and Human Rights; Atkinson College, York University, 1996.
Martha is known for her extreme generosity, warm friendship and providing wonderful music, drumming, and Ethiopian food at faculty gatherings. She is also adept at making her own honey wine. She will be sorely missed.
Submitted by Anne Linkletter
Colin Andrew Lee
Colin Andrew Lee joined the Faculty of Music in 1998. Hailing from England, Colin’s clinical experience in the areas of HIV/AIDS and palliative care quickly became a tremendous asset for the Music Therapy program. Within a few years of joining the Faculty, Colin was an instrumental figure in the establishment of the Master of Music Therapy, which is now Canada’s longest-running graduate music therapy program. An active scholar, Colin is recognized for his work in the music-centred theory of Aesthetic Music Therapy. His most recent publication was released in November of 2019 in a special issue of Voices (an international online music therapy journal), another is forthcoming in The Oxford Handbook of Music and Queerness, while his most recent book, a contemporary update of his 1996 book Music at the Edge: The music therapy experiences of a musician with AIDS, was updated and re-published by Routledge in 2016.
Colin has repeatedly been the Undergraduate Music Therapy Coordinator in the Faculty, teaching numerous courses in clinical improvisation at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His time at Laurier has been foundational in solidifying a wider range of public and professional recognition of the field. His teaching has informed the current generation of music therapists who now span the globe.
Submitted by Renee Ellis
Rianne Mahon
Rianne Mahon retired December 31, 2019 as a Professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Department of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has published numerous articles and chapters on industrial policy, labour market restructuring, childcare politics, and the redesign of social policy at the local, national and global scales. Mahon has co-edited numerous books including After 08: Social Policy and the Global Financial Crisis (with G. Boychuk and S. McBride), Achieving the Social Development Goals: Global Governance Challenges (with S. Horton and S. Dalby), and co-authored Advanced Introduction to Social Policy (with Daniel Béland). Her current work focuses on the ‘gendering’ of global governance, with a particular focus on transnational care chains.
Submitted by Patricia Goff
Teresa Marcon
Teresa Marcon joined the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics as a Limited Term Faculty Member. Her area of specialization is Management Information Systems(MIS). She revamped the MIS courses at the BBA and MBA level and re-designed the course on Information Systems for supply chain management in the first 3-4 years as an LTA. She managed the whole area of Information Systems from coordination to selecting cases whether she was teaching the courses or not. She was involved in the Eco-car project which involves a team comprised of students from Laurier and University of Waterloo.
She is always willing to lend a helping hand wherever necessary and has helped the Area in many ways both with her service and with her willingness to teach wherever there was a need. She retired as a special limited term faculty member last August.
Submitted by Sapna Isotupa
Marta Marín-Dòmine
Dr. Marta Marín-Dòmine joined Laurier two decades ago and in that time, she has become a valued, vibrant and inspirational member of the Department of Languages and Literatures and of the Cultural Analysis and Social Theory Program. In 2013, she established and still directs the Centre for Memory and Testimony Studies. This centre promotes interdisciplinary collaborations between scholars, artists and community agencies working in the field of memory representation and testimonial studies in the 21st century. Such is Dr. Marín-Dòmine’s expertise in this area that she was appointed in 2015 to a Politics of Memory Think Tank for the City Council of Barcelona. Her role, to advise the city’s urban planners and politicians how to deal with the markings of dictator Francisco Franco, which are still evident in some public spaces.
Dr. Marta Marín-Dòmine’s prestigious and significant scholarly achievements are many and varied. Two recent creations stand out, however. The first is her latest book published in January 2019, Fugir era el més bell que teníem (Flight was the Most Precious Thing We had). This text speaks to her established position as specialist in the study of Spanish Testimonial Literature, combining her theoretical reflections on memory, with artistic literary creation. In February this year, Dr. Marín-Dòmine received the prestigious Ciutat de Barcelona Award for Essays, Social Sciences and Humanities for this book about exile, being uprooted and the city of Barcelona.
Dr. Marín-Dòmine’s second recent creation came about in 2017 when her art installation Je vous offre les oiseaux/ Us ofereixo els ocells /I offer you the birds was installed in the Santa Àgata Chapel in Barcelona. Homage to the survivors of the Holocaust, this artistic installation symbolically returns birdsong to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
For me, Marta’s recent creations are her lignes de fuite – her lines of flight – and I hope that her retirement brings her many more opportunities for flight and creation in all its possible forms.
Submitted by Jane Newland
Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts
Dr. Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts joined Laurier in 1994. Since she has become a much-loved professor whose contributions to the Department of Languages and Literature, the Faculty of Arts and the wider university community have been exemplary. During her time at Laurier, Dr. Rowinsky-Geurts has championed key projects, including the creation and development of Active Learning Classrooms and the Strategies for Academic Success Program (SASP), focused on student retention.
Dr. Rowinsky-Geurts is a leading researcher in Second Language Pedagogies and high impact practices. Her Spanish introductory textbook, ¡Hola, amigos! is now in its fourth edition and it is for this work that she won the Nelson Educational Excellence Award in 2015. Dr. Rowinsky-Geurts has received numerous honours during her academic journey, including Wilfrid Laurier University Outstanding Teaching Award in 2000; a 3M National Teaching Fellowship in 2008; Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) Award for Teaching Excellence in 2012 and she was made Inaugural Teaching Fellow in 2014. In 2017, Dr. Rowinsky-Geurts was named one of Canada’s 10 most influential Hispanic Canadians: an award which speaks to her continued impact not only across campus but within the wider community.
In addition to her scholarship in teaching and learning, Dr. Rowinsky-Geurts is well-known for her work on 20th century Latin American literature, in particular the writings of Uruguayan novelist, Cristina Peri Rossi. Her book Imagen y discurso: El estudio de las imágenes en la obra de Cristina Peri Rossi (1995) was awarded a Special Mention by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Uruguay in 1998. Dr. Rowinsky-Geurts has also translated Peri Rossi’s work into English.
Mercedes has recently taken up watercolour painting – a medium not always known for its vibrant colours – I nonetheless hope that this new passion brings as much vibrancy to her retirement as she has brought to Laurier.
Submitted by Jane Newland
Jacques (Jack) Schnabel
Jack earned his PhD in the University of New South Wales and subsequently taught at Arizona State University and the University of Calgary. Jack has been at Laurier since 1986. At Laurier, Jack has taught undergraduate and MBA courses in corporate and international financial management and derivative securities. A multilingual speaker, Jack was known for his clever witticisms.
Submitted by Brian F. Smith
Gary Warrick
Dr. Gary Warrick received his MA in Archeology from Simon Fraser University and then a PhD in Anthropology from McGill before working for the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario. In 1999, he joined the brand-new Brantford campus of Wilfrid Laurier University and began the 21-year career that will leave a profound and lasting legacy. Dr. Warrick is leaving us as a full professor with three merit awards under his belt, but he will perhaps be best remembered for his generosity and kindness and a commitment to public outreach that means he has given over 85 public lectures in his career so far.
Gary’s research career has focused on Huron-Wendat and Indigenous archeology with a foray into archeological work in South Africa. In much of his work, he has worked collaboratively and respectfully with Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the New Credit. A very highly regarded researcher, he recently became President of the Canadian Archeological Association. He is a recognized leader in his community-based research program by both the scholars and the communities with whom he works.
Aside from these significant accomplishments, it is his generosity as a teacher, a colleague, and a community member that perhaps stands out the most. His dedication to the Brantford campus (as one of two founding faculty members) was unwavering; he did whatever was needed to make the campus successful including the organization of a conference in 2002. His commitment to university service is exceptional, and he will be remembered for his foundational curricular work in Contemporary Studies and Indigenous Studies. The students loved him and felt comfortable enough to nickname him The Dude or Denim Dan. He has always had a very strong record of teaching and brought his professorial talents to six different programs on two campuses (archeology, anthropology, contemporary studies, health studies, and Indigenous studies). He has also been a significant mentor to graduate students and to newly hired colleagues in Indigenous Studies. His thoughtful and engaged presence on our campus has—in fact– been a model for all of us. Beyond his academic intelligence, he has shared and demonstrated a kind of wisdom that has enriched all of our lives, and we are so very grateful to have learned from him all these years.
Submitted by Kathryn Carter