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Lynne Warner Murphy (BA’57) has published a new collection of suspense and mystery stories titled Potluck and Other Stories, and a novella titled A Damaged Heart.
Dr. Frank Farley (BA’60, MA’63) organized and chaired the National Violence Summit held in Washington, DC, which is available for viewing on YouTube. Farley has been president of more than 10 scientific and professional societies in psychology, education and social sciences.
Sharon Butala (BEd’62, BA’63, PGD’73, LittD’04) spoke in Calgary at the 75th anniversary celebration of Who Has Seen the Wind, W.O. Mitchell’s iconic book about the Saskatchewan prairie. Butala is the author of more than 20 books and the winner of many awards, including the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize.
Robert Currie (BSP’61, BA’64, BEd’66, Educ’66) published his latest book, Shimmers of Light: New and Collected Poems. The book was named to CBC’s list of Canadian poetry collections to watch for in 2022.
Sister Teresita R. Kambeitz (BA’69, BEd’69) was honoured as a professor emerita of Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alta.
Six alumni of the College of Arts and science were honoured with 2022 Saskatchewan Book Awards: Guy Vanderhaeghe (BA’71, Cert’72, MA’75, LittD’97) for August Into Winter; Theressa Slind (BA’95) for Only if We’re Caught; dee Hobsbawn Smith (MFA’14, MA’21) for Bread & Water: Essays; Dr. Allyson D. Stevenson (BA’00, MA’04, PhD’15) for Intimate Integration: A History of the Sixties Scoop and the Colonization of Indigenous Kinship; Beverley Brenna (BEd’84, MEd’91, BA’02) for The Girl with the Cat; and Lisa Bird-Wilson (BA’93, BEd’99, MEd’05) for Probably Ruby. Bird-Wilson was also among six finalists for the 2022 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.
Clare F. Beckton (LLB’74, BA’74) was inducted into the Women’s Executive Network Hall of Fame for her award-winning advocacy for advancing women’s leadership, diversity and inclusion. She was also recently appointed chair of the Beechwood National Cemetery and Foundation boards.
Award-winning Canadian author, journalist, poet and editor Mark Abley (BA’75) was honoured by the University of Saskatchewan (USask) during the 2022 Fall Convocation. Abley was presented with an honorary Doctor of Letters.
Audrey Gauthier (BSN’77, BA’79, HosAdmin’82, Arts’96) was awarded the City of Red Deer Mayor’s Recognition Award for Distinguished Voluntary Service. During her lifetime, Gauthier has volunteered with many charitable organizations, including Big Sisters and the Red Deer Hospital Foundation.
Dr. Dwayne Brenna (BA’77, MA’83) released two new books. Long Way Home is a novel about a baseball team’s journey home during the eventful summer of 1934. Nights That Shook the Stage tells the true stories of forty pivotal events in theatre history. This spring, the long-time USask drama professor directed his final Greystone Theatre production before retirement.
Anthony Bidulka (BA’83, BEd’91, BComm’91) is publishing his 12th novel, Going to Beautiful, a love-letter to life on the prairies. For his promotion of Saskatchewan through his books and for his volunteer and philanthropic efforts in the community, Bidulka was also recently honoured with the selection of a two-part park in Saskatoon to be named Bidulka Park and Bidulka Park North.
S. Portico Bowman (BFA’85) has received a Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grant for her second book, Would You Give Up Arms For Wings? The book is a story inspired by the life and writings of Paulus Berensohn. Her first novel, Cashmere Comes from Goats, is forthcoming.
Dr. Parminder S. Raina (BSc’89) was appointed a member of the Order of Canada for “his leading research in aging and population health in Canada and for his impact on national policymaking in geriatric care services.”
Darryl Bazylak (BEd’93, BA’97, MEd’02) is the new director of education at the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S). Bazylak joined MN-S following his role as director of education for Prairie Spirit School Division. He has worked in education for the past 31 years.
Christa Kucey (BA’95, BComm’98) has been formally appointed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco as the honorary consul of the Kingdom of Morocco to the province of British Columbia. The appointment comes on the 60th year of diplomatic ties between Canada and Morocco.
The Hon. Judge Ian W. Mokuruk (BA’98, LLB’01) was appointed as a judge of the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan in North Battleford, Sask.
Foolish Mortals Games—the Saskatoon-based independent video game studio founded and directed by Michael Long (BSc’15, MSc’19)—released its latest game, Kaiju Wars, on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Long’s brother Dr. Jeff Long (BSc’04, MSc’06) is the designer of Kaiju Wars.
A new book titled Courage, Change & Faith: Inspiring Narratives of Black Women Leaders tells the personal leadership stories of members of the group Black Women Leaders Saskatchewan. The 13 contributors to the book include Hannah Chukwu (MA’06, CTESL’08), Halima Mela (BA’09) and Theodocia Quagraine (BA&Sc’16).
Mark Thompson (BComm’07, BA’08) has been appointed executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Nutrien. Thompson has served in a number of executive and agriculture industry leadership roles with Nutrien, most recently as the company’s executive vice president and chief strategy and sustainability officer.
Tenille K. Campbell (BA’07) was among 23 writers shortlisted for the fifth annual Indigenous Voices Awards. A Dene/Métis author and photographer from English River First Nation, Sask., Campbell was nominated in the published poetry in English category for her poetry collection nedi nezu (Good Medicine).
Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Third Vice Chief Aly Bear (BA’17, JD’20) signed the Law Society of Saskatchewan’s roll of law, becoming the first-ever lawyer from her home community of Whitecap Dakota First Nation. Bear was also the youngest woman to be elected to the FSIN at the age of 30.
Dr. Jebunnessa Chapola (Cert’18, PhD’22) received the 2023 MOMA Student Changemaker Award from the International Association of Maternal Action and Scholarship. Chapola, who raised three daughters during her studies at USask, created supportive spaces and advocated for other academic mothers through her leadership of a community garden on campus.
Nana Kwaku M. Asamoah (MA’21) has taken a role as a senior policy analyst for the Government of Saskatchewan in the Ministry of Health.
Dr. Victoria Stinson (PhD’22) became the first Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences geologist-in-residence with Parks Canada. At Pukaskwa National Park in Ontario, Stinson spent two weeks in the summer of 2022 conducting field work and hosting educational programming for visitors.
