Three distinguished graduates, one current student and an organization that has worked closely with Thompson Rivers University for 20 years to fulfill the practical education requirements of students will be receiving awards this year for their outstanding community contributions and professional achievements.

Over the past 16 years, 58 graduates have been selected to receive these prestigious awards at the Thompson Rivers University Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner. For the first time the Alumni Association’s annual signature event features a keynote speaker at the dinner.

Chancellor Designate, the Hon. Wally Oppal, QC will address “Access to Justice in Canada: Myth or Reality?” and how education makes a difference. This year’s event is being held on Friday, April 8, 2011 and is presented by Fulton and Co.

Tickets are still available, contact (250) 828-5264 or email advancementevents@tru.ca

The winners of the TRU 2011 Distinguished Alumni Awards are:

Alex Parker – BSc ’94, Scientific Research Award
Dr. Alex Parker is using garden-variety worms as part of the path to preventing neurodegenerative diseases the likes Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. A combination of factors led to where Dr. Parker is today, but he identifies hands-on research during a semester of Directed Studies at TRU that changed his path forever. Medical genetics became the new interest and was further pursued while completing his PhD at UBC.

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Shima Iuchi – BFA ’03, Arts and Culture Award
Since moving to Canada in 1998 from her homeland of Japan, Shima Iuchi has exhibited her interdisciplinary works in solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the US, and Japan. Her inspiration rises from the ecosystems of British Columbia’s west coast and one of its most majestic and lauded characters—the Orca whose image and sounds make up the notable body of work called Transient’s Voice. A member of the Lab Faculty member in Visual Arts department at Thompson Rivers University, Shima has also worked at The Banff Centre, University of Lethbridge as a Fine Arts Technician, and taught drawing classes for youth and adults in Alberta and B.C.

Marcia Julian – BSW ’98, Grace Chronister Award
Since 1986, Marcia has been building communities through a career in social change and social justice, initially as a social worker from 1986-92 then building on a series of managerial and administrative positions with the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Of her many involvements with MCFD, a highlight is the Early Years Partnership, which set out ways to give children the best possible start to their lives, bringing together Interior Health Authority, Public Health Agency of Canada, Aboriginal services, Interior school districts, and MCFD and earned a Premier’s Award in 2008. She is a co-founding member and current chair of the not-for-profit organization Developing World Connections, she’s been helping organize overseas volunteer work holidays to more than 10 countries.

Chelsey Tennant – BBA ’11, TRU Rising Star: Student Leadership Award
Chelsey Tennant is a high-achieving student in the BBA marketing major who has pushed her GPA close to 4.0. The President of the Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) club, she along with other business students, is keenly interested in putting their classroom theories to work. With SIFE’s community projects, Chelsey has been a great motivator, helping the group raise 30,000 pounds of food for the Kamloops Food Bank through the Campbell’s Can Hunger campaign, helping inspire at-risk youth through the Inspiring Young Minds project, and helping Kamloops Brain Injury members with literacy and financial matters through the Live Free project. In addition to SIFE politics, Chelsey interns in the office of Cathy McLeod, MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo and was named one of the Conservative Party of Canada’s top interns for 2009, earning a garden-party meet-and-greet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the other top interns.

Milestone Achievement Award: Canadian Home Builders Association – Central Interior

The Central Interior chapter of the Canadian Home Builders Association is a 200-member, not-for-profit association that tirelessly lobbies governments at all levels in a bid to keep construction costs down for the health of the industry and savings for the consumer.

Twenty years ago the association forged a strong and strategic partnership with TRU’s School of Trades & Technology. This partnership has provided hundreds of TRU students the invaluable opportunity to earn course credits while working on real construction sites. Among those opportunities is helping build the Y Dream Home each year. The latest Dream Home is an initiative through the CMHC Equilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative. Finished inside and out with green cost-saving innovations, this house has received praise and awards from a variety of groups.