New institute will build on 20 years of collaboration in research and education
BY LORI BONA HUNT
U of G is creating a new institute aimed at enhancing and promoting collaborations with Iceland's institutions of higher learning.
The Iceland-Guelph Institute will build on long-standing relationships between Guelph and Hólar University College, the University of Iceland, the University of Akureyri and Hvanneyri Agricultural University. It will provide faculty, researchers and students with additional opportunities for exchange programs, distance education courses and interdisciplinary research.
“I am very pleased to be formalizing what is already a highly successful partnership,” said president Alastair Summerlee during a special event Nov. 22 on campus.
In attendance were Gudmundur Eiriksson, the Icelandic ambassador to Canada; Gail Einarson-McCleery, the honorary Icelandic counsel in Toronto; and Skuli Skulason, rector of Hólar University College.
U of G has been collaborating with Hólar and other institutions in Iceland for the past 20 years, said Summerlee, who visited Iceland this spring and met with university and government leaders.
“We've been sharing knowledge and learning experiences for a considerable amount of time. We've learned not only about interrelations between our two countries but also about how we approach environmental, scientific, cultural and ethical issues in our home countries. It's a relationship with even more potential.”
Skulason, who received his M.Sc. in zoology from U of G in 1986 and his PhD in 1991 and was one of the University's first Icelandic students, added: “We've been looking for ways to provide students, faculty and staff with more opportunities for learning and growth. We hope the new Iceland-Guelph Institute will heighten interest and participation at both ends.”
The institute will develop joint activities and programs in both countries that will be delivered via exchange and distance education and allow students to study at both institutions. It will also raise funds to support initiatives such as a lecture series.
Skulason and his former graduate adviser, Prof. David Noakes, were instrumental in establishing the institute and in the earlier collaborations. In 1995, they started an interdisciplinary academic exchange program with U of G and Iceland's four universities and colleges. It has provided teaching and research opportunities in areas ranging from history to industrial psychology and from zoology to fine art.
“The great strength of our exchange has been the considerable breadth of interests of people involved,” said Noakes.
Over the past decade, some 200 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff have participated in field courses and research projects. Prof. Steven Cronshaw, Psychology, co-ordinator of the Iceland-Guelph exchange program, will be the institute's interim director. He said there is a commonality of interests between the countries and universities, especially in the environmental and natural sciences.
In addition, former president of Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir received an honorary doctorate from Guelph in 1998, and two scholarships were established in her name for Icelandic students pursuing graduate degrees at Guelph.
This month, U of G also awarded its most prestigious graduate award, the Brock Doctoral Fellowship, to Icelander Bjarni Kristjansson, who earned an M.Sc. degree at Guelph and is returning for his PhD in zoology.
