Students, Staff, Faculty Among Guelph's Top '40 Under 40'
June 23, 2011 - Campus Bulletin
Nearly one-third of the “40 Under 40” Guelph residents recognized today for their personal successes and community contributions have ties to the University of Guelph. Among them are two U of G professors, five staff members and six students.
The city’s top “40 Under 40” appear in a supplement published by the Guelph Mercury. The newspaper established the awards in 2008 to recognize outstanding people making a difference in Guelph.
“This is a proud day for the University of Guelph,” said president Alastair Summerlee. “It’s gratifying to see our students, professors and staff acknowledged for their excellent work and contributions they are making to the Guelph community and beyond.”
This year’s winners include teachers, coaches, artists, athletes, volunteers, activists, and people who have helped fight cancer, world hunger and poverty.
Two College of Management and Economics faculty members made the list: Profs. Melanie Lang, Marketing and Consumer Studies; and Sean Lyons, Business.
Lang, who heads U of G’s Centre for Business and Social Entrepreneurship, studies consumer behaviour, new product development, and economic and market feasibility.
Lyons studies the impact of intergenerational differences on the workplace and appears regularly in national media. He belongs to a team of researchers who have received government funding to study changes in Canadian workers’ values, attitudes and career expectations.
Darrell Devine coaches the U of G men’s rugby team and the Ontario Blues team. He helped lead Rugby Canada’s “Introduction to Competition” course, evaluates other coaches and was named Ontario University Athletics West Coach of the Year in 2008.
Laurie Halfpenny-Mitchell, the senior manager of finance and administration in the Ontario Agricultural College, was head coach of Gryphon women’s soccer for six years and is a former award-winning Gryphon player. She also volunteers with Guelph Soccer.
Dustin McCrank, a recent anthropology graduate, is a national and provincial weight-throw champion and co-ordinator of Gryphon intramural, camps and community programs. He serves as an official for both the Ontario Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey Association
Shannon Thibodeau, leadership education and development adviser in Student Life, has encouraged student involvement in the University and wider community through such initiatives as Project Serve and the Peer Helper Program.
Aidan Ware is the education and development co-ordinator at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre and a local arts promoter. She helps run art camps for children, created Family Day at the art centre, and promotes projects that use art to help build tolerance and acceptance.
Also named to the “40 Under 40” are U of G students Gavin Armstrong, Jessica Cleve, Heather Jarvis, Laura Robertson, Yvonne Su and Jordan Thompson.
Armstrong, a recent commerce graduate, won the President William Jefferson Clinton Hunger Leadership Award for bringing the international Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit to Canada. He also serves on the University’s Board of Governors and Senate.
Cleve belongs to the Youth Support Team at Wyndham House, a support service for homeless and at-risk youth. She organized benefit concerts to raise money for Project Storage, finding a place for youth ages 16-21 to store their possessions.
Jarvis, an international development student, helped organize a “SlutWalk” event in Toronto this spring in response to controversial comments made by a Toronto police officer. The protest attracted more than 1,500 people.
Robertson, an environmental engineering student, advises students on research in developing countries, promotes awareness about bottled water, participates in provincial and national engineering competitions, and founded a student water sustainability group.
An international development student, Su organized vote mobs during the spring federal election, was named a 2011 “Global Changemaker,” was a finalist in the 2010 Earth Day Canada film competition and participated in the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Thompson, a fourth-year student, was recognized for serving as U of G’s Meal Exchange education and promotions co-ordinator and as program co-ordinator at Student Volunteer Connections, and for his involvement in Sustainability Week and the Do So Much Weekend.
