Alumni News

It is with sympathy that we share the passing of Carole Reeve-Newson, OAC '63, on May 7th 2021.

Carole's obituary can be found here.

It is with sympathy that we share the passing of Ted Shelegy, OAC '64 and M.Sc. '84, on May 13th 2021.

Ted's obituary can be found here.

It is with sympathy that we share the passing of Dr. Herbert 'Herb' Driver on March 16, 2021. Herb was a professor of agricultural economics in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics for 18 years. 

Viewing and slideshow will take place at McKenzies Portage Funeral Chapel on Sunday, March 21, 2021 from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm. Herb's obituary can be found here.

It is with sympathy that we share the passing of Dr. Yves Surry on March 6, 2021. Surry received his PhD in 1988 from the Department of Agricultural Economics and Business (now the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics).

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences posted a remembrance article here. 

Four OAC alumni will be inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame this year: Stan Eby, Herbert Norry, Dr. Peter Sikkema and the late Doug Williams.

A virtual induction ceremony will take place on June 13, 2021.

Tom Armitage (B.Sc. (Agr.) in Organic Agriculture, 2013) is a lifelong learner and advocate for local food security. He works as the Social Enterprise Development Coordinator at The SEED, a not-for-profit food project at the Guelph Community Health Centre. We recently chatted with him about his role and the importance of providing accessible food to the community.

James MacGregor (Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, 1970) has led a rich career as both a landscape architect and a sustainable tourism planner. He founded North Africa's leading sustainable tourism planning, development and marketing firm, ecoplan:net, and has improved the sustainability of the tourism industry in over 40 countries.

Rosalind Morris and Erika Gaertner graduated from OAC at a time when women rarely pursued agricultural education. But, these talented women went on to lead impactful and prolific careers in botany, all while maintaining a lifelong friendship. Here are just a few brief highlights from their careers. 

Economist, data analyst, researcher, statistician. Bishnu Saha says all these roles complement each other and are appropriate titles for his work. His daily tasks as director of the Yukon Bureau of Statistics require a clear understanding of the intertwined systems of production and consumption. They also require the ability to analyze data for insight on issues, such as the effects of a new policy on trade or the reasons for trends in the labour market.

$25 doesn’t get you a lot these days. But it got Thomasina Orr a wild mustang.

In 2019, Thomasina had settled into a job she loved, working for Pfera Inc., a tech company that provides software for horse breeders. She had graduated from the equine management major in 2016 of the Bachelor of Bio-Resource Management degree. 

“I was doing less travelling and felt more stable and good in my career, so I wanted a project, one where I could see the rewards,” she says.

Her job was a perfect fit, but Thomasina could find herself falling into a rut.