{"id":1822,"date":"2015-09-22T14:05:25","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T18:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=1822"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:43:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:43:19","slug":"celebrating-our-best","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/celebrating-our-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Our Best"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Celebrating Our Best\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

From the group of visionary citizens who created a college on Ottawa\u2019s First Avenue in 1942 to today\u2019s dynamic community of faculty, staff, students and alumni, Carleton has always been defined by its people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was fitting that the university launched the second phase of its public awareness campaign leading up to the university\u2019s 75th anniversary by celebrating the accomplishments of alumni, students and supporters at the Carleton Leadership Gala on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image url=”\/our-stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/cu75-2.jpg”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With large portraits showcasing some of the amazing people who have called Carleton home over the years, and a dedicated website at carleton.ca\/cu75<\/a>, the awareness campaign highlights the diverse ways in which the university\u2019s representatives have shaped the worlds of science, business, culture, sport, health care, the humanities and government – in Canada and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs graduates, we feel the impact of our Carleton education every day, but as citizens we feel it even more,\u201d said Jay Nordenstrom, president of the university\u2019s alumni association and the event\u2019s emcee.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cBecause of your good work, our society is better. We have healthier neighbourhoods, better opportunities for our children, great art and music, good public policy, great technology and medicine, and so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

[wide-image url=”\/our-stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/cu75-3.jpg”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banners featuring people celebrated in the second stage of the campaign were unveiled on Saturday: Privy Council Clerk Janice Charette<\/a>, singer and radio host Julie Nesrallah<\/a>, Secretary of the Treasury Board Yaprak Baltac\u0131o\u011flu<\/a>, Google adviser Shona Brown<\/a>, Vanier scholar and Pan Am medallist, Melissa Armstrong<\/a>, Olympian Waneek Horn-Miller<\/a>, pioneer plant biologist Margaret McCully<\/a>, entrepreneur John Ruddy<\/a> and student entrepreneur Melissa Vong<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image url=”\/our-stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/cu75-1.jpg”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you all for being living proof that university works and that it is important,\u201d said President Roseann O\u2019Reilly Runte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton was created to help change and improve Ottawa, the country and the world, said Dr. Runte, noting that the student population has soared and the university long ago outgrew its original campus.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cSome of you might feel a little lost, but you shouldn\u2019t. While we\u2019ve built a few new buildings, the community hasn\u2019t changed. You are all part of an incredibly strong tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Three alumni award winners were also honoured at the gala. Jagmohan Humar, a distinguished research professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the research-intensive Faculty of Engineering and Design, received the A.D. Dunton Alumni Award of Distinction. Humar is known for his philanthropy and community service; an endowment fund in his name supports an annual scholarship for an outstanding graduate student in civil and environmental engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erica Cherney, who graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce<\/a> in 1952, received the Humanitarian Award for her contributions to business, economic development, the arts, education, philanthropy, health care, human rights and community building.<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image url=”\/our-stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/cu75-4.jpg”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Chan, a 2008 graduate of the Interactive Multimedia and Design program<\/a>, received the Young Alumni Achievement Award. Chan, who works under the name eepmon, melds digital and manual processes as an artist-programmer working in Brooklyn, Tokyo, Ottawa and Toronto.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the group of visionary citizens who created a college on Ottawa\u2019s First Avenue in 1942 to today\u2019s dynamic community of faculty, staff, students and alumni, Carleton has always been defined by its people. So it was fitting that the university launched the second phase of its public awareness campaign leading up to the university\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[17,28],"cu_story_tag":[1924],"class_list":["post-1822","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-alumni","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_tag-advancement"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97529,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1822\/revisions\/97529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=1822"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=1822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}