Wini speaks to dinner guests about her work and her views about the research enterprise.

Friends and colleagues gathered at UBC’s Green College on April 4, 1997 to celebrate the awarding of the 1997 Academic of the Year Award to University of Northern British Columbia forestry professor Dr. Winifred (Wini) Kessler. This is the third year the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA/BC) has given the award to recognize excellence in the generation, transmission, or implementation of ideas — the stock and trade of the university.

“Dr. Kessler embodies what it means to be a university professor in Canada today,” said Dr. Bruce More, president of CUFA/BC. “Not only has she established herself through an impressive record of scholarly publication, but she has also taken those scholarly ideas and applied them to difficult problems in industry and society.”

The Academic of the Year Award was established in 1995 as a means to highlight the accomplishments of the academic staff of B.C. public universities. Dr. Kessler is the third recipient of the award, following UBC zoologist Dr. Peter Hochachka in 1995, and SFU mathematicians Dr. Jonathan Borwein and Dr. Peter Borwein in 1996. The award has been supported since its inception by generous donations from Sun Microsystems of Canada and Prentice Hall Canada.

In nominating her for the award, Dr. Kessler’s colleagues at UNBC cited her application of ideas to real-world problems, her contributions to community-based land-use processes in Northern British Columbia, and her critical role in mentoring young faculty.

“Dr. Kessler epitomizes the university scholar that can take concepts and ideas from within the university community and apply them, and adapt them, to recognize the diversity of opinion within the society at large,” wrote Darwyn Coxson, president of the UNBC Faculty Association. “Dr. Kessler has been instrumental in bringing the university to the community and in turn bringing the community back into the university.”

Dr. Kessler received a cheque for $3,000 to support her work, and a framed print by B.C. artist Ken Kirkby.

1997 Distinguished Academics Awards Sponsored by