I would like to acknowledge that UBC’s Okanagan campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, and that UBC’s Vancouver campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Musqueam.
I would like to welcome to their first in-person meeting of the Board three new Governors: Michael Sandler was elected by Okanagan campus students, and Cade Desjarlais and Jasper Lorien were elected by Vancouver campus students. Congratulations and welcome!
On behalf of the Board, we offer our heartfelt congratulations to all those who graduated from UBC this spring. Achieving this milestone is something to be celebrated! We wish you all the best in carrying forward what you have learned here at UBC, and know that you will continue to inspire people, ideas and actions for a better world.
Yesterday, we had a reception to mark the 20th anniversary of UBC’s Okanagan campus. It’s remarkable each time we visit to see how much the campus has grown, and the Board was delighted to share and celebrate this occasion. Thank you to all those who are contributing to this thriving campus.
Now, I would like to acknowledge three faculty members of notable distinction, all of whom are from the Okanagan campus:
In the service category, we congratulate Dr. Jeff Andrews, Associate Professor in Data Science, Mathematics and Statistics from the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science for being named among the Top 40 under 40 by the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.
In the research category we recognize Dr. Wendy Wong, Professor of Political Science in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences whose book We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age won the 2024 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy from the Writers’ Trust of Canada.
In the teaching category we acknowledge Dr. Bowen Hui, Associate Professor of Teaching in Computer Science from the from the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, who is the recipient of the 2025 UBC Okanagan Killam Teaching Prize.
To these distinguished faculty members, and the others whose research, scholarship, teaching and other academic contributions have recently been recognized, we offer our recognition and appreciation.
This is the last meeting for Board Secretary Karen Hakkarainen, retiring from UBC at the end of the month. Karen joined UBC in 2019, and as Board Secretary, she has shepherded this Board through an eventful six years. We thank her for all she has accomplished to bring the Board Secretariat Office to where it is today.
