Chancellor’s Award: Celebrating excellence

They came to Royal Roads to further their careers, solve problems or explore deep questions. In the pursuit of their goals, nine graduates have displayed academic excellence worthy of the university’s highest academic honours.

The Royal Roads University Chancellor’s Award is presented to graduates who have achieved the highest academic excellence in their program. This set of awards honours students in the programs that designate Spring Convocation as their main ceremony. The award is a medal graduates wear with their Convocation regalia as they cross the stage.

“The university is tremendously proud of these graduates’ accomplishments,” says Royal Roads Chancellor and Chair of the Board of Governors Kathleen Birney. “I applaud their hard work and determination, and congratulate them on their fine achievements.”

School of Business

In the School of Business, the Chancellor’s Award will be presented to Rosie Turenne (Master of Arts in Tourism Management), Wendy Nadon (Master of Global Management), Chrystal Morrison (Bachelor of Business Administration) and Marcie Cochrane (Master of Business Administration).

Cochrane, an engineer from Kamloops with the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of BC, explored in her organizational management project how to get more women in engineering and geoscience.

“I have already used this research extensively in my role on the provincial project team for Advancing Women in Engineering and Technology,” Cochrane says. “As a consultant I have also used my research to support clients in the development and implementation of diversity and inclusion programs.”

School of Environment and Sustainability

School of Environment and Sustainability graduates Frank Halliday (Master of Arts in Environment and Management) and Jason Young (Master of Arts in Environmental Education and Communication) will receive the Chancellor’s Award.

Young worked in the environmental sector in BC for a decade before pursuing his master’s degree. Supported by the School of Lost Borders, Young fasted alone for four days and nights in Death Valley, California. His thesis explored the practical implications and potential wider relevance of his findings. Young will pursue a PhD at Queens University in September.

 “I explored nature-culture dynamics to better understand how our perception of nature is socially constructed, and how we might begin to transform our relationship with nature to be more inclusive, holistic and participatory,” Young says.

School of Communication and Culture

In the School of Communication and Culture, April Weavell (Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communication) will receive the award.

A public relations consultant in Grande Prairie, Weavell explores in her thesis how Canadian women executives and leaders who consider themselves both Catholic and feminist navigate seemingly contradictory identities.

“Women’s narratives show the ways they challenge the status quo, resist fixed identity labels and revise traditional assumptions about their identities,” Weavell says.

School of Leadership Studies

School of Leadership Studies graduates Justin Robinson (Master of Arts in Leadership) and William Kidd (Master of Arts in Global Leadership) will receive the award.

Kidd is a Scottish-born Canadian living in Calgary and working as the director of oil sands projects with Husky Energy. Kidd’s thesis explored whether the UN Global Compact, known as “the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative,” was an appropriate mechanism for Husky Energy to further its environmental, social and governance strategy.

“I plan to continue to wrestle with the dilemma of providing energy the world demands juxtaposed with global sustainable development expectations in both theoretical and practical contexts,” Kidd says.