Honorary Degree Books 2014
Dr Kamaljit Bawa
One of the world’s foremost conservationists, Kamaljit Bawa has redefined our understanding of the evolution, ecology, and sustainable use of endangered tropical forests. His contributions to public discourse and public policy on sustainability have earned him the highest awards in his field, including fellowship in the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2012, Bawa was the inaugural recipient of the Gunnerus Sustainability Award, the world’s premier international award in sustainability.
Burrell, Ginger. The Bees Have Been Brought to Their Knees. Morgan Hill, California: Ginger Burrell, 2008.
The Bees Have Been Brought to Their Knees
Artists' books are commonly issued as limited editions, but this is one-of-a-kind. It consists of two accordion-fold booklets printed on vellum and kozo paper handmade by the artist and three vials that contain beeswax pellets or images embedded in beeswax, all presented in a vintage USDA “Color Standards for Honey” measurement device. The artist is responding to serious agricultural and environmental concerns arising from recent widespread reports of significant, and unexplained, decreases in bee populations as a result of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). [N 7433.4 B868 A6 B44 2008]
Dr David R. Cheriton
David R. Cheriton has helped revolutionize the Internet. The Edmonton-raised entrepreneur and former U of A undergraduate student made a number of early contributions to the development of the Internet and has been an active investor providing seed funding for a number of important Silicon Valley companies, most notably Google. Cheriton holds a number of patents for his work, and his Stanford classes are routinely televised to leading high technology companies for the benefit of their employees.
Walsh, Rachel. The Metaphorical Kindle: Explaining the Kindle to Charles Dickens. Cardiff, UK: Walsh, 2011.
The Metaphorical Kindle
Graduate student artist Rachel Walsh made this charming altered book in response to an assignment in her program at the Cardiff School of Art & Design. Students were asked to explain an aspect of today’s technology to a person from the nineteenth century. Her deceptively simple design layers several print formats to create a metaphor that elucidates the basic functionality of an e-book reader while drawing attention to the multi-layered interrelationships between digital and print technologies. This one-of-a-kind artists' book is made from an altered copy of Germaine Greer's The Change, which houses forty miniature facsimiles of Dickens’ novels alongside some of his childhood favorites and some of the artist’s treasured childhood reads. [N 7433.4 W23 A6 M48 2011]
Darren Entwistle
Darren Entwistle was recently appointed Executive Chairman of TELUS after serving as the company’s President and CEO since 2000. He is the longest serving CEO in the global telecom industry, and under his leadership, TELUS has transformed from a regional phone company to a global communications leader. The U of A's Alberta School of Business honoured Entwistle with the Canadian Business Leader of the Year Award in 2010.
The Ronalds Company. The Story of Business. Montreal: The Ronalds Company Limited, 1940.
The Story of Business
This handsomely-produced book about the Canadian way of doing business was edited and compiled by the editorial staff of the Ronalds Company and deliberately released at Christmas as an “inspiring and helpful” story during wartime. A charming wood-engraved illustration appears at the beginning of each of the 20 chapters, which have catchy titles like “Are Business Men Smart?” and “Should Business Be Big or Little.” This limited edition copy has decorative paper-covered boards with a corporate architecture motif, deckle edges, a custom slipcase, and a splendid frontispiece of a businessman and his employee standing side by side, admiring the sights and sounds of a bustling cityscape. [HF 5071 S88]
Dennis Erker
Dennis Erker has had an exemplary career providing leadership and vision to the Canadian insurance industry. A graduate of the Alberta School of Business Institute of Corporate Directors and a post-secondary education champion, he has also been a driving force in advancing the quality of life of Albertans. Erker has successfully raised awareness and funds for a number of capital region projects, most notably the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute and the Stollery Children’s Hospital. An Honorary Colonel with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, he played an instrumental role in establishing Valour Place, a residence for members of the military and RCMP and their families receiving medical treatment in Edmonton.
Reconstruction Bulletin…Published by the Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-Establishment for the Information of All Interested in the Welfare of Canada’s Returned Soldiers. Ottawa: Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-Establishment, 1918.
Reconstruction Bulletin
This scarce government-issued serial pamphlet was published to give Canadians insight into the important issue of “fitting returned soldiers into civil life” and, more specifically, what could be done to give disabled veterans opportunities to return to civil employment. In a chapter entitled “Soldier Settlement on Land” the reader learns that throughout Western Canada, many wounded veterans were lured from the cities to become farmers, apparently motivated to do so by the “fascination of operating a gasoline engine” and an opportunity to enroll in government-sponsored courses on the care, repair, and operation of the tractor engine. The engraved illustration on the cover shows veterans at work in a variety of occupations across Canada. [UB 365 C2 R32 1918]
Dr Helen Hays
A leading global specialist and pioneer in the development of palliative care programs, Helen Hays, a graduate of the U of A’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, was medical director of the first inpatient palliative care unit at the Edmonton General Hospital. In 1994, she co-founded Pilgrims Hospice Society in Edmonton with the mission to provide a voluntary, free-standing hospice that offers supportive care to enhance the quality and dignity of life for those diagnosed with progressive, life-limiting illness.
Perkins, William. A Salve for a Sicke Man: Or, A Treatise Containing the Nature, Differences, and Kindes of Death; as also the Right Manner of Dying Well. Cambridge: John Legat, 1597.
A Salve for a Sicke Man
This sixteenth-century treatise reasons that there is no need to fear death if one is at peace with God. Intended as instruction for “mariners when they goe to sea” and “souldiers when they goe to battell,” this booklet advises that, “whatsoeer a man would doe when he is dying, the same he ought to doe every day while he is living” (18). Further, in order “that physicke may be well applied to the maintenance of health, speciall care must be had to make choice of such physicians as are knowne to be well learned, and men of experience, as also of good conscience & good religion” in order to avoid the “sundry abuses which may indanger the lives & the health of men” (30). [BV 4909 P45 1597]
Bruce Hogle
At the forefront of local television for 30 years starting in 1965, Bruce Hogle challenged, provoked, and inspired—always with an eye towards righting injustice and improving our community. His editorial efforts resulted in a number of community-first entities such as the Alberta Crimes Compensation Board and Alberta’s Block Parent Program and also Wednesday’s Child, the long-running CTV Edmonton feature that helps find permanent homes for difficult-to-adopt children. For his dedication to his community, Hogle received the Order of Canada in 1998.
Sheldon, H. Horton, and Edgar Norman Grisewood. Television: Present Methods of Picture Transmission. New York: D. Van Nostrand Co, 1929.
Television
Marketed as the “first American book on television,” this fascinating text was published to give the layman and investor a full perspective on the historical development of television and its appeal as a form of entertaiment, and instructions on how to build a receiving set for the home. While the authors claim to have finished the book without knowing what the future of television would be, they make a solid case that it is another wonder of science with tremendous potential to “bring you the world’s events as they occur.” This first edition copy contains photos and diagrams throughout, and it also features the exceedingly scarce dust wrapper in fine condition, making it especially desirable as a collector’s copy. [TK 6630 S54]
Clara Hughes
Clara Hughes is the only Canadian to have won medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympics: two in cycling and another four, including a gold, in speed skating. A recipient of the International Olympic Committee’s Sport and Community Trophy, she sits on the International Board of Directors for Right to Play, a global organization that uses the power of play to educate and empower children facing adversity. Hughes is an officer of the Order of Canada and a member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Ward, Maria E. Bicycling for Ladies: With Hints as to the Art of Wheeling, Advice to Beginners, Dress, Care of the Bicycle, Mechanics, Training, Exercise, Etc., Etc. New York: Brentano's, 1896.
Bicycling for Ladies
In the later decades of the nineteenth century, respectable young women began to loosen their corsets and modify their skirts in order to be able to participate in a wider range of physical activities. At the same time, the bicycle was rapidly gaining popularity for both transportation and sport. In Bicycling for Ladies, Maria Ward explores many of the issues that arose for modern young women as they embraced more modern and active lifestyles, in general terms, and the cycling craze in particular. This is a fine first edition of a rare and charmingly-illustrated book that highlights an important time of change for women in sport and in society. [GV 1057 W25 1896]
Dave Lede
In turning the Ledcor Group of Companies into one of Canada’s largest construction companies, alumnus Dave Lede has managed to instil in Ledcor an award-winning corporate culture that values safety, family, and community above all else. He is known as the visionary behind not only thousands of kilometres of roadways but also iconic structures like the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton and The Bow in Calgary. Earlier this year, Lede received the Canadian Business Leader of the Year award from the U of A’s Alberta School of Business.
Langley, Batty. The Builder’s Director, or Bench-Mate: Being a Pocket-Treasury of the Grecian, Roman, and Gothic Orders of Architecture. London: A. Webley, 1763.
The Builder’s Director, or Bench-Mate
This scarce edition of an important builder’s handbook has 184 engraved designs for building everything from arches and cornices to moldings and weatherings. Batty Langley (1696–1751) was an English landscape designer and architect who wrote numerous books about building techniques, garden plans, and architectural designs. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Langley was determined “to improve the status of British craftsmen, and ultimately the country's architecture, by providing them with the information they needed on geometry and the classical orders—the fundamentals of architecture—in an easily understandable and affordable form. His output was prodigious, ranging from the largest architectural book of the period, Ancient Masonry, an unwieldy folio compendium containing over 450 plates, and issued in parts from 1733 to 1736, to the condensed vicesimo-quarto The Workman's Golden Rule (1750).” [NA 2515 L3 1763]
Dr Alexander McCalla
Alexander McCalla, alumnus and former president of the U of A’s Students’ Union, has made extraordinary contributions to feeding the world and improving conditions for the poorest among us through innovative agricultural teaching programs as well as path-breaking research on the economics of public policy related to agriculture, international trade, economic development, and food security. In 2004, he was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award from the U of A.
Laurence, John. A New System of Agriculture: Being a Complete Body of Husbandry and Gardening. London: T. Woodward, 1726.
A New System of Agriculture
This is the most notable of several early reference books on agriculture penned by Rev. John Laurence. The author begins by exhorting “all philosophical gentlemen to employ a reasonable share of their thoughts and experiments on the subject of agriculture, as a more becoming exercise and relaxation than hunting or cards; and to be sure, more conducing to the health of the body, the strength of the mind,... than many other fashionable but criminal excesses.” An enthusiastic gardener who was particularly well known for growing pears, the author promises “all the best and latest” information, including “many curious observations on vegetation, on the diseases of trees, and the general annoyances to vegetables, and their probable cures.” [S 509 L37 folio]
John C. Poon
Soon after graduating with a U of A law degree in 1984, John Poon jettisoned his promising career as a practising lawyer to join the corporate arena in Hong Kong. Since the 1990’s, Poon has served many community organizations and professional bodies in Hong Kong. He has been governor of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, non-executive director of the Canadian International School, and a government-appointed council member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In 2003, he received an Alumni Award of Excellence from the U of A.
Gutzlaff, Charles. A Sketch of Chinese History, Ancient and Modern: Comprising a Retrospect of the Foreign Intercourse and Trade with China. 2 vols. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1834.
A Sketch of Chinese History, Ancient and Modern
In this two-volume study of China and its inhabitants, the author describes in great detail the history, customs, topography, government, and economic interests of the Chinese empire. China’s ancient and modern history is arranged by the author into four eras: the Mythological (duration uncertain), ancient history (2207 BCE to 263 CE), Middle Ages (264 CE to 1367 CE), and modern history (1368 CE to 1833 CE). This first edition set is bound in the original brown publisher’s cloth with gilt titles on the spines, and it has a large lithographed map of China and ten letterpress folding tables. [DS 735 G98 1834 v.1-2]
Dr David Schindler
U of A professor emeritus David Schindler is considered one of the best-informed and strongest voices guiding science and policy to ensure water safety and sustainability. For his patience and persistence in advancing scientific evidence to influence policy, Schindler has earned numerous national and international awards, including the Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal, the first Stockholm Water Prize, the Volvo Environmental Prize, and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. He was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2004.
Short, Richard. Peri Psychroposias, of Drinking Water, Against our Novelists, that Prescribed It in England by Richard Short of Bury, Doctor of Physick. London: John Crook, 1656.
Peri Psychroposias
This is a first edition of an entertaining seventeenth-century polemic that disputes the then innovative idea that there are health benefits associated with drinking water. Given the danger of contaminated water, many experts at the time advocated drinking tea or coffee made with boiled water, but the doctor who wrote the polemic also disputes the use of “warm drink.” Among other things, he argues that it is better to drink water in warm countries than in northern climes, and that there is “no necessity” of drinking water in England because, “God be thanked, we have plenty of rich Wine, gallant Beer, and nappy Ale” (39). [RM 252 S56 1656]
Beckie Scott
By the time she retired from nearly two decades of competitive cross-country skiing in 2006, Beckie Scott had rewritten the Canadian cross-country record books. A three-time Olympian, she won a gold medal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and silver at the 2006 Olympics in Torino. Her tireless advocacy for drug-free sport landed her a role as Canada’s representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athlete Committee in 2005. The Alberta-born and raised Scott was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
Gale, M. Album Chronicling the Dominion Ski Championship of the Canadian Amateur Ski Association at Banff in 1940.
Dominion Ski Championship at Banff in 1940
This charming album contains a range of photographs that offers a window on a historic event in competitive skiing in Canada. It begins with photos of travelers and some of the sights on a C.P.R. trip to Banff. It continues with photos of various ski competitions, of Cascade Mountain, of Norquay Lodge, of Banff, and of team members, all of which are identified in hand-written captions. Some of the most interesting photos are action shots that capture the skiers in competition and the watching crowds. Seven autographs are mounted inside the back cover. [GV 854.875 G36 1940]
Sandra Woitas
Sandra Woitas has devoted her career as an educator to helping disadvantaged children across Alberta get the high quality education they deserve. As principal of Norwood School and director of the City Centre Education Project, she built a network of support agencies that would become Partners for Kids. During a secondment to Alberta Education, she worked with parents, schools, and communities on the cross-ministry Family Violence and Anti-Bullying Initiative. In 2004, she was named one of the 100 Edmontonians of the Century.
Montgomery, L.M., Marian Keith, and M.B. McKinley. Courageous Women: Inspiring Biographies of Girls Who Grew to Be Women of Courage and Achievement. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1934.
Courageous Women
This important collection of human interest stories features 21 biographical profiles of women leaders “who have taken a prominent part in pioneer life, in mission work, in education, in literature, and in various spheres of public service.” Readers will learn about the achievements of such notable figures as Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale, Queen Victoria, Laura Secord, and Catherine Parr Traill. From the dust jacket blurb readers learn that many of the biographies “appear now for the first time in book form”, and Canadian readers will be especially pleased to see that 15 of the biographies are of Canadian women. This copy has the exceedingly scarce pictorial dust jacket in fine condition, and it is therefore an incredibly desirable first edition book, especially so for Lucy Maud Montgomery collectors. [CT 3202 M78 1934]
Elsie Rose Yanik
A fourth-generation Métis elder, Elsie Yanik has been described as “an angel” of Wood Buffalo for her tireless work to preserve Aboriginal heritage and to promote health and education for all in her community. For her lifetime of compassionate service and spiritual guidance, she has received a Governor General’s Commemorative Medal, the Stars of Alberta Volunteer Award, an honorary diploma from Keyano College, an Esquao Award recognizing excellence by Aboriginal women, and a blessing from Pope John Paul II for her work within the Catholic Church.
Pohlman, Sarah B. Everything and Everyone: In the End We All Are One. Philadelphia: Sarah B. Pohlman and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 2007.
Everything and Everyone
This award-winning artist’s book pays homage to the interconnectedness of all things, an idea that is graphically represented with collages that depict archetypal experiences of the human condition: physicality, purpose, struggle, and love. The abstract pictures on the double-sided accordion structure are metaphors that convey what it means to be human. According to Pohlman, “It depicts a life journey through a vibrant, textural landscape of universality and focuses on the connections among all living beings.” The interior pages of this beautiful limited edition copy are enhanced with fluorescent pigments to highlight the surreal images, making them appear especially bright and colourful. The book is elegantly bound with handmade papers. [N 7433.4 P66 A6 E94 2007]