EMERITUM AWARDS

CELEBRATING DISTINGUISHED SERVICE

Emeritum is an honourary title conferred to retiring or retired faculty or staff to recognize their distinguished service to an organization. Langara is proud to announce the conferral of the 2021 Emeritum Awards to Wendy Lannard, Gordon McFarlane, Dr. Rachel Mines, Dr. John Russell, and Dr. Jeffrey Webster for their outstanding contribution to teaching, research, service, or leadership.

WENDY LANNARD – DIRECTOR EMERITA, FACILITIES

Beginning her career at the College in 1977, Wendy accelerated through many leadership opportunities within the Facilities Department, until she became the Director in 2012. During her illustrious 40-year career at the College, Wendy was instrumental in helping Langara grow into the remarkable institution that it is today. Wendy championed many projects related to all aspects of the Langara community. She played an invaluable role in leading the construction and opening of the LSU and C Building in 2010 and the Science and Technology Building in 2016, both of which were awarded LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Canada Gold Status. In 2011, Wendy received the Langara Service Excellence Award recognizing her exceptional support and service to the College. After retirement in 2017, Wendy has been working closely with the College as a consultant, spearheading the development of Langara’s new Campus Master Plan which recently received rezoning approval from the City.

GORDON MCFARLANE – FACULTY EMERITUS, SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Gordon McFarlane retired in 2012 from the School of Management. During his 15 years at Langara, he was an instructor, coordinator, department chair, and project leader for the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree program.

Gordon was raised in Glasgow, Scotland, and educated at the University of Strathclyde where he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Marketing & Economics and an MSc in International Marketing. After marrying in 1980, he emigrated to BC where he worked at BC Tel (Telus) for 17 years. While in business, Gordon always had a part-time teaching career, teaching in the evenings and on Saturdays. He accumulated 39 years of part-time and full-time teaching in post-secondary education throughout various colleges and universities in Scotland and BC. Gordon had an incredible passion for teaching, which along with his Scottish accent and quick sense of humour, made him a very popular instructor.

DR. RACHEL MINES – FACULTY EMERITA, ENGLISH

Dr. Rachel Mines began working at the Langara Library in the late 1970s. She graduated from the Library Technician Program in 1984, and then worked at UBC while completing her BA and MA in English. After obtaining her PhD from King’s College London (UK), Rachel taught in Langara’s English Department from 2002 until she retired in 2020.

In 2016, Rachel developed and taught the two-semester course “Writing Lives: The Holocaust Survivor Memoir Project.” The course partnered Langara students with local Holocaust survivors to write their memoirs. “Writing Lives” has since been revised for survivors of BC’s residential schools.

As well as publishing articles, Rachel has spoken on Holocaust-related themes through the Langara Lecture Series and elsewhere. Her translations of Yiddish short fiction have appeared online and in print, and her ground-breaking book, The Rivals and Other Stories by Jonah Rosenfeld, was published by Syracuse University Press in 2020.

DR. JOHN RUSSELL – FACULTY EMERITUM, PHILOSOPHY

As Chair of the Philosophy Department, Dr. John Russell has demonstrated that philosophy is relevant and practical to people's lives. From serving as the Chair for the Research Ethics Board to co-founding the Philosophers' Jam to co-creating the Diploma in Applied Social Sciences and Humanities (DASSH) Program, his passion for philosophy has extended beyond the classroom into our community.

He has published extensively on questions related to sport and values, and was awarded the Warren P. Fraleigh Distinguished Scholar Award for the Philosophy of Sport. He was also the editor for the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. In consultation with the Faculty of Nursing, John carefully developed a biomedical ethics philosophy course within the Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

John was also awarded the inaugural Langara Scholarly Excellence Award. His leadership has had a remarkable impact upon the College.

DR. JEFFREY WEBSTER – FACULTY EMERITUS, PSYCHOLOGY

Dr. Jeffrey Webster retired from the Psychology Department after teaching and researching for 35 years. He mentored Langara research methods students, who often won the Allen Cup, awarded for the best research paper, and served as an informal mentor to several doctoral students from international locations.

Jeffrey was a founding member of the Langara Research Ethics Board and frequently presented at both Scholarly Activities Day and Langara Community Talks. He developed three research questionnaires which are frequently used around the world and have been translated into more than 20 languages. He has published over 60 peer reviewed articles, including two edited books, and has presented over 60 times at international conferences.

His work has received several honours/awards, including an Endowed Visiting Chair in Gerontology position and the 2019 Langara Scholarly Excellence Award.