Six outstanding Brandon University (BU) alumni will receive awards during one of the highlight events of the BU125 Homecoming celebration in September. The awards will be presented during the Homecoming Dinner and Awards, to be held the evening of Saturday, Sept. 14.
This year’s recipients will be: Karsten Henriksen (’06) and Warren Brown (’69) in the category of Career Achievement; Jean Lawson (’78) and Patricia Bowslaugh (’60, ’71, ’76) for Community Service; Jarrad Perron (’12, ’15) for Outstanding Young Alumni; and John William McLeod Thompson (’29), who will be posthumously inducted into the BU Alumni Wall of Fame.
“We take great pride in our remarkable alumni, who continually impress us with their incredible accomplishments all around the globe,” said Carla Eisler, BU’s Director of Advancement and Alumni Affairs. “Homecoming is a wonderful opportunity to welcome back many of our alumni and to recognize some of those who have gone above and beyond in their careers and in their communities. It’s a special year as we celebrate 125 years since the founding of Brandon College, and I’m delighted that we have so many alumni deserving of recognition.”
The Dinner and Awards evening is an opportunity to enjoy reminiscing with friends and classmates as we recognize special anniversary years and the outstanding achievements of BU alumni. Tickets cost $60 and are available until Sept. 5 at BrandonU.ca/Homecoming/Registration.
The dinner is only one of the focal points of Homecoming, which will run from September 12 to 15. Homecoming is open to the entire community and the events for this year’s special edition include the BU125 Birthday Celebration, the JRC Evans Lectureship presentation by Dr. Brian Goldman, a faculty concert, the Blue & Gold Social, research presentations, PrairieCon Games Day and the Terry Fox Run. A full list of events can be found at BrandonU.ca/Homecoming/Schedule.
Award Recipients
Karsten Henriksen, Career Achievement Award — Karsten’s career in post-secondary education has spanned two decades with service in five Canadian Provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario) and two Canadian Territories (Yukon and Nunavut). Karsten has leveraged his experiences as a member of the LGBTQ2S+ community coupled with his experiences as a Person with Disability to inform his leadership practice. His career has been defined by innovations in program delivery and development of collaborative agreements between industry and Indigenous communities. He serves as an advocate for underrepresented persons in higher education and purposeful engagement to address the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Throughout his career, Karsten has served as a Faculty Member (Undergraduate and Graduate), Chair, Director, Dean, Vice-President, Academic and is currently, the President & CEO of Northlands College. In addition to his Canadian experience, he has done extensive work in New Zealand, China, Circumpolar North and the Americas. Karsten and his spouse, Martin Sanchez Henriksen, currently reside in Northern Saskatchewan with their dogs Maya and Gabriel, with their second home being in Tulum, Mexico.
Warren Brown, Career Achievement Award — Warren played a pivotal role in advancing the use of technology in health care. His companies (focused on the Home and Community Health sector) provided innovative, leading-edge technology and business solutions to providers in Canada, the United States and Australia. Warren attended Brandon University from 1966 to 1969. He was introduced to computers in the Geography Department. This fateful connection led to an exciting career with Great-West Life and later with B.C. Systems. Warren recognized the opportunity for growth in new technology in health care based on the “baby boom.” He formed his own company to serve that need. The company grew quickly. This growth was accelerated by the acquisition of an additional six companies. The merged entities delivered innovative ways to solve business problems, improve customer service and decrease costs in the sector. The Procura Group of Companies came to dominate the market for home and community care software in Canada. Procura was among the top three solutions in the United States and became the only viable solution in the Australian market. The employees of The Procura Group of Companies were sought after as invited speakers at conferences in North America and Australia where they shared their R&D, their knowledge and their leadership expertise.
Throughout his career, Warren served on advisory boards in Canada and the United States, promoting the advancement of technology in health care. His support for the tech sector in Victoria, B.C., continues to this day as he invests in and shares ideas with local entrepreneurs.
Warren met Michelle (née Waters) at Brandon University and they married in 1970. Michelle had a successful career as a teacher in Manitoba and B.C. She was always there to be a mother to Jennifer and support Warren in his various entrepreneurial adventures.
Jean Lawson, Community Service Award — Jean Lawson (née Comrie) was raised on a farm near Minnedosa. From an early age, music was important in the Comrie family. Her mom once said, “If you can play piano, you will always be needed.” How right she was …
Jean began piano lessons at age six and completed her Performer’s Practical Exam at 17. By graduation, she had already played for many weddings, school productions, concerts and choirs. At the suggestion of piano teacher Elizabeth Grant, she entered Brandon University School of Music in 1974. Jean graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education and after a year of teaching, she married fellow music grad Tim and moved to Killarney, Man., where he was teaching band. She began her 36-year career teaching grades 6-12 band in Boissevain the following year.
Working with young people was and is still an integral part of Jean’s life. She spent many extracurricular hours teaching jazz band and choir and preparing students for festival performances. From high school through retirement, Jean has been the music director and accompanist for close to 30 high school musicals. Today, Jean serves on the boards of Boissevain Festival of the Arts and Westman Youth Choir. She still enjoys preparing and accompanying students for festivals and has begun working with vocal ensembles at Killarney School. Jean has conducted the Killarney United Church Choir since 2012. In 2013, she took over organizing and conducting the Killarney Community Christmas Choir. Jean also enjoys playing keyboard for local performing groups The J T & T Trio and Take 4. She and her husband have three children and four young grandchildren.
“It is such a privilege to be able to bring the young and the not so young together to share in the gift of music,” she says.
Patricia Bowslaugh, Community Service Award — Patricia has shown a lifelong commitment to community, supplementing her 39-year career as an educator in the Brandon School Division and 11 years of teaching at Brandon University with extensive volunteer experience. Patricia’s involvement with numerous organizations includes, to name a few, serving 12 years as a Brandon School Division Trustee, six years with the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council, 48 years on the Western Manitoba Regional Science Fair committee, and 24 years on the Milestone Project screening pre-school children. She is Charter Member of Delta Kappa Gamma and the Sunset Rotary Club of Brandon and has been a Board Member with the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba. Patricia was instrumental in the development of the Master of Education program at BU and is a member of the BU Foundation’s Order of the Sheaf, recognizing her generosity to her alma mater. Patricia has created two books, A Message to my Baby, sponsored by the Rotary Club and given to every baby born in the local health authority, and A Child’s Message to my Parent, sponsored by the Retired Teachers’ Association of Manitoba and the School Board Trustee Association of Manitoba, and used in baby clinics in Manitoba.
Among Patricia’s honours are recognition from the Government of Manitoba for volunteerism, a nomination for the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literacy in 2001, selection as a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International, the receipt of a Star Blanket for work on the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council, the Retired Teachers’ Association of Manitoba Distinguished Service Award in 2022, recognition for 60 years of IODE Canada service in 2023 and the Youth Science Canada Distinguished Service Award in both 1992 and 2013.
Jarrad Perron, Outstanding Young Alumni Award — Jarrad Perron is a two-time alumnus of Brandon University. He completed a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance under Alexander Tselyakov, graduating as a member of the President’s Honour Society. He then completed a Bachelor of Science in Physics, with research work in quantum information theory under Dr. Margaret Carrington and Dr. Sarah Plosker. After completing a Master of Science in Medical Physics, he is now pursuing the combined MD-PhD program at the University of Manitoba. His doctoral research concerns the neuroimaging of neurodegenerative dementia, focused on developing AI-based models to forecast cognition in patients with presymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. His research is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Baxter Bursary from the Ricard Foundation.
He was previously a finalist of the 2023 Three-Minute Thesis competition, was invited to the inaugural Next Generation in Nuclear Medicine conference at McMaster University and was a winner of the Sarit Scholarship competition. More recently, Jarrad was a nominee for both the Manitoba Future 40 award and for the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.
Jarrad is also an active educator and is deeply involved in community projects for dementia in Manitoba. He is a lecture assistant at both the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, he facilitates a support group for caregivers of people with dementia for the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba and has been a presenter at the Manitoba Neuroscience Network’s “Brain Awareness Week” and “Brain Bee,” where he presents on dementia and neuroimaging research.
Jarrad’s research at the intersection of neuroimaging, AI and neurodegenerative diseases has earned him a reputation as a rising star of Manitoba’s neuroscientific community. He is committed to growing this industry through mentorship, research and community initiatives. In his spare time, Jarrad loves keeping small animals such as pet rats, and is a founding member of the “Vicious Mockery Dungeons and Dragons Collective.”
John William McLeod Thompson, Wall of Fame — The Honourable John William McLeod Thompson QC was born in Elkhorn in July 1908, the grandson of pioneers who settled in Elkhorn in 1882. He received the Governor General’s Academic Medal at Elkhorn High School before coming to Brandon in 1925. Young John became well known as an orator, with an avid interest in debating and politics. He graduated with the class of 1929 and gave the valedictory address.
John went on to pursue and excel in his interests — winning the 1932 inter-provincial debates while at the University of Manitoba, where he graduated in law in 1933. He led an exemplary life of 50 years of service to his community, the province and the nation — as a municipal councillor, school trustee, in the RCAF during WWII, as mayor of Elkhorn, MLA for Virden 1953-1962, and holding Manitoba Cabinet portfolios from 1958-62 as Minister of Public Works, Labour, and Municipal Affairs. In Public Works, John introduced a record road building program that linked our communities and completed the Trans-Canada Manitoba Highway 1 in 1962.
After leaving active politics John was appointed to the bench of the County Court in 1962 which later became the Court of Queen’s Bench, and served as a Commissioner on the Manitoba Royal Commission on Local Government and Finance from 1963-64. Judge Thompson continued to serve the court with distinction until his retirement in 1983.
For all his long service and accomplishments, it’s worth remembering John Thompson, the man, in the words of his cabinet colleague and former Lieutenant Governor of this province, George Johnson: “John is one of those rare ornaments in any society, community or group – the man whose very bearing and personality literally radiates friendship, good fellowship and warm spirit. Finding an enemy of John Thompson would be a task comparable to finding the proverbial needle in a straw stack — and if given a choice I would prefer the latter undertaking.”
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