Six members of the Queen’s community who have gone above and beyond their normal duties to improve life on campus are being honoured by University Council with Distinguished Service Awards.

This year’s honorees are Teresa Alm, Keith Banting (Arts’69), Sarah Jane Dumbrille (Arts’66), John Fisher, Audrey Hunt, and Brian Osborne.

“We are fortunate at Queen’s to have many people on campus who are dedicated and passionate about seeing students and the university achieve its greatest potential,” says Chancellor Jim Leech. “These six people have consistently made extraordinary contributions to campus life, and the Distinguished Service Awards are a way of showing our gratitude.”

All the recipients will be honoured at the University Council Dinner on Saturday, Nov. 10 in Ban Righ Hall. The Distinguished Service Awards were established by University Council  in 1974. 

Here is a closer look at this year’s recipients:

• Teresa Alm, Associate University Registrar (Student Awards), has been instrumental in raising millions of dollars to dramatically increase financial aid to students. She also advises students – often assisting them through difficult life events and helping them remove financial barriers in order to study at Queen’s. 
• Professor Emeritus Keith Banting (Arts’69) has served the university for more than 30 years as a teacher, renowned scholar, and administrator. He helped put the School of Policy Studies at the forefront of policy-driven research during his 10-year term as the school’s director. He is the author/editor of 20 books, and one of the world’s foremost authorities on multiculturalism, federalism, and social policy.
• Sarah Jane Dumbrille (Arts’65) is a long-standing Queen’s volunteer who has served on many boards and committees (including the Queen’s Board of Trustees and University Council) and is the former chair of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre Advisory Board. She started volunteering in 1988 with the Brockville Branch of the Queen’s University Alumni Association. She is an enthusiastic ambassador for Queen’s who has enhanced the university through her active leadership and volunteer service.
• Professor John Fisher has worked at Queen’s for 34 years. Over that time he has managed to excel at all of his duties over a wide variety of fields such as maintaining an active research lab, mentoring grad students, and performing administrative duties including serving as interim vice-principal (research) and department head (physiology). He recently spearheaded the university’s new Strategic Research Plan.
• Audrey Hunt started working at Queen’s in 1979 and has spent the past 21 years as the departmental and financial administrator with the Department of Emergency Medicine. Students and staff say Ms. Hunt has been indispensable behind the scenes to support everyone as the department has tripled in size and grown to be recognized internationally as a leader in research and education. Her knowledge of administrative policies has made her an expert who people from other departments call for guidance.
• Professor Emeritus Brian Osborne spent 37 years (1967 to 2004) teaching with the Department of Geography, serving as head for 10 years. His impact went beyond the classroom as he served on numerous committees including the University Archives, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Donald Gordon Conference Centre, Faculty of Education, and University Senate.

Visit the Queen’s Alumni website to purchase tickets to the University Council Dinner.