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posted on May 14: Divinity graduands convoke this evening

Thirty graduands of Divinity College will receive degrees and certificates this evening at the college's Spring Convocation. Degrees to be conferred at the 8 p.m. ceremony in Convocation Hall are: doctor of ministry (3), master of theology (3), master of divinity (8), master of religious education (4), and master of theological studies (10). Certificates for Christian studies and parish nurse will also be presented. This year Divinity is awarding honorary degrees to pastor Joao Samuel Matwawana and biblical translator Eugene Nida. Nida will deliver the Convocation address. Eugene Nida Doctor of Letters Rev. Nida has enjoyed a long and influential career as a biblical translator and a theorist in biblical translation. He received an MA in Greek at the University of Southern California (1939) and a PhD in linguistics and anthropology at the University of Michigan (1941). For most of his working career, he was employed by the American Bible Society, acting for many years as the society's executive secretary for translation. He is the author of two classic works in the field of translation theory, Toward a Science of Translating (1964), and The Theory and Practice of Translation (with co-author C.R. Taber, 1974). Both books span the fields of translation theory and practice, anthropology, linguistics, semantics and the Bible. Nida postulated the theory of dynamic or functional equivalence translation that focuses on the meaning rather than the literal wording of a text. He will also be remembered for his association with The Good News Bible - an innovative and controversial (at the time) translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Born in the United States in 1914, Rev. Nida currently resides in Belgium where he continues to conduct research and to write. Joao Samuel Matwawana Doctor of Divinity Following graduation from Acadia University with a master of divinity, Rev. Joao Matwawana served in a variety of pastoral ministries in Canada and abroad. From 1967 to 1975, he was chaplain and deputy superintendent at the IMB Hospital in Kimpese, Zaire, offering spiritual guidance to both to patients and staff. For three years (1975-77), he was a co-ordinator with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Zaire, helping to co-ordinate relief services for Angolan refugees. After serving as pastor at the Lockeport United Baptist Church in Lockeport, Nova Scotia, in the early 1980s, Rev. Matwawana spent nearly 10 years as the prison chaplain at the institution in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. Most recently, he has worked as a trainer/facilitator with the Canadian Baptists Ministries for the Congo/Rwanda/Kenya region, training clergy and tribal leaders in conflict management, mediation and reconciliation. Fluent in six languages, Rev. Matwawana has extensive knowledge about and understanding of African culture, politics and economics. Note: Photo of Matawana unavailable at press time. (End of story)

posted on May 13: New temporary classroom coming to campus

This fall, there will be a new classroom structure located on campus, capable of accommodating more than 300 students. The University has been full of construction activity in response to continued enrolment increases and the double cohort in 2003. Those familiar with the full slate of construction projects currently underway might wonder how it's possible to have a new building ready for September when there's no apparent construction underway, no footprint for this new structure. This is because the university has committed to the installation of a temporary classroom, a 50 ft. by 100 ft. (15.25m. by 30.5m.) pre-engineered steel structure that can be assembled in a matter of weeks. The structure, designed by Arch Plus Steel Buildings (a Canadian engineering design firm), is self-supporting and features a clear span construction, which eliminates the need for trusses and posts, making it less labour intensive to construct. The decision to commit to the temporary classroom arose from a report entitled Classroom Needs for 2002 and Beyond (January 2002), which addressed enrolment planning needs to accommodate growth in the next few years. "The study was originally commissioned to determine the University's classroom needs for the double cohort in 2003. However, it was apparent from the report, that as early as September 2002, our enrollment would not be accomodated by our current classrooms," says Fred Hall, associate vice-president, academic. There were several locations under consideration as possible sites for the temporary classroom, including: the tennis court area; in Zone 2 parking south of the tennis courts; between the Institute for Applied Health Sciences and the Information Technology Building; and in the Zone 4 parking lot. Each location was analyzed for both its positive and negative potential impact on the McMaster community. The temporary structure had to be located in an area that would best serve the needs of students and the University and accounted for the flow of student traffic. The current recommendation is to locate the temporary classroom on the southeast tennis court (west of the Ivor Wynne Centre), a location central to campus that will provide the most practical and functional solution to meet McMaster's teaching needs. Installation of the temporary classroom will commence in the next month, with an estimated completion for September 2002. The pre-engineered structure has an estimated total cost of $480,000. The installlation of the temporary classroom was approved on the understanding that it will be used only until the lecture theatres in the new Health Sciences expansion are available. (End of story)

posted on May 10: McMaster’s medical school leads second revolution in medical training

McMaster's medical school is leading the revolution to build a better doctor. This is the thrust of the May 13 edition of Maclean's magazine, which devotes six pages to its cover story Building a Better Doctor and features a cover photo of second-year medical student Menaka Pai. Writer and columnist Rob Sheppard spent close to one month researching Canada's 16 medical schools to determine what makes a better doctor and how medical schools are going about building that doctor. Sheppard's article begins, "Thirty-three years ago, upstart McMaster University in Hamilton sparked a revolution in training of doctors that eventually spread to all the big medical schools in North America. Now it wants to start another. Its plan is bold, courageous and designed to combat some of the ills of today's health-care system. " Sheppard discusses the medical school's first revolutionary innovation--the problem-based learning (PBL) approach--then focuses on McMaster's new vision for the future of medical training. This revolutionary new plan, described by John Kelton, vice-president and dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, as a "marketplace model" is one that matches training more closely to the real needs of communities and ordinary doctoring. Sheppard writes, "Change comes when an institution with a flair for innovation, like McMaster, pops its head up above the crowd." (End of story)

posted on May 10: New partnership bolsters information technology

A mentor in the field of information technology hopes to foster a new generation of professors with his gift to establish an endowed research chair in information technology. Doug Barber, an engineer, professor and entrepreneur, and Gennum Corp. of Burlington, Ont. have donated $1.3 million to McMaster University to create the Barber-Gennum Chair in Information Technology. Barber, one of the founders of Gennum Corp., believes the only way to ensure there are enough highly-skilled people working in the information technology sector is to make sure there are enough professors available to teach them. "There is a great danger of losing our capability to educate people because the demand for knowledge workers has exceeded the supply," said Barber, former chair of McMaster's Board of Governors and Distinguished Professor-in-Residence. "We have lost many from the academic world to industry. The whole idea is to make sure there is an opportunity for young people who are knowledgeable and want to become university professors to be supported and make the academic world attractive to them." The endowed chair is for a five-year term, non-renewable, and eligible candidates cannot have held a tenured appointment at any university. The inaugural chairholder is Ian Bruce, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, who is researching biomedical engineering. Bruce is studying the neurobiology of hearing loss with colleagues in psychology, electrical & computer engineering and Gennum Corp. to design better hearing aids.

Posted on May 9: McMaster and City of Hamilton move ahead on biomedical incubator business plan

McMaster officials were back at City Hall yesterday presenting a plan that will help Hamilton build its biotechnology base. McMaster has been working with the City of Hamilton's economic development staff over the last several months to develop a partnership that ultimately will result in the creation of the Hamilton-McMaster Biomedical Incubator. The proposed incubator will assist new companies with the commercialization of biomedical research while capitalizing on McMaster's research and research capacity. The city has identified biotechnology as one of six economic development clusters. It was decided at the meeting that the University and the city will collaborate in the development of a business plan for this project. Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president, research & international affairs, sees this as an important first step. He believes this partnership is a tremendous opportunity for McMaster to support the city's economic development and job creation goals and to diversify its industrial base. "The timing is right for this," Shoukri told a number of city councillors who participated in the hearings sub-committee meeting. "There is a convergence of priorities the University and its affiliated hospitals, the city and the province all have identified biotechnology as an area of strategic importance, while the federal government's innovation agenda clearly outlines commercialization of university research as a priority." Mayor Bob Wade attended the meeting and told his colleagues that the biotechnology window of opportunity "may pass Hamilton by." He went on to say, "if we are intent do to something for the city's economy, then we must find a way to endorse this project." (End of story)

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posted on May 14: Divinity graduands convoke this evening

posted on May 13: New temporary classroom coming to campus

posted on May 10: McMaster’s medical school leads second revolution in medical training

posted on May 10: New partnership bolsters information technology

Posted on May 9: McMaster and City of Hamilton move ahead on biomedical incubator business plan

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