58 Notable alumni of
University of Guelph
Updated:
The University of Guelph is 1097th in the world, 400th in North America, and 27th in Canada by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 58 notable alumni from the University of Guelph sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Vandana Shiva
- Occupations
- university teacherwriterecofeministpoliticianenvironmentalist
- Biography
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Vandana Shiva is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalization author. Based in Delhi, Shiva has written more than 20 books. She is often referred to as "Gandhi of grain" for her activism associated with the anti-GMO movement.
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Scott McGillivray
- Occupations
- interior designercarpentertelevision producer
- Biography
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Scott McGillivray is a Canadian entrepreneur, investor, television host, author and educator.
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Olivia Chow
- Enrolled in the University of Guelph
- In 1979 graduated with Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in fine art
- Occupations
- sculptorpolitician
- Biography
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Olivia Chow is a Canadian politician who has been the 66th mayor of Toronto since July 12, 2023. Previously, Chow served as the New Democratic Party (NDP) member of Parliament (MP) for Trinity—Spadina from 2006 to 2014, and was a councillor on the Metro Toronto Council from 1992 to the 1998 amalgamation followed by Toronto City Council until 2005.
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Peter Watts
- Occupations
- science fiction writerwritermarine biologistscreenwriterzoologist
- Biography
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Peter Watts is a Canadian science fiction author. He specializes in hard science fiction. He earned a Ph.D from the University of British Columbia in 1991 from the Department of Zoology and Resource Ecology. He went on to hold several academic research and teaching positions, and worked as a marine-mammal biologist. He began publishing fiction around the time he finished graduate school.
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Laura Bertram
- Occupations
- film actoractor
- Biography
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Laura Maureen Bertram is a Canadian actress best known for her roles as Amanda Zimm in Ready or Not and Trance Gemini in Andromeda.
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Roberta Bondar
- Occupations
- biologistphotographerastronautphysicianneurologist
- Biography
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Roberta Lynn Bondar is a Canadian astronaut, neurologist and consultant. She is Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space.
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Lisa Raitt
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Lisa Sarah MacCormack Raitt is a former Canadian politician who served as a federal Cabinet minister and member of Parliament (MP) from 2008 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, Raitt was elected to the House of Commons in the 2008 election, representing Halton. Shortly after her election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named her minister of natural resources, holding the role until 2010, when she became minister of labour. In 2013, she became minister of transport, remaining in the role until the Conservatives were defeated by the Liberal Party in the 2015 election. Raitt was re-elected in the newly formed riding of Milton. She contested the Conservative leadership in 2017, losing to Andrew Scheer, who made her deputy party leader and deputy opposition leader, a role she would hold until she was defeated in the 2019 election. Since leaving politics, she has been the vice chair of Global Investment Banking at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).
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Thomas Dimitroff
- Occupations
- player of American footballscout
- Biography
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Thomas George Dimitroff Jr. is an American football executive. He served as the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons from 2008 to 2020. Before joining the Falcons in 2008, Dimitroff was with the New England Patriots for six years. He joined the Patriots in 2002 as a national scout before being named director of college scouting a year later. He is the son of former football player and coach Tom Dimitroff Sr.
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Jane Siberry
- Occupations
- singerjazz musiciansongwriter
- Biography
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Jane Siberry is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known for such hits as "Mimi on the Beach", "I Muse Aloud", "One More Colour" and "Calling All Angels". She performed the theme song to the television series Maniac Mansion. She has released material under the name Issa – an identity (as opposed to a simple stagename) which she used formally between 2006 and 2009.
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Stephen Hicks
- Occupations
- philosopheruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks is a Canadian-American philosopher. He teaches at Rockford University, where he also directs the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship.
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Tim Bray
- Occupations
- bloggercomputer scientist
- Biography
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Timothy William Bray is a Canadian software developer, environmentalist, political activist and one of the co-authors of the original XML specification. He worked for Amazon Web Services from December 2014 until May 2020 when he quit due to concerns over the terminating of whistleblowers. Previously he has been employed by Google, Sun Microsystems and Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Bray has also founded or co-founded several start-ups such as Antarctica Systems.
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Mark Lutz
- Occupations
- television actorscreenwriterfilm actorfilm producer
- Biography
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Mark Douglas Lutz is a Canadian actor, who is best known for playing Groosalugg in the television series Angel and for writing and starring in Victor, a two-hour film on the life and death of Victor Davis.
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William Tang
- Occupations
- fashion designer
- Biography
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William Tang Tat-chi is a Hong Kong fashion designer. Tang studied fashion at London College of Fashion, and established his own brand in 1985.
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Rupan Bal
- Occupations
- actorfilm actordirector
- Biography
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Rupanjit Singh Bal is an Indian-Canadian YouTuber, actor, director and comedian. Bal became famous for his comedic roles in videos produced by fellow Indo-Canadian comic and YouTuber Jus Reign, and parleyed that role into further acting work. He made his film debut as the main actor in the Punjabi film Haani. He has directed many music videos for Karan Aujla.
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Audrey McLaughlin
- Occupations
- autobiographerpolitician
- Biography
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Audrey Marlene McLaughlin is a Canadian politician and former leader of the New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the House of Commons of Canada, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian territory.
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Aref Ali Nayed
- Occupations
- international forum participantpoliticianuniversity teacherphilosopher
- Biography
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Dr. Aref Ali Nayed is a Libyan Islamic scholar and a former Libyan Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Nayed is the founder and director of Kalam Research & Media (KRM), based in Tripoli, Libya and Dubai. Until the outbreak of the revolution in Libya, he lectured on Islamic theology, logic, and spirituality at the restored Uthman Pasha Madrassa in Tripoli, and supervised graduate students at the Islamic Call College there. Before the liberation of Tripoli in 2011, he was appointed by the National Transitional Council as the coordinator of the Tripoli Taskforce. When Tripoli was liberated in late August 2011, the remit was broadened and he was made the lead coordinator of the Libya Stabilization Team. Earlier in the year, he was the coordinator for the Support Offices of the Executive Team of the National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya. He is also the secretary of the Network of Free Ulema – Libya.According to the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Nayed is ranked 50th among the top 500 most influential Muslims in the world.
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Jane Urquhart
- Occupations
- novelistwriterpoet
- Biography
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Jane Urquhart, LL.D is a Canadian novelist and poet. She is the internationally acclaimed author of seven award-winning novels, three books of poetry and numerous short stories. As a novelist, Urquhart is well known for her evocative style which blends history with the present day. Her first novel, The Whirlpool (published 1986), gained her international recognition when she became the first Canadian to win France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger (Best Foreign Book Award). Her subsequent novels were even more successful. Away, published in 1993, won the Trillium Award and was a national bestseller. In 1997, her fourth novel, The Underpainter, won the Governor General's Literary Award.
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Kinga Surma
- Born in
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Poland - Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Kinga Surma is a Canadian politician and the Ontario Minister of Infrastructure since June 18, 2021. She represents the riding of Etobicoke Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. She previously served as Ontario's first Associate Minister of Transportation. In the cabinet shuffle announced on June 18, 2021, she was promoted to the position of Minister of Infrastructure.
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Marwan Tabbara
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Marwan Rached Tabbara is a former Canadian politician who represented the riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler in the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 to 2021. He was first elected in the 2015 federal election as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada and re-elected in 2019. Tabbara resigned from the Liberal caucus in 2020 after he was charged in connection with an alleged assault and sat as an independent member for the remainder of the 43rd Canadian Parliament. He did not seek re-election in the 2021 Canada federal election.
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Cassie Campbell
- Occupations
- sports commentatorice hockey playermotivational speaker
- Biography
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Cassie Dawin Campbell-Pascall CM is a former Canadian ice hockey player and a broadcaster for ESPN/ABC, and formerly Sportsnet. Born in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Campbell grew up in Brampton, Ontario, playing for the Brampton Canadettes. She was the captain of the Canadian women's ice hockey team during the 2002 Winter Olympics and led the team to a gold medal. The left winger took on the role of captain again in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and again successfully led her team to a gold medal with a 4 – 1 win over Sweden.
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Shani Mootoo
- Occupations
- novelistwriterpainterphotographertelevision producer
- Biography
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Shani Mootoo, writer, visual artist and video maker, was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1957 to Trinidadian parents. She grew up in Trinidad and relocated at the age of 19 to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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Liz Sandals
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Liz Sandals is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Guelph—Wellington and Guelph. She served in cabinet as the President of the Treasury Board until January 17, 2018 and previously served for three years as Minister of Education in the government of Kathleen Wynne.
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Jacqueline McGlade
- Years
- 1955-.. (age 69)
- Occupations
- biologistoceanographeruniversity teacherecologist
- Biography
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Jacqueline Myriam McGlade is a British-born Canadian marine biologist and environmental informatics professor. Her research concerns the spatial and nonlinear dynamics of ecosystems, climate change and scenario development. She is currently professor of resilience and sustainable development at the University College London Institute for Global Prosperity and Faculty of Engineering, UK, and professor at Strathmore University in the Institute for Public Policy and Governance, Kenya.
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Kaleed Rasheed
- Biography
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Kaleed Rasheed is a Canadian politician who has represented Mississauga East—Cooksville in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 2018. Sitting as an Independent, Rasheed was elected as a member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, however, he left the PC caucus and provincial cabinet on September 20, 2023. He previously served as the minister of public and business service delivery from 2022 to 2023 and associate minister of digital government from 2019 to 2022.
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Diane Deans
- Years
- 1958-.. (age 66)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Diane Elizabeth Deans is a former member of Ottawa City Council, Canada, representing Gloucester-Southgate Ward in the city's southeast, representing more than 49,500 residents.
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Mirela Rahneva
- Enrolled in the University of Guelph
- 2006-2010 graduated with Bachelor of Commerce in tourism
- Occupations
- rugby sevens playerskeleton racer
- Biography
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Mirela "Mimi" Rahneva is a Canadian skeleton racer. Her family immigrated to Canada in 1997; her father, Stoyan, was a competitive gymnast, and her mother was an elite sprinter. After playing rugby in high school and at the University of Guelph, she began competing in skeleton in 2012 and was selected to the Canadian national team in 2016. She is coached by Quin Sekulich and rides a Bromley sled. She was named one of the three women to represent Canada in skeleton at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang after earning eighth on the World Cup season standings for 2017–18.
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Suze Morrison
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Suze Morrison is a former Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election. She represented the riding of Toronto Centre as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, and was the Ontario New Democratic Party's Caucus Critic for both Housing and Women's Issues. She did not run for re-election in 2022.
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Evan Siddall
- Occupations
- business executiveinternational forum participant
- Biography
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Evan Siddall is the Chief Executive Officer of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation. Previously he served as the CEO of Canada’s state-owned housing authority, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
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Reid Coolsaet
- Occupations
- athletics competitormarathon runner
- Biography
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Reid Coolsaet is a Canadian long-distance runner who competes in the marathon.
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Ryder Britton
- Biography
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Ryder Britton is a former Canadian film and television actor.
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David de Burgh Graham
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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David de Burgh Graham is a Canadian politician and railway dispatcher who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Laurentides—Labelle from 2015 until his defeat in the 2019 federal election. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he is also an important player in the free software movement.
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Mike Wallace
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Michael L. Wallace is a Canadian politician. He successfully stood for councillor in Burlington, Ontario in 1994 and was re-elected three times. He has represented the electoral district of Burlington from 2006 to 2015 in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. While there, he chaired the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and the Conservative Marine Caucus. He was defeated in the 2015 general election by Karina Gould.
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Toby Barrett
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Theobald Butler "Toby" Barrett is a former Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the district of Haldimand—Norfolk for the Progressive Conservative Party from 1995 until 2022.
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Meredith Chivers
- Occupations
- researcherpsychologist
- Biography
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Meredith L. Chivers is a Canadian sexologist and clinical psychologist noted for her research on female sexuality, sexual orientation, paraphilias, sex differences, gender identity, and the physiology of sexual arousal. She is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
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Deni Ellis Béchard
- Occupations
- journalistnovelistwriterphotographer
- Biography
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Deni Ellis Béchard, also known as Deni Yvan Béchard is a Canadian-American novelist.
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Alastair Summerlee
- Occupations
- biomedical scientist
- Biography
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Alastair J. S. Summerlee was the Interim President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton University located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was previously the seventh president of the University of Guelph.
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Gord Miller
- Years
- 1953-.. (age 71)
- Occupations
- politicianbiologist
- Biography
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Gord Miller is a Canadian politician who was the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, having served from February 1, 2000 to May 18, 2015. He was appointed to a five-year term in 2000 and was reappointed to this position in 2005 and 2010 for two consecutive five-year terms.
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Dicki Chhoyang
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Dicki Chhoyang or Dickyi Choeyang, (Mussoorie, India, 1966 -) is a Tibetan politician who was the former Foreign Minister of the Central Tibetan Administration.
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Dolph Schluter
- Occupations
- university teacherevolutionary biologist
- Biography
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Dolph Schluter is a Canadian professor of Evolutionary Biology and a Canada Research Chair in the Department of Zoology at the University of British Columbia. Schluter is a major researcher in adaptive radiation and currently studies speciation in the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus.
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Moira Brown
- Born in
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Canada - Enrolled in the University of Guelph
- Graduated with doctorate
- Occupations
- marine biologist
- Biography
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Moira Brown is a Canadian researcher of the North Atlantic right whale. She is leading the initiative to convince the Government of Canada, shipping industry and scientists to address ship strikes and North Atlantic right whale mortality in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Brown has conducted research on whales for more than 30 years.
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Mark Lautens
- Enrolled in the University of Guelph
- 1977-1981 graduated with Bachelor of Science in chemistry
- Occupations
- chemistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Mark Lautens, OC, FRSC is a Canadian organic chemist and is a University Professor at the University of Toronto.
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George Chiang
- Born in
- Canada
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actor
- Biography
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George Chiang is a Canadian actor, writer, lyricist, composer and producer. Chiang has created several award-winning projects including the musical, Golden Lotus, the children's book, The Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing and numerous songs and music videos such as, A World Away, Old Montreal, and Today and Tomorrow.
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Mary Swan
- Years
- 1953-.. (age 71)
- Occupations
- librarian
- Biography
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Mary Swan is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is also a trained librarian with a keen eye for history. Her novel The Boys in the Trees, a shortlisted nominee for the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize. was inspired by a newspaper clipping concerning a death within a family.
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David Giuliano
- Occupations
- civil servant
- Biography
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David W. Giuliano was the 39th Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 2006 to 2009.
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Ralph Spence
- Occupations
- priest
- Biography
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David Ralph Spence is a Canadian retired Anglican bishop.
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Piers Nash
- Occupations
- biochemist
- Biography
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Piers David Nash is an entrepreneur, cancer biology professor, data evangelist, writer and technology futurist. He is the son of academic Roger Nash.
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Sue Richards
- Occupations
- artistblogger
- Biography
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Sue Richards was a Canadian artist and social entrepreneur from Guelph, Ontario. Sue moved to Guelph in 1981 to attend the University of Guelph. In 2002 she launched the Breast of Canada calendar in support of breast health and breast cancer prevention.
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Penny Park
- Occupations
- science journalist
- Biography
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Penelope Dawn Park (July 26, 1953 – December 14, 2018) was a Canadian science journalist.
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Krista A Varady
- Born in
- Canada
- Enrolled in the University of Guelph
- Studied in 1998-2002
- Occupations
- researcher
- Biography
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Krista A. Varady is a Canadian-American scientist known for her studies of intermittent fasting on chronic disease risk in human subjects. Varady was one of the first scientists to study intermittent fasting in humans. As of 2022, she is a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois Chicago in the department of Kinesiology and Nutrition. She also serves as the director of the Human Nutrition Research Center at UIC. Her work is primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health. She is also the co-author of two books about intermittent fasting for the general public, titled The Every Other Day Diet and The Fastest Diet.
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Soraya Peerbaye
- Occupations
- writerpoet
- Biography
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Soraya Peerbaye is a Canadian writer. She was a shortlisted nominee for the Gerald Lampert Award in 2010 for her poetry collection Poems for the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names, and for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2016 for Tell: poems for a girlhood.
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Derek Sullivan
- Years
- 1976-.. (age 48)
- Occupations
- multimedia artist
- Biography
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Derek Sullivan is a contemporary visual artist from Toronto, Ontario. Sullivan’s multidisciplinary practice employs drawing, sculpture, book works, and installation to engage with the legacy of modernist art and design. He is currently an Assistant Professor in Sculpture/Installation at OCAD University.
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Gwendolyn Tonge
- Occupations
- television presenterpoliticianteacher
- Biography
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Dame Gwendolyn Tonge, DCN, OH, MBE was an Antiguan teacher and home economics expert. After teaching for many years, she became the head of the government Women's Desk, the precursor to the Directorate of Gender Affairs. Appointed as a Senator, she continued to work in the Ministry of the Prime Minister, responsible for policies on women's issues. As Auntie Gwen, she hosted a cooking show Cooking Magic, which began airing on the Antigua and Barbuda Broadcasting Service (ABS) in the 1960s until her death, the longest running television series in the eastern Caribbean, other than news programs. The recipient of many awards, she was honored with the Order of the British Empire, the Order of Honour of Antigua and Barbuda, Distinguished Order of the Nation.
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Charles Ambrose Zavitz
- Years
- 1863-1942 (aged 79)
- Occupations
- chemistagronomist
- Biography
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Charles Ambrose Zavitz was born in 1863 into a family that was a combination of both Quakers and United Empire Loyalists.
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Karen Ludwig
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Karen Ludwig is a Canadian Liberal politician who represented the riding of New Brunswick Southwest in the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 until 2019. She was the first woman to represent the riding.
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Margaret Hyland
- Years
- 1960-.. (age 64)
- Occupations
- chemistengineerprofessor
- Biography
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Margaret Mary Hyland is a Canadian-born chemist based in New Zealand whose research focuses on aluminium technology, and the chemistry and engineering of material surfaces. She moved to New Zealand in 1989 and after holding many senior academic leadership roles supporting and developing research at the faculty, university and national level became recognised as an authority on the generation and capture of fluoride emissions from aluminium smelters and for coordinating the team that produced the 'Fluoride Emissions Management Guide' for the aluminium industry. This achievement was acknowledged when she became the first woman to win the Pickering Medal. In 2017, Hyland was seconded to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in the role of Chief Scientist and has held positions in a variety of other groups supporting the physical sciences and engineering. Since 2018 she has been Vice-Provost, at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
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Jose Dolores Fuentes
- Occupations
- chemist
- Biography
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Jose Dolores Fuentes is a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on surface-atmosphere interactions that control the transport of energy and trace gases in the lower atmosphere. In particular, he has gained media attention for his research into the relationship between air pollution and bees.
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Patricia S. Hu
- Biography
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Patricia S. Hu has been the Director of the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics since 2011. Previously she had been director of the Center for Transportation Analysis at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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Nucharin Songsasen
- Enrolled in the University of Guelph
- Graduated with Master of Science
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- mammalogistbiologistveterinarian
- Biography
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Nucharin Songsasen is a research biologist and head of the Center for Species Survival at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Songsasen is an expert in global canid conservation, including maned wolves, African wild dogs, and dholes.
