Dr. Mary Jo Haddad — a longtime supporter and honours nursing graduate of the University of Windsor — has been named the University’s eighth Chancellor. Dr. Haddad, born and raised in Windsor, also becomes the first woman to hold the position. Her official installation will take place at the Spring 2019 Convocation, and until then Dr. Haddad will have the title of Chancellor Designate.

Dr. Haddad, who received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Windsor in 2005, is well known for her innovative leadership and commitment to children’s health in both Canada and internationally. From 2004 to 2014 she served as president and CEO of the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), one of Canada’s most research-intensive teaching hospitals, overseeing treatment and discoveries that have helped children globally.

Since her retirement from SickKids, Dr. Haddad has served as a corporate director and as President of MJH & Associates, providing strategic leadership and healthcare advisory services.

“At such an important time in the University’s history, I am proud to serve as the next Chancellor of the University of Windsor,” Dr. Haddad said. “To recognize and celebrate the academic achievements of our students as future leaders and trailblazers is an incredible honour. I am grateful for the impact the University of Windsor has had on my career and I am looking forward to promoting the achievements of the University’s students, faculty, staff and alumni.”

In recognition of her innovative leadership and commitment to children’s health, Dr. Haddad has received Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from the University of Windsor, Ryerson University and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

As Chancellor, Dr. Haddad will serve as the titular head of the University and confer all degrees and diplomas on behalf of the Senate. The Chancellor also represents the University in an official capacity at external functions.

“I am thrilled that Dr. Haddad has agreed to serve as the University’s eighth Chancellor,” Interim President Douglas Kneale said. “As an alumna of Nursing, an honorary degree recipient, a member of our fundraising cabinet, a transformational leader in children’s healthcare, and a first-generation Windsor born-and-bred woman, she embodies the history and the values of our university and community and sets an inspiring example for our current and future students.”

Dr. Haddad’s appointment follows the announcement this past August that the Honourable Ed Lumley would be stepping down as Chancellor. Appointed as Chancellor in 2006, Lumley worked tirelessly to promote the University and conferred degrees on nearly 55,000, or 40 per cent of the University’s 136,000 alumni.

Mr. Lumley said that he heartily applauded the appointment of Dr. Haddad as the next Chancellor of the University.

“Mary Jo is one of Canada’s outstanding citizens and is a tremendous role model for the University’s students,” he said. “As alumni, all of us should be proud that a Windsor born and educated person who has set such a high standard throughout her career will return to her alma mater as our Chancellor.”

Dr. Haddad is a corporate director, serving as a member of the Board of Directors of TD Bank Group and TELUS, where she is Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee. She continues to volunteer her time as an advocate for children and youth as Chair of the Board of Children First Canada and is a member of the capital campaign for SickKids. She also serves as one of the University of Windsor’s Champions for its Place of Promise fundraising campaign.

Dr. Haddad has also held Board appointments as Founding Chair, MaRS Innovation; Chair, Provincial (Ontario) Council for Maternal Child Health; Director at the Vector Institute; Director of Kids Health Links Foundation and Trustee (Ex-Officio) SickKids; and Director, SickKids Foundation Board.

Dr. Haddad was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2010 and received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. She is a recipient of the Premier’s Award for Outstanding Achievement.

In November 2012, she was recognized as one of Toronto Life’s 50 Influential People. In 2011, she was named one of Canada’s inaugural Top 25 Women of Influence in health sciences and inducted into the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Hall of Fame.

Dr. Haddad and her husband Jim Forster live in Oakville, Ontario, and are the proud parents of three children.

Partnering with UWindsor researchers will deepen understanding of how greenhouse stormwater retention ponds affect the surrounding environment, says the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG).

Together with the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC), it has provided $202,500 to the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) professors Christopher Weisener and Scott Mundle to support their collaborative research in monitoring nutrients in retention ponds in the Kingsville-Leamington area.

“By partnering up with the university we are able to understand how the stormwater ponds function at the nutrient and microbial level,” says Justine Taylor, OGVG’s science and government relations manager. “As an organization we don’t have the capacity to do direct research, but we are able to leverage our research budget to gain the University of Windsor’s expertise to help solve problems and identify solutions — all of which is really valuable.”

Dr. Weisener says the research grant will provide an opportunity to assess the risk of these ponds.

“We are in a real gray area with respect to watershed management and understanding nutrient control in our watersheds,” he says.

The ponds are required to manage the significant flow of rainwater off the roofs of local greenhouses. As there is a large amount of rainwater entering the watersheds, the stormwater ponds are put in place to prevent the drainage ditches from being overwhelmed, as well as to provide a level of water quality control.

“We want a better understanding of how these stormwater retention ponds are operating,” says Nathan Warkentin, energy and environment analyst for the OGVG. “We know why they are important and required, but at the same time they don’t always act as expected.”

Weisener says it would be great if the results allowed them to develop an action plan that could be utilized by individual greenhouses in order to improve the environmental performance of their ponds.

“Each of the greenhouses are slightly different with their own pressures and stresses in dealing with their pond management,” he says. “If there are nutrient issues that we are able to identify, we can then come up with a detailed approach for each of the individual greenhouses.”

Dr. Mundle notes that the majority of retention ponds work very well: “Then there are the outliers that are working less great, but it’s all about developing a path for individual operators to follow in order to gain environmental improvements.”

The primary nutrient Weisener and Mundle are monitoring is phosphorus. Both the United States and Ontario have committed to reducing phosphorous loads into Lake Erie, and the Leamington tributaries have been identified as a priority area of focus.

“It is really critical for us as a greenhouse sector to do our part and make sure that we minimize the amount of phosphorus leaving our properties,” says Dr. Taylor. “Our drinking water and the majority of water we feed our plants comes from Lake Erie. For that reason, it is important that we do what we can to protect our natural resources.”

This project was funded in part through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a program involving a $3 billion investment by federal, provincial, and territorial governments to strengthen the agriculture and agri-food sector. The Agricultural Adaptation Council assists in the delivery of the Partnership in Ontario.

—Darko Milenkovic

University Players will host a discussion setting its next production, the 1928 drama Journey’s End, into historical context. The Let’s Talk Theatre lunch is set for Wednesday, November 14, at Willistead Manor, 1399 Niagara Street.

The play takes place over four days in 1918, in the frontline trenches of the First World War. It opens November 23 and runs through December 2 in the Essex Hall Theatre.

In addition to members of the cast and crew, Wednesday’s discussion will feature drama alumnus Jim Armstrong (BFA 2006), who will perform a few songs from his work on the show Soldiers of Song. The live performance combines theatre, music, and storytelling based on the original works of the Dumbells, a Canadian concert party that entertained troops during World War I.

Organizers invite anyone with military memorabilia, letters, or other mementoes to bring them and share the precious artifacts of history. All guests are also encouraged bring a favourite teacup to raise a cup (and a pinkie!) in honour of this season of remembrance.

Tickets to the luncheon are $45, available at www.universityplayers.com, or by calling 519-253-3000, ext. 2808. Find more information about the show, including curtain times and ticket prices, on the box office website.

UWindsor president Douglas Kneale lays a wreath in Memorial Hall below a plaque listing former students of Assumption College who gave their lives in World War II. Sunday was the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

The Office of Student Experience is getting in the spirit, combining school spirit and holiday spirit with a prize draw to encourage participation in the campus campaign for “Adopt-a-Family.”

A program of the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Foundation, Adopt-a-Family collects gifts for local children and youths.

UWindsor offices and individuals may choose to sponsor a family as large as two parents with four kids or as small as a single parent and child. Also available for sponsorship are youths on extended care — individuals over the age of 16 years old attending school while living independently.

As part of its Windsor Proud spirit campaign, the Office of Student Experience has created a draw, with a ballot for each participating individual or department. Those already sponsoring a family are already eligible.

A winner will be drawn once all of the gifts have been collected, on November 28, to receive a customized prize package of UWindsor spirit swag. Find details on the contest website.

To sign up as a sponsor, email Sabina Howell, administrative assistant in the Office of Public Affairs and Communications who co-ordinates the campus campaign, at Sabina.Howell@uwindsor.ca.

Ontario University Athletics honoured three Lancer football players last week — naming linebacker Daniel Metcalfe and offensive lineman Drew Desjarlais second-team all-stars, and defensive back Cole Verlinde to its all-rookie team.

Metcalfe’s 60 tackles led his team and ranked him third-province-wide. Head coach Joe D’Amore said “it’s great” to see him getting the recognition he deserves.

“He has been a top players in this league for the last few years and coaches are starting to see how talented he is,” said D’Amore. “I expect him to be an all-Canadian by the time his career is done.”

Read the full story at goLancers.ca.

UWindsor students, staff, and faculty have a chance to show gratitude for the men and women of the Canadian military by donating blood at a donor clinic on campus Tuesday, November 13.

Canadian Blood Services has issued a call for donors to support those who serve during times of war, conflict and peace.

This clinic is the last on main campus for 2018. It will run 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre’s Commons area. Walk-in donors are welcome, but appointments will better accommodate donors’ working schedules. To book an appointment, call 1-888-2DONATE (1-888-236-6283).

As with previous clinics, the Department of Human Resources encourages all eligible employees to participate in this worthwhile process and asks any employees who wish to donate to make the necessary arrangements with their supervisors regarding the possibility of extended lunch or break periods.