Every year in March, Dalhousie grants Impact Awards to inspiring students leaders who have made exceptional contributions to their communities during their time at Dal. This year, the Dalhousie Alumni Association (DAA) recognized the 22 Impact Award recipients who are graduating this spring with another honour – the Alumni Distinction Award.

Welcoming inspiring new grads to the alumni family

DAA president Courtney Larkin (BMgmt’10) and executive vice-president Ian Bezanson (BCSc’04) attended the Impact Awards ceremony on March 24, 2016, congratulating each of the Alumni Distinction Award recipients and welcoming them to the Dal alumni family.

Recipients eager to join network of 130,000+ alumni

Larkin has connected with each Alumni Distinction Award winner individually, getting to know them and welcoming them to the DAA. She explains that the recipients are happy to know that their volunteer contributions to Dal do not have to end when they graduate, and that they are eager to connect with the Alumni Chapters and find out how they can contribute.

“All of the students receiving the award are thrilled to receive this award from the alumni network,” says Larkin. “I am very proud of this new initiative and am looking forward to connecting our 22 award recipients this year with the Chapters that are most relevant to them.”

The Alumni Distinction Award recipients will be recognized at a ceremony in Halifax during Spring Convocation.

Chapters will connect with Alumni Ambassadors

Each Alumni Distinction Award recipient will receive an Alumni Ambassador position within the Chapter in the region they will be living. The new Alumni Ambassador positions will provide these outstanding graduates the opportunity to stay connected to Dalhousie and to continue making exemplary contributions to their communities.

Chapter Executives will welcome the 22 new Alumni Ambassadors to their Chapters and provide them with opportunities to stay as engaged as alumni as they were as students.

Representing all 130,000+ alumni, Larkin says that “Chapter Executives have been very keen to adopt this new initiative and welcome in new alumni” as Alumni Ambassadors.

The 2016 honourees

The 2016 Alumni Distinction Award recipients are:

• Yasmin Beydoun – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
• William Coney – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
• Emily Davis – Faculty of Agriculture
• Kaitlyn Forbes – Faculty of Health Professions
• James Halliday – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
• Eilish Hart – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
• John Hutton – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
• Christina Joynt – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
• Travis LeBlanc – Faculty of Medicine
• Peter L’Esperance – Faculty of Law
• Robert MacPherson – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
• Rhiannon Makohoniuk – Faculty of Health Professions
• Anthony Saikali – Faculty of Science
• Emily Savage – Faculty of Law
• Christie Silversides – Faculty of Health Professions
• Hasmeet Singh Chandok – Faculty of Computer Science
• Jad Sinno – Faculty of Science
• Jacqueline Smith – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
• Tori Taylor – Faculty of Science
• Margot Thomas – Faculty of Management
• Katherine Webster – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
• Emily Young – Faculty of Engineering

Congratulations to these 22 outstanding soon-to-be alumni! The DAA is proud to welcome you to the family of 130,000 alumni, and counting.

The Alumni Distinction Award has been made possible thanks to the contributions of the DAA, the Dalhousie Career & Leadership Development Centre and the Dalhousie Student Union.