A faculty member who spent a career teaching at and supporting UWindsor; a community supporter of UWindsor cancer research; Windsor’s youngest mayor and UWindsor alumnus; and a former Alumni Association president and long-time Board of Governors member, are the four outstanding University and community supporters who will be recognized with a 2013 Clark Award during an evening in their honour this Friday, Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the Augustus Ballroom of Caesars Windsor.
Clark Awards have been presented annually since 1994 and are named in honour of the late Charles J. Clark, O.C., Q.C., LL.D., former Chancellor of the University of Windsor. The award recognizes outstanding personal service of both alumni volunteers and friends of the University who have made significant commitments in time, energy and expertise by serving on University boards, committees or campaigns, or who have worked extensively to increase the profile and reputation of the University.
The 2013 recipients are:
Eddie Francis (’02 LLB), a UWindsor alumnus and the youngest mayor in the history of the City of Windsor. Mayor Francis has been in office since 2003 and led the commission of a ground-breaking report to assess the need for new inter-modal transportation systems and border crossings that resulted in the $1.8 billion Parkway project and a new bridge project connecting Windsor and Detroit.
He holds a combined undergraduate degree in chemistry and biochemistry from Western University and is a graduate of the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law. He began his career in a small family business, which he ran and grew with his brothers before being elected mayor. He is married to Dr. Michelle Prince and is the father of Sienna and Phoenix.
Mike Horrobin (’86 BCom), a UWindsor alumnus and Vice-President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Tepperman’s, a furniture, appliance and electronics chain where he began his career in 1991.
Mr. Horrobin, the former President of the University of Windsor Alumni Association, joined UWindsor’s Board of Governors in 2003. During his term, he chaired its Audit, Pension and Resource Allocation committees and was Board Chair during his final two years of service.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, where he is also Chair of the Finance and Audit committees. Mr. Horrobin also serves as Vice-President of the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Foundation.
Dr. Lois Smedick, Professor Emeritus, University of Windsor. Dr. Smedick has been a member of the University of Windsor community since 1963 and has focused her teaching and research on old and middle English language and literature; the history of the English language, and Medieval European literature in translation.
Among her many services to the University, Dr. Smedick was Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research; served several terms as a representative on University Senate; was heavily involved in employment equity review processes; and was a founding member of the Friends of Women’s Studies.
Her community involvement includes serving as President and Board Chair of the Art Gallery of Windsor, as well on several of the gallery’s sub-committees. Among her many volunteer services, she has been a member of the boards of Assumption University; Artcite; Erie Wildlife Rescue; Jazzpurr Society for Animal Protection; and the planning committee for BookFest Windsor.
Among her many honours, Dr. Smedick has received the President’s Equity Award; the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Arts as Outstanding Arts Volunteer; an honorary doctorate of Humanities; the Assumption University Rev. E. Carlisle Lebel C.S.B. Award; and the establishment by her colleagues of the Lois K. Smedick Graduate Award , as well as the Lois Smedick HRG Endowment by the Humanities Research Group.
Margaret Williams, an active community volunteer and City Council member who served as President of the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival and was a founding member and President of the Windsor and Essex County Cancer Centre Foundation.
Ms. Williams served three terms as City Councillor for Ward 1, where she chaired such committees as the Licensing Commission; the Convention and Visitors Bureau; Huron Lodge Committee of Management; and the Windsor/Essex Millennium Celebration Committee. Following her council terms she served in the private sector as a planning and development consultant.
She has been heavily involved in lobbying for improved cancer care in the region through the Windsor & Essex County Cancer Centre Foundation. Over the past nearly 20 years, the Foundation has raised more than $20 million through community and corporate donations and events.
In 2009, during Ms. Williams’s term as Foundation president, the Seeds4Hope program to support local cancer research was launched. This peer reviewed grant awards program provides $250,000 annually in seed funding to local cancer researchers affiliated with such institutions as the University of Windsor, the Cancer Centre and local hospitals. To date, Seeds4Hope has invested $1 million in 15 cancer research projects across the region.
Ms. Williams is married to Dr. Noel Williams, a UWindsor professor emeritus. She has two grown children and four grandchildren.