Strong research records as undergraduate science students only head the list of accomplishments by Youshaa El-Abed and Tommaso Iacobelli, honoured with the President’s Medal and Governor General’s Silver Medal, respectively, during the University of Windsor’s 109th Convocation ceremonies in the St. Denis Centre.

Both held appointments as Outstanding Scholars:

• El-Abed in the Cancer Research Lab of biology professor Lisa Porter, where he was primary author of an article examining the role of the protein Spy1 in metastasis, and primary or secondary author of an additional six articles offering new approaches to science education;
• Iacobelli in the School of Computer Science, winning three Undergraduate Student Research Awards from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

The President’s Medal recognizes involvement in campus life, and El-Abed has made many contributions, serving on the Board of Directors of the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance, partnering to create a lab to teach biology students about cancer starting in their first year, and helping to re-establish a campus chapter of Friends of Doctors Without Borders, which brought a Syrian refugee child living in Windsor to the United Kingdom for specialized care for a rare eye condition.

A graduate of the honours biological sciences with thesis program, he received his medal and BSc degree during Monday afternoon’s session.

Iacobelli, a graduand of the honours business administration and computer science program, has taken on leadership roles with the Commerce Society, the Georgie-Odette Leadership Symposium, and the Head Start orientation program. He will receive his BComm degree and his medal during the fifth session, Wednesday morning.

Convocation will continue with two sessions daily through Friday, June 1. Watch live webcasts produced by Media and Educational Technologies.

The new Lancer Sport and Recreation Centre moved one step closer to reality last week with the University Board of Governors approving the construction of the new centre at its May 22 meeting.

The board’s approval followed the signing of an agreement between the University and the three student bodies — the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance, the Graduate Student Society, and the Organization of Part-time University Students — on governance matters related to the financial contribution of students as a result of the referendums passed, putting the fees in place.

A number of details remain to be worked out before the project can proceed to tender. Construction is slated to start in summer 2019.

An exhibition opening this weekend at the Art Gallery of Windsor will be the first presentation in Canada of “&WichTime” by conceptual artist and professor emeritus Iain Baxter&.

The work explores the commercial relationships between art and food through bread.

While an artist-in-residence in Rennes, France in 2008, Baxter& collaborated with a local bakery to create custom-shaped bread for the purpose of performance. Whether surfing on an oversized baguette or golfing with a bread-covered golf club, he proposes new functions for what is one of the most popular food items in the world.

“By transcending the connotations that are associated with bread — economic, ethnographic, cultural or religious — Baxter& singles out the sociability of bread and pokes fun at its universality,” says curator Jaclyn Meloche. “Bread references sharing a meal, eating and the satisfaction of food and the body’s dependence on food for nourishment. But for a single moment in each photograph, bread also references play, and the silliness of playing with your food.”

The show opens Saturday, June 2, and continues through September 30. Learn more on the gallery’s website.

Baxter& also has work on display as part of “Awakening,” an ongoing exhibition at the Lieutenant Governor’s suite in Queen’s Park, Toronto. Green Landscape is made of vacuum-formed plastic. Find more information, including essays and images, on the exhibition website.

A UWindsor nursing student and grad has received recognition for her clinical skills and compassionate care from her employer, Detroit Medical Center.

Detroit Receiving Hospital named Holly Trepanier (BScN 2014), a three-year veteran of its medical surgery telemetry unit currently pursuing her master’s degree, its Nurse of the Year.

Her manager called her an outstanding role model and noted her focus on continuously learning to improve her practice.

A citation announcing Trepanier’s award says she always advocates for patients: “Holly takes her profession very seriously; every day she comes to work she gives 100 per cent, not only to her patients but also to every patient on the unit.”