The Order of British Columbia: 1992 Recipients

Dr. Patricia Baird is an internationally known and respected geneticist who has made outstanding contributions in the field of clinical medicine, research and education.

Born in Great Britain, Dr. Baird moved to Canada where she received her education and medical training at McGill University.

In 1978 Dr. Baird became the head of the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. Under her leadership, the Department grew from a small group of pioneer scientists and clinicians to an internationally known resource.

She is the first woman to chair a clinical medical school department at the University of British Columbia, and the first woman to be elected to the Board of Governors.

Her medical genetics course, regularly voted the best course by UBC medical students, is an outstanding model for teaching genetics to physicians of the future. The American Society of Human Genetics has used this model in the development of medical genetics courses for medical students in North America.

Dr. Baird's research in the area of mental retardation, Down's Syndrome and birth defects is widely quoted and respected. She has counselled thousands of families, offering compassion and advice for the family as well as treatment for the individual affected.

She was instrumental in developing the prenatal diagnostic program for women in British Columbia and is now the Chair of the Federal Royal Commission on Reproductive Technology.

Wayne Campbell has worked to give British Columbians an unparalleled insight into the hundreds of bird species in our province. His lifelong passion for birds has also been his life's work.

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he graduated from the University of Victoria in 1976 and received his M.Sc. from the University of Washington in 1983.

After graduation he joined the staff of the University of British Columbia as Curator of the Cowan Vertebrate Museum in the Department of Zoology.

For almost 20 years, Wayne Campbell has been the Curator of Ornithology at the Royal British Columbia Museum where he conducted wildlife inventories of remote areas of the province including the first complete census of breeding seabird colonies.

Since the early seventies, Wayne Campbell has spoken to natuaralist groups in almost every B.C. community to impress upon them the importance of their contributions to the knowledge of the birds of our province.

He has written more than 300 scientific and popular articles, reports and books on higher vertebrates, the best known being Birds of British Columbia, for which he was one of the six co-authors.

Rather than relying strictly on data from scientists, Birds of British Columbia is the work of 5,000 provincial birdwatchers and amateur naturalists.

Wayne Campbell's hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm for birds has expanded and enriched a valuable body of knowledge.

Dr. Suezone Chow is a gifted researcher and intuitive businessman who has worked to help us get more value from our forests in British Columbia.

Dr. Chow was born in Taipei, Taiwan. Following graduation from Taiwan National University in 1963, he emigrated to Canada.

Starting with his post-graduate studies at the University of British Columbia, continuing with the Canadian Forestry Service, and today as Director of Research and Development at Canfor Corporation, he has developed a scientific reputation on both national and international fronts.

His pioneering scientific work has contributed vastly to the economy of British Columbia through the development of new wood lamination techniques and environmentally friendly surface coatings, to mention just two.

Combining his technical expertise with his fluency in Japanese and his cultural sensitivity, he travelled to Japan in 1973 helping to increase British Columbia's share of the plywood market in that country.

Until very recently he was involved in a trade mission to Taiwan demonstrating the use of wood and engineered composite products to facilitate marketing these products throughout the Pacific Rim countries.

Dr. Chow has successfully married academic disciplines with industrial research and development and internation trade ..his successes continue to benefit all British Columbians.

Mel Cooper, an outstanding business and community leader, was born in St. John's, Newfoundland. After moving west he attended the University of British Columbia.

His British Columbia broadcasting career started with an announcer's job in Port Alberni 40 years ago. Mel Cooper is now President and General Manager of three radio stations: C-FAX Victoria and CKOV-AM and CKLZ-FM in Kelowna, and has served four years as President of the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters.

Airwaves are not Mel Cooper's only line of business, he is also chairman of AirBC and a director of a number of other corporations.

For many British Columbians, Mel Cooper will be remembered as the vice president of Expo 86, the person who developed its hugely successful corporate sales plan.

In addition to his considerable business flair, Mel Cooper has contributed his time, his expertise and his inspirational enthusiasm to local, regional and national charities, non-profit boards, foundations and community groups. Canada 125 and the Victoria Commonwealth Games are but two examples.

He has been given awards too numerous to mention from business and industry and as a community leader and humanitarian, awards which include the Order of Canada.

Mel Cooper is a much sought-after speaker. A title of one of his presentations is, "I've never met an enthusiastic failure". It's a title which speaks volumes about the man himself.

Ron Eland is a commercial helicopter pilot whose professionalism has haved many lives and raised safety standards for the aviation community. He is Canada's first commercial helicopter pilot who was not previously a fixed-wing pilot.

Born in Vancouver, he spent his early years living on Texada Island. His flying career took off in 1967 and soon afterwards he began specializing in high altitude flying.

Today he is a pilot with Yellowhead Helicopters in McBride, where he continues to demonstrate selfless dedication during countless mountain rescue operations on Mount Robson and in Jasper National Park.

Earlier in his career, as a rescue coordinator in the Yukon's Kluane National Park, the site of Canada's highest mountain, he flew missions at extremely high altitudes often flying his helicopters perilously close to their operating limits, sometimes in blinding snowstorms. In one particularly dangerous mission he rescued nine climbers from above 17,000 feet on Mount Logan.

Ron Eland is the only Canadian to be awarded the U.S. Flight Safety Foundation's Presidential Citation for Professional and Extraordinary Achievement. In 1993 he was awarded the Order of Canada.

Helicopter rescue work takes extraordinary skill and courage. To use his own words, "When I was young, I used to watch eagles because they were the best flyers ..their landings were perfect. If you can fly like an eagle, he said, you've got it made". Ron Eland learned well from the eagles.

Joan Gentles is well known across the Cariboo-Chilcotin as a tireless community leader whose selfless efforts have brought positive change in the lives of Natives and non-Natives alike.

A member of the Toosey Indian Band, Joan Gentles was the first Native courtworker in the Williams Lake area. She was instrumental in sensitizing the courts, the legal profession and the police to Native justice issues.

She is a strong advocate for improving the justice system to ensure that Native people receive fair and equitable treatment when they come before the courts.

After obtaining a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia, Joan Gentles became Native Education Coordinator for the Cariboo-Chilcotin School District.

She teaches at schools in remote communities and invariably spends many more evening hours counselling victims of family violence and sexual abuse, conducting alcohol abuse awareness workshops, teaching children traditional activities such as ceremonial dancing, or teaching parenting skills to teenagers and adults.

Joan Gentles' interests also include a uniquely Caraboo-Chilcotin love for rodeos, in fact, she comes from a distinguished Cariboo rodeo family. Once an active participant herself, she now serves as a rodeo judge and teaches at judging seminars.

Joan Gentles has dedicated her life to serving the needs of the Chilcotin and other Native peoples and to changing the stereotypical attitudes that many non-natives still hold.

Kerrin Lee-Gartner is one of the world's top female skiers.

Born and raised in Trail she grew up to compete in downhill skiing with the Rossland Red Mountain Racers Ski Club where her natural ability allowed her to move quickly through the junior racing ranks.

Kerrin Lee-Gartner was chosen for the Canadian Women's Ski Team at age 16 but in 1985, following a serious accident which dashed her hopes for the successful World Cup tour the year before, she underwent reconstructive surgery on her knee.

In February, 1989, another accident kept her off her skis for six months but again she came back.

Kerrin Lee-Gartner has overcome tremendous adversity, defied injuries which could have ended her career, and rehabilitated herself to return to the top of the women's world ski rankings.

An outstanding 1991-92 season, including eight top 10 finishes on the World Cup ski circuit, was climaxed by her thrilling and well-deserved Gold Medal victory in the downhill event at Albertville, France.

A superb role model for other young athletes in British Columbia, Kerrin Lee-Gartner exemplifies the best qualities of human courage and commitment to be the best that you can be.

Dorothy Livesay, one of Canada's best known poets, was born in Winnipeg in 1909. She was educated at the Universities of Toronto, Sorbonne and British Columbia.

Although she has worked as a journalist, editor, broadcaster, teacher (including a teaching post in northern Rhodesia) social worker and university lecturer, Dorothy Livesay is best known for her poetry and prose writing.

Since her first poem appeared in the Vancouver Province newspaper some 70 years ago she has gone on to publish more than 25 books of poetry and prose.

She believes writing is a political act as well as an artistic one. This conviction is evident in her work which includes long documentary poems on subjects such as the internment of Japanese Canadians and shorter lyrics with more personal themes.

Dorothy Livesay's range of interest as exemplified in her poetry is personal, sexual, social, educational, and political. Her later work has been concerned with the plight of the aging in a society geared for the young.

Her chief passion is to encourage young poets in self-knowledge and self-expression.

In addition to her literary contributions, Dorothy Livesay has been a passionate advocate of women's rights, social justice and peace. She is a highly original thinker and educator.

Phil Nuytten is a businessman, sub-sea engineer, diver, marine archeologist, author, carver and native advocate.

He was born in Vancouver and has lived all his life there. He started on a business career right out of high school opening a SCUBA store in 1958. Eight years later he founded Can-Dive Service Ltd.

As an acknowledged expert in underwater technology and enterprise, Phil Nuytten has helped put British Columbia on the map as a centre of high-tech underwater development.

His internationally acclaimed "Newt Suit" - often called the submarine you can wear - has given divers a way to work underwater longer without fear of "the bends".

As an author, carver, and Native advocate, Phil Nuytten is devoted to Northwest Coast Native art and culture. He has carved totem poles, masks, jewelery and full size canoes.

In his book "The Totem Carvers," Phil Nyutten has documented the lives of three prominent "Kwakwaka 'wakw" carvers and their role in preserving traditional totemic art.

He has promoted recognition and marketing of the art of British Columbia's First Peoples and has an ongoing program of repatriating artistic pieces of significant historical importance and donating them to museums in this province.

The "Kwakwaka 'waka" have given him the name of Tlaxan, which means Red Snapper.

Carole Sabiston is an outstanding artist who has developed a bold art form so strongly individualistic as to be unique in its way of expression.

Born in London, England, she moved to Victoria where she has lived, with a few breaks, since 1952. A student at both the universities of Victoria and British Columbia, she taught school in Victoria and Vancouver after graduation.

She began her professional career as a painter but found that painting did not allow her to achieve the effect she was seeking in her work - light, movement and texture. Her own technique has evolved over the years.

With multiple layers of netting and fabrics, matte and metallic, she builds translucent and opaque passages, creating shifting lights and continuous, shimmering movements of water and air.

Carole Sabiston's painted murals, hangings, aerial sculptures and tapestries have been exhibited across Canada and in Europe in more than 35 shows including 18 solo shows.

It was Carole Sabiston who created the dramatic sunburst which was the backdrop of the opening ceremonies at Expo '86 and it is Carole Sabiston who is presently designing the Commonwealth Cape which will be used in the promotion and ceremonial events surrounding the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

She is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy and 1987 winner of the Saidye Bronfman Award for Canada for Excellence in Art.

Sushma Sardana is a well known radio-personality in the Indo-Canadian community throughout British Columbia.

Known simply as Sushma to her listeners, she was born in Kenya, began her broadcasting career in England with the BBC, and moved to Vancouver in 1972.

Her private radio station, 'Rim Jihm', broadcasts on an FM sideband to more than 20,000 special radios which listeners in British Columbia and neighboring Washington have purchased in order to receive its signal.

She was the first Hindi and Punjabi announcer at CJVB Radio in Vancouver until 1978 when she started her own station. Today she also broadcasts on the Community and Multicultural television channels.

Sushma provides the Indo-Canadian community with a wide range of news and entertainment programming and has produced educational and informational programs for radio, television and for use in schools.

As well, Sushma is heavily involved in the Indo-Canadian community promoting classical Indian dancing and chairing the Indo-Canadian Women for Freedom and Speech organization and is active as an MC and fundraiser for various cultural and charitable organizations.

For the past 19 years she has been a source of inspiration for aspiring broadcasters in the Indo-Canadian community, and produced programs which enhance the Canadian mosaic and encourage cross-cultural understanding.

Joseph Segal, an outstanding British Columbian and a Canadian mechandising legend, has given unstintingly of himself and his resources for the betterment of our province.

Born in Vegreville, Alberta, Mr. Segal served overseas with the Calgary Highlanders for two and half years.

After moving to Vancouver he opened a small retail family clothing store there in 1950. It was the successful start of what became a chain of 70 Fields Stores, a corporation which acquired Zellers in 1976 and eventually became the largest single owner of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Joseph Segal is a self-made entrepreneur whose legendary acumen and energies are turned as often to the needs of the community as to the demands of the executive suite.

He has been deeply involved in the Jewish Community throughout his life. Many other organizations as well, have benefited from Mr. Segal's munificence, whether they be charitable organizations such as the Variety Club, the United Way and the Vancouver Children's Hospital or Simon Fraser University.

That university's downtown Harbour Centre campus might still be a dream but for Joseph Segal's enthusiastic contributions and negotiating talents. Simon Fraser University and two private sector interests were able to strike a deal which provides a superb downtown campus virtually rent-free for 30 years.

It has been said of Joseph Segal - if there is a good and noble cause, he is there. >

Wolfgang Zimmermann, the victim of a logging accident, overcame his misfortune and took up the cause of safety in the workplace and the rehabilitation of injured workers.

He was born in Dortmund, Germany and emigrated to Canada in 1977. The spinal injury he suffered soon afterwards, only five days on the job, left him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. He rehabilitated himself to the point where he now walks with a cane.

Wolfgang Zimmermann retrained in business administration and returned to work with MacMillan Bloedel, this time as an accountant. But it was his determination to reduce industrial accidents, through greater awareness of safety in the workplace, that opened up a whole new career path for him. Wolfgang Zimmermann is now the Executive Director of the Disabled Forestry Workers of B.C.

His personal experience and perseverance have resulted in a graphic documentary film entitled "Every Twelve Seconds" which vividly brings to the attention of the general public, the unions, the employers and government, both the personal and financial costs of industrial injuries. He was also instrumental in the development of the CBC Journal/National news documentary called "Insult to Injury."

Wolfgang Zimmermann's work has made a real difference in the life of many British Columbians; he is devoting his life to promoting safety so as that no one out there should go through what he has.