The Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick Silver Medal for education is awarded at the convocation ceremony on the Fredericton campus. It is awarded to the full-time or part-time student judged to be the most outstanding student based primarily on the last half of their program as decided by the Faculty or School in consultation with the Registrar.
Students enrolled in a concurrent program are eligible to be considered for the medal in each of the degree programs so represented. The name of the recipient will be announced at a later date.
UNB recognizes worthy members of its faculty by presenting awards at the Convocation ceremonies.
The Dr. Allan P. Stuart Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching was established by the University Senate in 1972 to recognize teaching excellence on the part of some of the many teachers of whom this university is very proud.
The University of New Brunswick’s Award for Excellence in Research was established to honour faculty who are representative of outstanding research, scholarly, or creative achievements at the University of New Brunswick.
Catherine Driscoll has taught in both classroom and clinical settings with the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, and will receive a Dr. Allan P. Stuart Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Catherine, who brings more than 14 years of nursing experience to the classroom, teaches nursing students to see the person behind the patient.
She first earned a Bachelor of Nursing degree, and later, a Master of Nursing degree focused on adult education, both at UNB. She is now pursuing a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Studies at UNB.
Prior to teaching at UNB, Catherine worked in rehabilitation nursing and as a clinical instructor. She also led programs that helped internationally educated nurses adapt to practise in New Brunswick. Those experiences continue to shape her teaching.
Students know Catherine as a teacher who makes time for them. She learns their names. She arrives early for class. She stays to answer questions. In clinical placements, she works alongside students as they gain experience and learn to make sound decisions in complex situations.
Her teaching connects course material to the realities nurses face daily. Students work through practical scenarios, discuss difficult situations, and examine factors that affect health. Catherine asks them to consider how housing, culture, discrimination, and other circumstances can influence a person's experience of care.
That perspective is rooted in her work beyond the university. Through her volunteer service with Street Team Saint John, she spends time with members of the unhoused community. She also volunteers with St. John Ambulance in its therapy dog program.
Alongside her therapy dog, Rick, she creates opportunities for students to step away from academic pressures and connect with others on campus.
Catherine’s commitment to fairness and inclusion is also reflected in her research. Her doctoral work examines racism and discrimination experienced by internationally educated nurses. She brings those lessons into her teaching and encourages students to provide care that respects the experiences of every patient.
The impact of Catherine’s work can be measured in the success of her students and in the relationships she builds with them. She challenges them, supports them, and helps them grow into nurses who will make a difference.
Dr. David Foord, Associate Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Management, will receive a Dr. Allan P. Stuart Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Foord has built his career on the conviction that students learn best when they apply knowledge to real problems.
At the University of New Brunswick, he has shaped courses, programs, partnerships, and learning opportunities that have influenced students across disciplines and degree levels.
A UNB faculty member since 2017, Foord has taught in the Faculty of Engineering and now in the Faculty of Management, where he is currently dean. During that time, he has created learning experiences that allow students to engage directly with entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation and community development.
His impact is evident in the curriculum itself. Foord has created 16 courses, including in entrepreneurship, sustainability, community leadership, business history, business model innovation, and Indigenous perspectives on business planning and entrepreneurship.
Foord has expanded opportunities for experiential learning through partnerships with organizations such as Planet Hatch and many community and business partners across New Brunswick. He has created projects that allow students to apply their skills in practical settings while contributing to organizations throughout the province.
He has supervised and mentored master's students, doctoral candidates, postdoctoral fellows, interns, and student entrepreneurs, and is known for generously sharing his teaching materials, experience, and advice with fellow instructors.
Students consistently praise Foord for his engagement, guidance, and commitment to their success. His contributions have been recognized through the UNB Student Union Red Award for Teaching Excellence; his appointment as a University Teaching Scholar; the UNB Merit Award for Contributions to Teaching, Research and Service; and the MBA Graduate Student Professor Recognition Award. His student evaluations reflect the high regard in which he is held by those he teaches.
Dr. Viqar Husain will receive the UNB Award for Excellence in Research.
Dr. Husain has built an international reputation in theoretical physics and is recognized for contributions to general relativity, quantum gravity, cosmology, and the study of black holes.
A professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Dr. Husain has devoted his career to some of physics' most fundamental questions, including the search for a unified understanding of gravity and quantum mechanics.
His research has produced advances that are highly regarded in the field. These include the Husain-Kuchař model, which introduced a new test bed for developing quantization techniques for gravity, new solutions of the Einstein equation known as the Husain-Martinez-Nuñez and Husain spacetimes, and a new formulation of the self-dual Einstein equation.
He has also demonstrated important simplifications in quantum gravity and has made important contributions to the study of quantum effects in black hole spacetimes and semi-classical gravity.
The research community highly regards these contributions. The NSERC Physics Evaluation Group rated Dr. Husain "Outstanding" in the Excellence of the Researcher category, and he is regularly invited to present his work at international conferences.
His influence is also evident in other researchers' work where his name has been cited in the titles and abstracts of many published papers.
His achievements have earned recognition from UNB and the wider scientific community. He received First Prize in the Gravity Research Foundation Essay Competition in 1998, the UNB Merit Award in 2003, and the University Research Scholar Award in 2017. He was also recognized as an Outstanding Referee by the American Physical Society.
Dr. Husain’s impact extends beyond his own research. He has supervised undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who have earned major awards and gone on to research and faculty positions.
He has also served the broader research community through leadership and advisory roles with NSERC, the Banff International Research Station, and the Atlantic Association for Research in the Mathematical Sciences.
For continued excellence in research, contributions to theoretical physics, commitment to training the next generation of researchers, and service to the scholarly community, Dr. Viqar Husain will receive the UNB Award for Excellence in Research.
