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Dr. Barbara Pepperdene, formerly serving the UNB Department of Sociology, passed away on April 1, 2015.
In her memory, two prizes are awarded annually to students at the UNB Fredericton campus for outstanding achievement in sociology: the Barbara Pepperdene Essay Prize and the Barbara Pepperdene Prize for Substantive Inquiry.
Dr. Barbara Pepperdene served the Department of Sociology and its students in so many ways. She proded students to “ask a good question,” and offered interesting, lively and well-prepared lectures to engage their interest. She was known for caring about students and her teaching effectiveness resulted in an Allan P. Stuart teaching award. A native New Brunswicker, Barbara Pepperdene sought to play an important role in opening the eyes and minds of young men and women who came to her for career and personal advice. She left a lasting financial legacy to the department, in the form of underwriting two student prizes, and an intellectual legacy that was laced with her good humour. We miss her presence amongst us.
I was saddened by the news of the passing of Barb Pepperdene. Barb was my PhD dissertation supervisor and a great mentor for me throughout the years of my PhD program (1981-1987). I began writing my dissertation with a certain degree of confidence in my ability to write, and yet Barb would cheerfully return my drafts with many editorial comments and suggestions for revision in terms of both content and style. She was certainly a stickler for clear and concise writing and I’ve been grateful for her tutelage in that regard ever since. In fact I’m quite sure that she would have lots of suggestions for improving these few sentences! I am grateful to Barb for her commitment to teaching, to excellence, and for the support and encouragement she showed me during a very important time in my life.
She spoke what’s on her mind, never hesitated in making her position clear. Her frankness was something we could always count on. Her teaching style pulled in many students to Sociology. Her insights were always unusual and allowed many students to see around the corner of things.
Barbara had a useful sense of what was realistic for undergraduates. Insights from her doctoral research, for example, would engage members of classes being taken as electives in the Nursing program. After some of them had graduated and practiced for a time, they would have occasion to speak with her, usually sharing their experiences of the frustrations and stressful aspects of Nursing.