Six Loyalist College graduates were recognized at the Annual Premier’s Awards gala held in Toronto on November 28. The event is part of the Colleges Ontario Annual Higher Education Summit, and celebrates the outstanding contributions of graduates of Ontario’s Community Colleges.
Loyalist nominees for the prestigious awards included: Health Sciences, Trudy Bellam, Nursing 1985; Recent Graduate, Kaela Lalonde, Bio-Food Technology 2007; Technology, Karen Mayfield, Architectural Drafting Technician 1985; Community Services, Chuck Mercier, Law and Security Administration 1974; Creative Arts & Design, Martin Seemungal, Television Broadcasting 1981; and, Business, Karen Sharp-Perry, Business Administration 1983.
Currently working at the Montreal Children’s Hospital as a Staff Nurse, Trudy Bellam has been working in pediatrics for most of her career. Her Loyalist experience initially inspired her to work with children and her passion for this began at Toronto’s Sick Kids. It then carried her to various locations in the United States where she settled for ten years in Denver, Colorado. In addition to her regular nursing duties, Ms. Bellam was one of the first to respond to the earthquake in Haiti by volunteering as both nurse and translator for “Project Smile,” aiding children with facial deformities to access medical care and safe reconstructive surgery.
Applying the research and laboratory skills developed during her studies at Loyalist, Kaela Lalonde became a member of the Bisphenol A (BPA) research team with Health Canada and contributed to work that ultimately showed that BPA can leach into foods and beverages. A study published in 2009, co-authored by Ms. Lalonde, led to Canada becoming the first country in the world to ban BPA from baby bottles. Now a full-time employee with Health Canada, she continues her research work as a Laboratory Technologist and has co-authored other papers on food and emerging environmental contaminants.
Karen Mayfield is the President of eSolutionsGroup, a new-aged technology company from Ontario’s technology capital, Waterloo, and an important and successful division of a traditional Canadian environmental company. The first female partner of Conestoga-Rovers, Ms. Mayfield spearheads many initiatives, including extensive research and development into new ideas for using the web to support community-focused objectives including environmental stewardship. Karen paved the way for women by bringing energy and innovation to establish a collaborative working environment. She regularly shares her career experiences to assist and motivate as a professional speaker at events.
After graduating from College, Chuck Mercier accepted a job with Durham Regional Police in Oshawa where he held progressively senior positions over a 32-year career. He has been honoured with several commendations and awards for excellence in policing, community work and bravery. In December 2009, he retired from the Durham Regional Police Service as Deputy Chief of Policing Operations. A year later, Mr. Mercier returned to civic duty — at the request of Scugog’s electorate — as Mayor. Chuck has been a tireless worker for a number of local causes including Scouts Canada for 18 years.
Martin Seemungal’s career as a foreign news correspondent for CTV, CBC, ABC, CBS and PBS has seen him travel the world covering international events. Mr. Seemungal was appointed as the Middle East Bureau Chief for CTV in January 2011. Throughout his career, Martin has been recognized for his outstanding work, as the recipient of many industry awards and nominations. They include two Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, an Overseas Press Club for America Award, the Radio and Television News Directors (Canada) Award for Best Documentary, and a Gemini Award nomination.
Karen Sharp-Perry is an end-to-end supply chain expert with a keen sense for strategy, continuous improvement and a passion to develop strong teams which deliver outstanding results. Her current role as Global Service Manager for Corporate Business Intelligence with Procter & Gamble allows Karen to use her business knowledge gained while at Loyalist College to develop and deploy data gathering and analysis technologies and processes to deliver against a top priority strategy for the company. She is also active in community service for schools, church, women’s and sports events.
“We are very proud of our nominees for this year’s Awards program,” said President Maureen Piercy. “They represent the excellence of a Loyalist graduate, and the outstanding work they do in professions throughout the province, country, and internationally. They are inspirations to all of us.”
This year’s Premier’s Awards evening included a special tribute and presentation to the Hon. William G. Davis, in celebration of his achievement in establishing Ontario’s college system during his time as Minister of Education.
Colleges Ontario is the advocacy organization for the province’s 24 colleges of applied arts and technology, advancing policies and awareness campaigns to ensure Ontario produces the highly skilled workforce that is essential to its prosperity.
Premier’s Award nominees Karen Mayfield, Trudy Bellam,
Karen Sharp-Perry, and Kaela Lalonde with President Maureen Piercy at the
awards gala in Toronto.