Lethbridge college honours Alumni

LETHBRIDGE- Lethbridge College has named its 2015 recipients of the annual Honouring Excellence Awards.

The college is recognizing alumni who have distinguished themselves in their lives, work and communities.  This year’s honouring excellence award recipients are from coast to coast.

Cam Mandel (Heavy Equipment Technician, 1984). Mandel has been named this year’s Distinguished Alumnus. Mandel is the owner and President of Taber Diesel Service and has been noted as one of Canada’s leading diesel injection and light/medium duty diesel vehicle power train specialists. Mandel has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to his industry and was recently awarded the Canadian Merit Award from Associated Diesel Specialists. Mandel also received the Henry Ortner, Jr. Memorial Award and the Taber and District Small Business of the Year Award. In addition to his career success, Mandel is dedicated to his community and has acted as a co-chair for the Taber Charity Auction on behalf of STARS Air Ambulance and has been involved with STARS for more than 14 years. In addition, Mandel has been active with Lethbridge College for more than 23 years. He was appointed and has held the position of Chair of the Agricultural and Heavy Equipment Advisory Committee for more than 22 years. He helped shape the college’s Agricultural and Heavy Equipment program and to date this program continues to have one of the highest waitlists every year. Mandel has distinguished himself in all award criteria areas and has made a significant contribution to his community. Lethbridge College is thrilled to honour him as the college’s first apprenticeship program graduate to receive the highest alumni award.

Superintendent Jeff Sim (Law Enforcement, 1982).  Sim is this year’s Career Virtuoso Award recipient. He is a Superintendent of the Operations Division with the Vancouver Police Department and is in charge of the South Command and its approximately 400 police officers. Sim began his policing career with the Lethbridge Regional Police Service and, after four years, joined the Vancouver Police Department in 1986. He started as a Patrol Constable and was then selected to join one of the Vancouver Police Department’s Emergency Response Teams. These teams are comprised of Vancouver’s elite police officers who arrest high-risk suspects and resolve dangerous calls. In 2006, Sim moved into an inspector role and was responsible for all four emergency response teams and served as the critical incident commander. He has pursued additional education throughout his career, earning a variety of certificates and degrees over the years. Sim was also recently inducted into the Order of Merit of the Police Forces. His career has been a steady rise toward success and he is recognized by his peers for his hard work and dedication.

Vernon Oickle (Communication Arts – Print Journalism, 1982). Oickle is the recipient of this year’s Community Leader Award. He lives in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and is the sales manager for Queens County Community Radio, the owner and operator of Privateer Promotions and Communications, and a columnist for The South Shore Breaker published by The Chronicle-Herald. Oickle is a successful writer and journalist and is the author of more than 20 novels, some of which have been on Canada’s bestseller’s list. He is recognized for his ongoing dedication to the betterment of his community and continues to be a voice for the east coast. He is the Chairman of the Liverpool Regional School Advisory Council and is also a member of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce, the Queens County Historical Society, and the Friends of Hank Snow Society. He is an advocate and activist for many other community organizations. He has also been honoured and awarded the Golden Quill Award and received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Oickle shows his devotion to his community through his career successes and through his personal interests on a day-to-day basis.

Jordan Jensen (Business Administration, 2009). Jensen is this year’s Rising Star Award recipient. In the six years since he graduated from Lethbridge College, he has moved from being a sales associate for SilverBirch Hotels and Resorts to founding his own company and working on a unique provincial program. At SilverBirch, Jensen was quickly promoted to corporate sales manager and assisted in rebuilding the base business and volume-negotiated accounts. One of his successes in this position included securing an account for the Warner Bros. film crew who came to southern Alberta to film the movie Interstellar. In March 2013, while he was still at SilverBirch, Jensen started his own marketing business which is now known as ProDynamic. As he navigated those two jobs, he was also recruited to pilot a unique government-funded program known as the Sustainable Farm Families program. This program originated in Australia and focuses on providing farmers, their workers and their families with knowledge, skills and resources they need to better manage their health, well-being and safety. Jensen has already shown great success in his profession and has demonstrated his drive to work hard and to innovate.

The four alumni will be recognized at this year’s Honouring Excellence recognition event April 23 in the Garden Court Dining Room at Lethbridge College. For ticket information and sponsorship opportunities, contact Alumni Relations at 403-329-7220.