Former CMOH Dr. Deena Hinshaw among University of Alberta alumni award recipients

Alberta’s former chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw is among this year’s alumni award recipients from the University of Alberta, the post-secondary announced.

Hinshaw will receive a Distinguished Alumni Award, the alumni association’s highest honour.

She earned a bachelor of science degree from the university in 1997, became a doctor in 2004 and earned a master of public health in 2008, the university said.

Hinshaw advised Albertans and the provincial government on public health during much of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Despite the criticism and threats from some, Hinshaw stayed true to her core values and ethics as the expert adviser to Alberta’s COVID-19 emergency operations centre, where she navigated the line between public health and political decision-making,” the announcement from the university reads.

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The other Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are Robert G. Bertram, a master of business administration graduate who revolutionized the way pension funds work; Dr. Bruce Ritche, a hematologist who has led research and clinical trials in cases of rare blood disorders; and Dr. Gordon H. Wilkes, a plastic surgeon who has garnered international respect for his work repairing underdeveloped or missing ears with parts of a patient’s rib cartilage.

The university also gives out the Alumni Honour Award to former students who have contributed significantly to their profession and community.

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Two nurses with connections to Indigenous communities, Reagan Mary Bartel and Mona Lisa Bourque Bearskin, received that award, along with Inuk writer Norma Dunning and other recipients.

Several recent graduates were honoured with the Alumni Horizon Award, given out to nominees who are 40 years of age or younger, including former Golden Bears quarterback and CEO of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) Cameron Linke.

The entire list of alumni award recipients can be viewed on the university’s website. The recipients will be honoured at the Citadel Theatre on Oct. 25.