UFV chooses Top 40 alumni as part of 40th anniversary celebrations

The list is out! In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the University of the Fraser Valley and the UFV Alumni Association have chosen UFV’s Top 40 Alumni.

It wasn’t easy to select only 40 outstanding alumni. UFV has welcomed many students into its classrooms and labs over the past 40 years. Thousands of them have graduated and become alumni of the university.

“The UFV Top 40 Alumni exemplify a range of exceptional qualities, from career excellence and leadership to acts of selflessness, courage, creativity, and innovation. We congratulate all of them on their achievements,” said UFV Alumni Association chair Justin P. Goodrich (BA ’12).

The list includes alumni who attended in the early days of Fraser Valley College in the 1970s, those who helped plan and shape the new degree programs during the university-college phase, and recent graduates.

“When I look at this list, I am truly impressed by breadth, depth, and variety to be found in our alumni ranks,” noted Nancy Armitage, Manager of Alumni Engagement. “And it really illustrates the impact that UFV alumni are having in our communities and around the world.”

More than 260 nominations were received for the Top 40 Alumni after a community-wide appeal. Representatives from the UFV Alumni Association and the university then selected the Top 40 based on a set of criteria that included community contributions, commitment to others, career/professional excellence, leadership, creativity/innovation, and acting with selflessness or courage.

The Top 40 alumni are:

Shirzad Ahmed, UT ’94 — Lawyer, human rights advocate, and UFV 2011 Distinguished Alumni winner

Rebecca Anderson, Dip ’93 — Women and family rights advocate and lawyer, community volunteer; attended UFV during its university-college phase and helped shape curriculum for degree programs

Luke Armstrong, BGS ’11 — International security professional, providing security services to NGOs in nations experiencing turmoil

Shelley Besse, Dip ’99 — President of Envision Financial and internationally recognized leader

Kelly Chahal, MA ’11 — Probation officer, community volunteer, key member of Friends of UFV, a community group that campaigned for university status for UFV in the mid-2000s

Stu Chahal, BCIS ’06 — Computing professional; National Director of Partner Operations for CISCO; 2012 UFV Distinguished Alumni winner

Iuliana Czeck, BA Crim ’11 — Conflict resolution expert; MA in dispute resolution; has worked at Abbotsford Restorative Justice

Dave Dhat, ASc ’00 — Emergency physician; philanthropist whose family foundation works on curing the blind in India

Peter Eppinga, BKin ’06 — Physician focusing on supporting aboriginal communities and promoting health awareness

Debbie Greene, BBA ’96 — Author; wife and supporter of brain-injured Afghanistan veteran Trevor Greene; raises awareness of brain injury effects and treatment

Gus Hartl, Dip ’80 — CEO of Aldergrove Credit Union; UFV 2008 Distinguished Alumni winner

George Hemeon, BA ’04 — Senior aboriginal advisor for TransCanada Corporation, renowned aboriginal carver, 2008 UFV Distinguished Alumni winner

Ken Hildebrandt, BA ’96 — Founder of Gallery 7 Theatre; community theatre producer

Stacey Irwin, BBA ’97 — Manager of Web Services at Prospera Credit Union; first chair of the UFV Alumni Association; current vice chair of UFV Board of Governors; dedicated community volunteer

Brad Jalbert, Cert ’89 — Internationally renowned horticulturalist; expert rose breeder; owner of Select Roses

Tanya Jonker, BA ’09 — Psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Waterloo, specializing in mechanisms underlying forgetting in human memory; UFV 2014 Young Distinguished Alumni winner

Lisa Kelly, AA ’01 — Lawyer with a focus on social justice, Harvard PhD candidate, Trudeau Scholar

Amarjit Kingra, Cert ’94 — Staff Sergeant with the Abbotsford Police; 2004 UFV Distinguished Alumni winner

David Lanphear, BCrim ’99 — Vice President, Banking and Insurance, Envision Financial; Abbotsford Community Foundation board member

Matthew Loewen, BBA ’03 — Regional Director at Kings Volunteer, Botswana ( part of The King’s Foundation, a UK registered charity that believes that sport has a vital part to play in a child’s development)

Jason Lum, UT ’06 — Chilliwack City Councillor; president, Myriad Information Technology Solution; active community volunteer

Patti MacAhonic — BA ’03, Executive Director of Ann Davis Transition Society, community leader, advocate for surviving family members of workplace injury, business consultant; 2014 Distinguished Alumni winner

Alex McAulay, BBA ’08 — CFO and COO, Garmatex Technologies; former Chilliwack Board of Trustees member, inaugural UFV Young Distinguished Alumni Award winner (2012)

Kathleen McIntosh, BA ’02 — Lawyer, crown prosecutor, has worked on several high-profile murder trials

Sherry Mumford, BA ’96 — Director, Mental Health and Addictions, Fraser Health; UFV’s first Distinguished Alumni Award winner (2003)

Shawn Neumann, UT ’93 — Founder and CEO of Domain 7 digital marketing agency; entrepreneur; public speaker; board chair at First West Credit Union

Robert O’Brennan, UT ’76 — Early alumni and Fraser Valley Regional Library CEO

Jennifer Owen, BSc ’06 — Particle physicist, PhD; doctoral research was performed as a member of the ATLAS experiment, located on the Large Hadron Collider ring at CERN

Barry Penner, QC, Dip ’86 — Lawyer, former Chilliwack MLA, Attorney General of BC, and provincial Minister of Environment; now Senior Counsel at Myanmar Legal Services

Darren Penner, BA ’04 —Long term Alumni board director, volunteer and mentor to UFV students, Vancouver lawyer

Jaclyn Rea, BA ’95 — PhD, instructor and associate chair, UBC Arts Studies in Research and Writing program; key activist in supporting university-college campaign in 1991

Bonnie Reilly Schmidt BA ’04 — Historian with a special focus on history of women in the RCMP; PhD in women’s history, dissertation on Women in Red Serge

Myrtle-Anne Rempel, Dip ’86 — Artist, businesswoman, philanthropist, and community arts supporter

Adam Simpson, BA ’06 — Regional project management specialist for United Nations Office for Project Services

Terry-Lynn Stone, BA ’98 — Executive Director at Kamloops Brain Injury Association; UFV Board of Governors member; founding chair of the Alumni Association Society; UFV 2005 Distinguished Alumni winner

Andy Thompson, UT ’90 — Actor, producer, playwright; Artistic & Managing Director at The Virtual Stage

Tracey Vanderaegen-Jones, Dip ’94 — Leader and educator in the field of nursing; UFV 2010 Distinguished Alumni winner

Mary Anne Waterhouse, Dip ’84 — Film producer; Head of Production, Blue Ice Productions; UFV 2007 Distinguished Alumni winner

Evan Wiens, BSc ’06 — Award-winning dentist and community volunteer; UFV 2013 Young Distinguished Alumni winner

Chris Woods, UT ’90 — Artist whose work examines the impact of popular culture (Star Wars, fast food) on the mind of the contemporary individual .