MacEwan University is pleased to announce the recipients of its Board of Governors Research Chair and its newest research award, the Chancellor's Research Chair.
MacEwan launched its internal research chair program in 2018 to recognize exceptional scholarship. Since then, ten faculty members have received Board of Governors Chairs that have allowed them to expand their scholarship and the impact it has had in their classrooms and in the community.
This year, in response to the progress the university has made in growing its scholarship, MacEwan is expanding its internal research chair program with the establishment of two Chancellor's Research Chairs.
Board of Governors Research Chair recipient
The recipient of the 2023 Board of Governors Research Chair is Dr. Benjamin Garstad, professor, Department of Humanities, Faculty of Arts and Science.
Dr. Garstad is nationally and internationally recognized for his research into the literature of Late Antiquity. His significant contributions have contributed to a shift in the direction of scholarship in his field, leading him to share his expertise through collaborations with renowned scholars in other countries and invitations to conferences around the world.
"Congratulations to Dr. Garstad," says Carolyn Graham, board chair. "His accomplishments exemplify the thought leadership of our faculty at MacEwan, and the importance of the scholarship that happens in our institution across all fields of study."
The Board of Governors Research Chair program contributes to building the university's culture of scholarship and supports faculty who have demonstrated or shown potential for exceptional scholarly distinction. Faculty members in these roles contribute to the advancement of MacEwan University's Strategic Vision and the development of a strong scholarly culture both within the institution and in the larger community.
Dr. Garstad will serve a two-year term as research chair, alongside current research chairs Dr. Emily Milne and Dr. Albina Pergelova, whose terms run from 2021 to 2023.
Chancellor's Research Chair recipients
MacEwan University's inaugural Chancellor's Research Chairs are Dr. Michael MacDonald, associate professor, Department of Music, Faculty of Fine Arts and Communications, and Dr. Nicolae Strungaru, professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Arts and Science.
"I am thrilled to offer congratulations to MacEwan's first Chancellor's Research Chairs," says Dr. Tony Fields, chancellor. "Recognizing Dr. MacDonald and Dr. Strungaru with this award reflects both the excellence of their research and the university's commitment to nurturing thought leadership in multiple academic disciplines."
About the Board of Governors Research Chair
Dr. Benjamin Garstad, professor, Classics
Dr. Benjamin Garstad studied Classics at the University of Calgary (BA Hon 1997) and the University of St Andrews (PhD 2001). Before coming to MacEwan in 2006 he taught at the University of Calgary and Brooklyn College and was a visiting scholar at Columbia University.
His research focuses on Euhemerus and Euhemerism, John Malalas and the Byzantine chronicle tradition, the Alexander Romance and Alexander's legacy, as well as Robert E. Howard and American pulp fiction. His text and translation of the Greek and Latin Apocalypses of Pseudo-Methodius and the Excerpta Latina Barbari appeared in Harvard University Press's Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. His book, Bouttios and Late Antique Antioch: Reconstructing a Lost Historian (2022) recently appeared in the Dumbarton Oaks Studies series.
His current projects involve late antique ethnography of Ethiopia and India, the Alexander Romance, Malalas' Chronicle, Philo of Alexandria, Jordanes and the sources of Byzantine chronicles.
About the Chancellor's Research Chairs
Dr. Michael B. Macdonald, associate professor, (Ethno) Musicology, Cultural Studies
Dr. Michael B. MacDonald is an award-winning cine-ethnomusicologist, author of three books and associate professor of music in MacEwan University's Faculty of Fine Arts and Communications. His ongoing cinematic research creation investigates the interface of music ethnography and cinema production as documented in "CineWorlding: Scenes of Cinematic Research-Creation" (2023). Dr. MacDonald's films have screened at more than 70 film festivals, winning documentary and experimental film awards.
He is a member of the program committee for KISMIF, an international conference on DIY music and culture; member of the scientific committee for combArt; an active member of the International Council of Traditional Music Study Group on Audiovisual Ethnomusicology; co-founder of the Justice4Reel Media Advocacy Free School and the Little Kindness Collective; and is currently the Film and Video Editor for the Yearbook For Traditional Music.
Dr. Nicolae Strungaru, professor, Mathematics & Statistics
Dr. Nicolae Strungaru received a B.Sc. from the University of Bucharest in 1999 and a PhD from the University of Alberta in 2006. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Victoria and has been a faculty member at MacEwan University since 2010. Between 2015 and 2016, during a leave of absence from MacEwan University, he took a position at Trent University.
Between 2009 and 2015, Dr. Strungaru was a problem editor and then an Olympiad Corner editor for the journal Crux Mathematicorum with Mayhem. Since 2016, he has been the editor for the COMC Problem of the Week section with the Canadian Math Society. He is a board member for the Alberta High School Math Competition.
Announcing MacEwan University's 2023 Distinguished Research Award recipient
MacEwan University proudly announces that Dr. Kevin Judge, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Science, is the recipient of MacEwan's 2023 Dr. Sherrill Brown Distinguished Research Award.
Each year, the Dr. Sherrill Brown Distinguished Research Award recognizes one faculty member who conducts exceptional scholarly work that has demonstrated significant contributions to society and the scholarly community locally, nationally or internationally.
"Dr. Judge and his work in animal behaviour and sexual selection are highly regarded and widely recognized," says Dr. Craig Monk, provost and vice-president, Academic. "A clear leader in his field, he received an NSERC Discovery Grant in 2017. He has presented his findings internationally and domestically and has published 23 articles in peer-reviewed journals: together, these publications have received over 500 citations."
"Dr. Judge's research has a profound influence on his approach to teaching," says Dr. Monk. "He is a firm believer in knowledge translation, which is illustrated by his commitment to provide students in all his classes with the opportunity to contribute to research projects. His supervision of honours thesis and independent study students has led them to their own successes in graduate-level programs and in their careers. We are pleased to recognize his excellence in research."
About this year's recipient
Dr. Kevin Judge, associate professor, Biological Sciences
Dr. Judge completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. at the University of Guelph and then a PhD at the University of Toronto Mississauga. After working on the mating system of the bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario for his M.Sc., Kevin made the switch to working on sexual selection, or competition over mates, in the fall field cricket (Gryllus pennsylvanicus) for his PhD dissertation. He followed that up with a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Lethbridge working on the evolution of aggressive behaviour and weaponry in North American field crickets.
His current research interests involve the study of sexual selection in a group of sexually cannibalistic insects (genus Cyphoderris) and how that competition selects for a range of diverse behaviours and morphologies, as well as the interaction between ecology and mating system. Kevin's teaching interests closely mirror his research experience, and he teaches a third-year course in entomology (ZOOL 325: Entomology) and a first-year course in introductory biology (BIOL 108: Introduction to Evolution).
