The UPEI Wind Symphony received the 2014 Music PEI award for Achievement in Classical Music this past weekend. Under the direction of Dr. Karem J. Simon, the Wind Symphony has had a progressive approach to its programming, and in reaching a wider audience. With performances throughout PEI and beyond each year, partnerships with PEI school music programs, and utilizing unique performance spaces, the Wind Symphony is among PEI's most respected large ensembles. Commissioning new compositions, featuring outstanding student and professional soloists, and showcasing masterworks of the wind band genre are all hallmarks of this ensemble.

UPEI congratulates the Wind Symphony on this well-deserved achievement!

UPEI Athletics and Recreation announced the UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week for the week of January 20-26. UPEI Athletics and Recreation showcases these talented athletes to recognize their hard work and dedication to their respective sports throughout the season. UPEI Athletes of the Week are also nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Who: Anja Weisser, Women's Hockey; and Deontay Smith, Men's Basketball

What: UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week

When: Week of January 20-26

Why: Anja Weisser, a fourth-year business student from Kaufbeuren, Germany, led the women's hockey team to a win, and in a solid performance during an overtime loss over the weekend. The defensemen scored one goal in the team's 6-2 win over Dalhousie of Friday, and followed on Saturday with two goals in the overtime loss to Saint Mary's. The 5'8' Weisser is playing some of the best hockey of her university career, and will soon take a hiatus from the UPEI Panthers as she joins Team Germany at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Deontay Smith, a second-year arts student from North Preston, Nova Scotia, continues to lead the men's basketball team on the offensive front. The 6'0' point guard played very strong in the Panthers 88-75 and 95-77 wins over UNB on the weekend, with Smith scoring 35 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, five assists, and four steals. On Friday night, Smith displayed great team character as shortly after being selected 'Player of the Game,' he presented the award to fellow teammate Lorenzo Parker who he believed played the best game.

Weisser and Smith will be recognized at this week's UPEI Athletes of the Week Celebration on Thursday, January 30 at 12:45 pm in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre's McMillan Hall. All are welcome.

Anja Weisser, Women's Hockey

For information:
Ron Annear
UPEI Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

UPEI Men's Basketball Head Coach Tim Kendrick is pleased to announce that Tyler Scott of Halifax, Nova Scotia is joining the Panthers for the fall 2014-15 season.

Scott played for Kendrick for two summers, including on Nova Scotia's 2009 Canada Games team with current Panthers Geoff Doane and Deontay (D.J.) Smith. Scott is also a close friend of Panther Jayden Skinner-Nordin, also from Halifax.

Despite other Canadian universities and American schools heavily recruiting the 21-year-old basketball player, Scott signed his letter of intent to join the Panthers men's basketball team for the 2014-15 season this past weekend.

Scott is a combo guard who played two seasons with Acadia University, and was also a part of an Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championship team in his rookie season.

'I feel like I fit in here, I have a great relationship with all of these guys. They have a good team out there,' said Scott during an interview with The Guardian on Saturday, January 25.

'I think Tyler Scott is going to fall in line with previous stars here at UPEI; Tyler is a prolific scorer and talent, and an even better young man,' commented Coach Kendrick.

UPEI Athletics and Recreation Director Bill Schurman praised the addition of Scott to the UPEI family. 'It is a pleasure to welcome Tyler to the Panther family. We are very confident that Tyler will be a great addition on the court, in the classroom, and in the community. Programs grow by attracting good quality people. Today, our basketball and athletic program has grown.'

UPEI welcomes Tyler Scott! Go Panthers Go!

For information:
Ron Annear
UPEI Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

UPEI faculty are invited to submit nominations for appointments to the rank of Professor Emeritus. Please note that the criteria, and nominating and evaluation procedures were revised by Senate on June 14, 2013. These procedures can be found here

The deadline to submit nominations has been extended to Friday, February 21, 2014. Nominations should be forwarded to Dr. Bill Whelan, Chair of the Professor Emeritus Evaluation Committee, Department of Physics, UPEI, 550 University Ave., Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3.

The Professor Emeritus Evaluation Committee will consider all nominees and forward its recommendations to Senate. Senate is the final approval body and will notify nominees of its decision.

Inquiries may be directed to Dr. Whelan at wwhelan@upei.ca.

UPEI Men's Basketball has teamed up with award-winning Kimberlee Farms of Centreville, Nova Scotia to raise funds for various UPEI athletic financial awards through the sale of honey crisp apples.

The farm's owner, Tim Pearson, is a long-time friend of UPEI Men's Basketball Head Coach Tim Kendrick, and is also a Green & White Club member. Ten-pound bags of honey crisp apples will be sold for $20. Orders can be made through the men's basketball players, or by visiting Panther Central.

For more information, visit Panther Central or call (902) 566-0368. Pickup day is Saturday, February 8, 1:00-3:00 pm at UPEI's Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre.

For information:
Ron Annear
UPEI Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

UPEI Music's annual faculty gala performance will take place on Saturday, February 8 at 7:30 pm in UPEI's Dr. Steel Recital Hall.

Faculty members featured include Karem J. Simon, accompanied by pianist Frances McBurnie, performing Alessandro Marcello's Concerto for clarinet, and Gregory B. Irvine accompanied by Frances Gray on piano in a performance of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Sinfonia in F for tuba. Percussion instructor David Shephard will feature the marimba on A Little Prayer composed by Evelyn Glennie, and pianist Frances Gray will perform East Coast Suite composed by Island native
Heather Taves.

Tickets for the gala are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and can be purchased at the door, or in advance by calling (902) 566-0507 or music@upei.ca

UPEI Athletics and Recreation announced the UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week for the week of January 27-February 2. UPEI Athletics and Recreation showcases these talented athletes to recognize their hard work and dedication to their respective sports throughout the season. UPEI Athletes of the Week are also nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Who: Amy Gough, Women's Basketball; Reggie Traccitto, Men's Hockey

What: UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week

When: Week of January 27-February 2

Why: Amy Gough, a fourth-year nursing student from St. John's, Newfoundland, helped her Panther basketball team to a split of two games at Dalhousie on the weekend. In a close 65-58 loss on Friday night, Gough scored 20 points, shooting six for eleven, including one from the three-point range and made seven of nine free throws. Gough also collected 10 rebounds, two assists, and three steals, and had two blocked shots. In her team's 76-70 win over Dalhousie on Saturday, Gough scored 23 points; nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Gough also had an outstanding defensive weekend, holding Dalhousie's leading scorer to 11 and 12 points respectively in the two games. This is Gough's third UPEI Athlete of the Week honour of the 2013-2014 season.

Reggie Traccitto, a fourth-year arts student from Oakville, Ontario is having a great offensive season so far with the men's hockey Panthers. Over the weekend, Traccitto contributed two goals in the Panthers 5-2 win over Acadia on Friday, and pitched in with a goal and an assist in the Panthers 7-3 loss to Dalhousie on Saturday.

Gough and Traccitto will be recognized at this week's UPEI Athletes of the Week Celebration on Thursday, February 6 at 12:45 pm in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre's McMillan Hall. All are welcome.

Panther Action this week:

Wednesday, February 5
7:30 pm (M) Hockey @ StFX

Friday, February 7
7:00 pm (M) Hockey @ UdeM
7:30 pm (W) Hockey vs. STU
AUS Swimming Championship (Feb 7-9) @ MUN

Saturday, February 8
3:00 pm (W) Basketball vs. SMU-Shoot for the Cure
3:30 pm (W) Hockey vs. SMU
5:00 pm (M) Basketball vs. SMU
7:00 pm (M) Hockey vs. STU
AUS Swimming Championship (Feb 7-9) @ MUN

Go Panthers Go!

Amy Gough, Women's Basketball

For information:
Ron Annear
UPEI Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

The University of Prince Edward Island is proud to announce the appointment of Shelley King as the new CEO of Three Oaks Innovations, Inc. (TOI). TOI is a not-for-profit entity created by UPEI to assist its researchers to transform their innovative ideas into commercial products, business opportunities, and public knowledge. It is situated to be a centre for creativity, innovation, and commercialization for a university that has become the hub of bioscience research within the Prince Edward Island cluster. Ms. King's combination of industry and public expertise and experience makes her uniquely qualified to lead this team to bridge the gap between industry and the innovative minds within the research community at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Ms. King has led and managed life science research in both the public and private sectors, from idea inception, through proposal development, to scale-up for commercialization. Her experience with various types of organizations, including newly incorporated private companies, multi-national pharmaceutical companies, not-for-profits, universities, and federal research institutes, allows her to effectively unite stakeholders with different backgrounds, goals, and objectives to create successful outcomes.

Ms. King comes to TOI from Genome Atlantic, where she served as Vice-President Research and Business Development. In this role, she led the development large- and small-scale, multi-institutional research projects ranging in value from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Ms. King holds an MSc and an MBA from Memorial University, and has translated these degrees into a broad range of experience in technology commercialization, business development, strategic partnership development and intellectual property management in both the private and academic sectors.

'Shelley King is the whole package,' said Dr. Robert Gilmour, UPEI's Vice-President of Research and Graduate Studies and Chair of TOI's Board of Directors. 'She brings with her a thorough understanding of all aspects of the industry, from evaluation of scientific and commercial merit, to IP strategy and implementation, to technology transfer, and the pursuit of private and public sector funding. She has a strong vision for the industry-academia research process, as well as hands-on organizational skills, industry connections, and knowledge of both business and science. I very much look forward to working with her.'

'I am extremely excited to be joining the TOI team,' said Shelley King. 'I cannot wait to lead an organization that enhances the innovation space within the University of Prince Edward Island and the community as a whole. I look forward to taking up this position and to working with stakeholders in Prince Edward Island's innovation community.'

Ms. King holds current and past membership on high profile boards and committees in Canada's innovation sector, including, but not limited to the Genesis Centre, the Aquaculture Association of Canada (AAC), Newfoundland & Labrador Association of Technology Industries, and the Pan American Marine Biotechnology Association (PAMBA).

TOI is responsible for the patenting of several innovative technologies from UPEI's researchers. It has also aided in the spin-off of four stand-alone companies based on technology developed by researchers at UPEI.

Ms. King begins her leadership of TOI on March 1.

For information:
Dave Atkinson, Research Communications Officer
University of Prince Edward Island
(902) 620-5117 datkinson@upei.ca

Officials from the University of Prince Edward Island announced a major undergraduate scholarship initiative to a group of Island high school students today that is designed to put the focus strongly on student achievement.

'UPEI is excited to continue its tradition of recognizing student academic excellence through our new ‘Celebrating Student Achievement' program,' said UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz. 'This program will reward the academic excellence of students upon entrance to, as well as throughout their undergraduate studies at UPEI. Both incoming and current students will be motivated to do well and continue to do well, as they will know automatically at what level they will be rewarded.'

UPEI has a strong tradition in offering named, donor-funded scholarships and awards-there are over 700-but the 'Celebrating Student Achievement' scholarship program enhances the current program by offering 'Guaranteed Entrance Scholarships'for students entering UPEI directly from high school and 'Academic Excellence Awards' for any UPEI undergraduate students who meet the grade scale criteria during their second, third, and fourth years. There are four levels of awards, from $500-$3000 per year, based on a student's average from the previous year.

President Abd-El-Aziz, UPEI Student Union President Anastasia Smallwood and Vice President Travis Gordon, and UPEI Registrar Kathy Kielly unveiled the scholarship program to over 150 Westisle Composite High School students Wednesday afternoon. Other UPEI staff and faculty met with school principals across PEI earlier in the day to give them details about the initiative.

The program, which is renewable, will automatically recognize a greater number of undergraduate students because it includes students entering first year, as well as current students, and expands eligibility to those with a minimum average of 80 per cent. Click here for more information on the new program.

After conducting environmental scans, meeting with the UPEI Student Union, hearing from high school administrators, and receiving endorsement from the UPEI Board of Governors, Senate, and Student Union, UPEI knew it was time to restructure the way it looked at awards.

Smallwood added, 'The Student Union had identified some gaps and we were really pleased that we were able to collaborate with UPEI to come up with a fair, competitive program that will reward so many more students as they enter UPEI and as they continue through to graduation. We are also pleased that current students who received a full tuition scholarship in the past are not affected.'

'What is really exciting is that these new awards are ‘stackable' along with other named, donated scholarships,' said Gordon, 'and the Academic Excellence Awards are accessible to students entering their second, third, and fourth year of study, regardless of their residency.'

For Island students, the 'Celebrating Student Achievement' awards can be combined with the first-year George Coles Bursary ($2200), second- and third-year Island Student Award ($400, $600), and Graduate Award ($2000) available to PEI residents.

Incoming students are still encouraged to apply before March 1st so that they will receive full consideration for all scholarships in addition to the automatic 'Guaranteed Entrance Scholarships.'

For more information, visit upei.ca/scholarships or email studenthelp@upei.ca.

Quick Facts:

• Four different 'bands' allowing for four levels of awards:

Average Award
80.00-84.99 $500
85.00-89.99 $1,000
90.00-94.99 $2,000
95.00-100.00 $3,000

• Renewable based on performance and level of achievement
• Early confirmation leads to early commitment-students will automatically know at what level they will be rewarded based on their marks
• All students can participate in program even if they did not receive award when entering first year
• Students will be rewarded with more money if they improve beyond their current level of performance
• Current UPEI students who received renewable entrance scholarships under the old system are not affected
• There are 700 named scholarships and awards at UPEI, over 50 are for those entering their first year
• Award given/credited to student immediately at the beginning of academic year

The UPEI Music Department is pleased to present the trio, Diomira, in performance on Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30 pm in UPEI's Dr. Steel Recital Hall as part of Debut Atlantic's Encore tour.

Performing works composed by their founder Dinuk Wijeratne, Diomira's music explores Dinuk's hugely diverse cultural influences-from the Persian poetry of Omar Khayyam and the fantastical prose of Jorge Luis Borges, to the sensuality of Flamenco and the intricate rhythms of the Indian Classical tradition.

Formed in April 2011, the trio's critically acclaimed literary and globally-inspired program was immediately recorded by CBC, and has since enjoyed repeated nationwide broadcast, garnering audience support for a style that balances sublime music-making with virtuosity.

The 'soul' of Diomira's unique sound is the accordion of Joseph Petric. An internationally renowned recording-artist hailed as 'an extraordinary performer' by the Boston Globe, Petric toured with Debut Atlantic for the first time in 1990. World percussionist Nick Halley is a fiery talent who moves effortlessly amongst the major drumming traditions. Sri Lankan-born Dinuk Wijeratne, with a rapidly growing reputation as a prolific creator of genre-spanning projects, leads the group with his striking compositions and remarkable invention at the piano.

As part of the Debut Atlantic tour, Diomira will engage local young creators and composers to write music for the ensemble. These works will then be performed in concert, bringing a unique element to each community performance.

Tickets are $15 / $10 for students and seniors and are available at the door, or in advance by calling (902) 566-0507 or music@upei.ca