“I began focusing on military history in the 1970s and have interviewed probably 6,000 veterans over the course of writing a dozen books about Canadians at Vimy, on D‑Day, the liberation of the Netherlands, in the Korean War and the War in Afghanistan. I retired from teaching several years ago and now devote myself to writing and public speaking full-time (about 150 appearances a year). In 2024, Sutherland House Books published my 22nd book, Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in Their Finest Hour, about fighter pilots defending the skies over Britain from Nazi attack.”

Kevin published his novel, Sir Middling U, a satire about contemporary campus culture. John Miller, TMU professor emeritus and former dean of journalism, said about the book: “Canadian academia has been ripe for satire for a long time. Sir Middling U enrols us in a master class and delivers the tongue-in-cheek lowdown on higher education.” Kevin will soon be retiring from a career in journalism and corporate communications. He and his wife Catherine plan to relocate from Ontario to the Gulf Islands, B.C.

Montréal-based artist Antoinetta has been named a 2024 Guggenheim fellow by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in New York. She is the only Canadian recipient of the prestigious fellowship in the discipline of visual arts. Antoinetta’s abstract paintings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions at museums and galleries in Canada, the United States and Europe.

A longtime veteran of the Canadian theatre scene, Michael won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play for The Master Plan at Crow’s Theatre in Toronto, a satire about the attempt (and failure) to build a smart city in Toronto. It was his fifth Dora Mavor Moore award after winning four for his play The Drawer Boy along with a Governor General’s Award and a Chalmers Award. A former artist-in-residence at the Tarragon Theatre, Michael has also acted in numerous stage, TV and film productions.

Joe wrote Adventures in the Radio Trade, a book about his career at CBC Radio. In a series of vignettes, the book describes his many years in the field, including the numerous Canadian luminaries he worked with and the complexities of creating sound effects.

“After 35 years designing electronics for the automotive industry, I’m still going strong and living in Germany. I’m presently in the works council and supervisory board trying to make the future work for colleagues. I’ve started a non-profit organization with my wife for therapeutics to support families regarding AD(H)S, MS, PTSD, depression, career coaching and so much more. Our blended family (my two kids plus my wife’s five, aged 15 to 31) keeps us busy and happy. TMU gave me what I needed to forge a great career here.”

Based in Brooklyn, N.S., Avard has been photographing people and places for nearly 40 years. His social landscape photographs capture moments frozen in time, often reminiscent of a bygone era. Avard’s work was shown in Toronto for the Contact Photography Festival, featuring around 250 digital images from his archives collections. He had a solo exhibit at ViewPoint Gallery in Halifax titled “Toronto Now and Then” and is working on a new self-published book of street photos from the 1980s called The Torontonians, an homage to Robert Frank’s 1959 book, The Americans.

Co-founder and CEO of Fusioncorp Development Inc., Nick co-authored a new book with Charlie M. Wordsworth called Building Toronto’s Skyline. The book traces the evolution of the city’s residential towers from humble beginnings in the 19th century to today’s modern high rises.

After 13 years as San Francisco Ballet’s director of production, Christopher returned to The National Ballet of Canada’s senior management team as director of production in August 2023. Chris served as resident lighting designer and lighting coordinator at the National Ballet for 14 years and has also worked with the Metropolitan Opera and Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project. Chris is also an accomplished lighting designer who has worked with the American Ballet Theatre, Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and West Australian Ballet.

Joe took home the gold award at the 2024 Digital Publishing Awards in the Best Science & Technology Storytelling category for his article, “Meet the gig workers making AI models smarter,” published in The Globe and Mail.

Russell is the host of the award-winning Contributors podcast. Each episode, Russell engages with top executives to explore how they and their organizations are making strategic decisions today to secure a better and brighter future for Canada. Past guests have included Stephen Poloz, former governor of the Bank of Canada; Susan Black, CEO of the Conference Board of Canada and Rola Dagher (TMU honorary doctorate recipient, ’23), Global Channel chief at Dell Technologies.

“I started my own business, Icarus Aviation Engineering, 10 years ago, which has grown to over 20 people. We are a major competitor in the aerospace industry.”