New Visions

ubc's newest faculty members bring ideas for change, new insights and a determination to succeed

with more than 45 per cent of UBCfaculty expected to retire within four years, attracting scholars to UBCis one of the university's key strategies. This year UBChas significantly advanced its goal of recruiting outstanding faculty with the addition of 106 professors and librarians, bringing the total for this group to 1,728. The following are six of the university's newest researchers and teachers. More new faculty will be profiled in the next issue of UBCReports.

Jenny Bryan

assistant professor, joint appointment in Biotechnology Laboratory and Statistics Department, Faculty of Science; Biostatistician at the Microarray Center in the Prostate Center of Vancouver General Hospital

background: phd, Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley

courses taught: Statistical Topics in Computational Biology

teaching objective: To get students excited about quantitative problems arising from current research in biology.

research objective: To develop and implement statistical methods that advance research in biology, especially in the areas of molecular biology and genomics

why attracted to ubc: I was impressed by all three departments I am affiliated with in terms of research quality and activity, and fell in love with Vancouver.

Sandra Chamberlain

associate professor, Accounting, Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration

background: phd, University of Chicago

courses taught: All levels of Managerial Accounting, Introductory Financial Accounting

teaching objective: To teach students how to use accounting inputs to make good business decisions and to teach themselves more about accounting information outside a classroom setting.

research objective: My research has the objective of understanding how businesses make accounting choices, and how those choices affect investment and financing outcomes. Most of my research is empirically based, and is carried out on financial institutions.

why attracted to ubc: On a professional level, the Faculty of Commerce is known for its excellence in research and its high degree of collegiality. The students are curious, intelligent and motivated. Taking all of this together, I felt that UBCwould be a place where I could thrive in my academic life. On a personal level, Vancouver is hard to beat for its mix of urban and outdoor amenities and its cultural diversity.

Doug Harris

assistant professor, Faculty of Law

background: Currently completing a Doctor of Jurisprudence (djur) at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.

courses taught: Property Law, Legal History

teaching objective: To excite students about the study of law and the possibilities of a legal education, and to help them explore law as one of central institutions in human society.

research objective: To investigate the roots of the contemporary conflict over fish and fisheries between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal fishers on the Pacific coast, and to understand the role of law in that conflict.

why attracted to ubc: To join a strong faculty at an outstanding teaching and research university that is located in the midst of my research interests, and because of strong family connections to Vancouver and British Columbia.

Yvonne McLeod

director, Native Indian Teacher Education Program (nite), Faculty of Education background: phd, University of Regina

courses taught: Overseeing the nite Program

teaching objective: One of my goals is to ensure we have a strong First Nations community perspective in elementary education by working with First Nations communities and institutions and through partnerships and collaborations with education stakeholders.

research objective: For the nite program, I'm focusing on designing a secondary teacher education program this year. In my own area of research, I'm looking at the leadership styles of First Nations women who are currently in community leader roles to find out whether they're following traditional First Nations models of leadership.

why attracted to ubc: I was with the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in Regina for many years, and I felt I needed to look at education from another perspective. I'm thankful to have the opportunity to come to UBCto promote First Nations education.

Robert Rohling

assistant professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering departments, Faculty of Applied Science background: phd, Information Engineering, University of Cambridge

courses taught: Real Time Control Systems, an Electrical Engineering course for non-Electrical Engineering students.

teaching objective: To teach people how to use computers to solve real life problems in the control or automation of mechanical systems such as cars, assembly lines, and hydroelectric or chemical processing plants.

research objective. With my background in biomedical engineering, I am currently working on developing a technique called 3d ultrasound to improve upon the diagnostic utility of regular two-dimensional ultrasound images.

why attracted to ubc: Ten years to the day I graduated from UBC(with a basc in Engineering Physics), I returned to start teaching. I've got old friends and colleagues here and UBChas a reputation as a top research university and is well-funded.

Maya Yazigi

assistant professor, Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies Dept., Faculty of Arts background: phd, Islamic Studies, University of California in Los Angeles

courses taught: The Heritage of Islam, Islamic Art and Architecture, and Women in Islam

teaching objectives: What I teach is Islamic Studies. I will be offering a variety of courses dealing with many aspects of the Islamic World: history, religion and culture. I also hope to teach the Arabic language at different levels.

research objectives: My research deals with the political and social history of seventh century Arabia, focusing on the alliances that prevailed during that period. In studying this topic, I make use of Arabic genealogical sources that have been seldom used for historical inquiry. I intend, at a later stage, to investigate this type of literature in greater depth, not only as a specific literary genre, but also as a tool for historical study.

why attracted to ubc: My training in the field of Islamic Studies has been highly interdisciplinary. I found, therefore, the wide scope and interdisciplinary nature of the UBCDept. of Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies to be most appealing. UBCalso gave me the opportunity of contributing to an exciting program that we hope to see expand even further in the future.