by Public Relations | Sep 20, 2013 | Alumni, Faculty, Parents, Staff, Students
Canisius President John J. Hurley conferred the President’s Medal upon humanitarian Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, prior to his lecture on Monday, September 16.
The President’s Medal bears the phrase ‘For God and Country’ and is bestowed only periodically to individuals who have distinguished themselves in public life through service to God and community. Farmer is the 45th recipient of the President’s Medal since 1955.
“Some years ago, then-Superior General of the Jesuits, Father Pedro Arrupe encouraged graduates of Jesuits schools to be men for others,” said President Hurley in presenting the President’s Medal. “Over time, that idea has evolved and we now say that our schools now strive to produce graduates who will be men and women for and with others. For it is not enough to work for someone in need, but we recognize that we must also stand in solidarity with the poor, the marginalized, the disenfranchised and yes, the sick of the world. That has been your example to the world, Dr. Farmer.”
Farmer is a medical anthropologist and physician who has dedicated his life to improving health care for the world’s poorest people. He is a founding director of Partners in Health (PIH), an international non-profit organization started in 1987 that provides direct-care services, advocacy and research activities for those who are sick or living in poverty. Started as a one-building clinic in the village of Cange, PIH’s project in Haiti has grown to a multi-service health complex that includes a primary school, an infirmary, a surgery wing, a training program for health outreach workers, a 104-bed hospital, a women’s clinic and a pediatric care facility. Over the past 20 years, PIH has expanded operations to 12 sites throughout Haiti and 12 additional countries. Farmer and his colleagues in the U.S. and worldwide have pioneered community-based treatment strategies that demonstrate the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor areas.
“He found his life’s calling in bringing the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most,” added President Hurley. “His persistence in the face of overwhelming opposition from so many sources stands as a testament to the idea that one man can make a difference.”
Farmer’s lecture, entitled “To Repair the World,” was presented by The William H. Fitzpatrick Chair of Political Science Lecture Series and attracted more than 700 people to campus Monday evening.
Click here to learn more about Paul Farmer’s humanitarian work.
Submitted by: Marketing and Communication
by Public Relations | Sep 20, 2013 | Alumni, Faculty, Parents, Staff, Students
The Archives Speaker Series presents, “Buffalo’s Catholic Labor Schools: Uncovering Resources That Shaped a Business Model” on Thursday, September 26 at 2:00 p.m. in the Canisius College ALB Library, 2nd Floor.
Paul Lubienecki, PhD, Catholic labor historian and vice president, Steel Plant Museum, Buffalo will be the featured speaker. Dr. Lubienecki will discuss the development of the Catholic Labor Schools’ program of specialized labor education and how “the laiety became an integral component in the growth and development of American organized labor in the Twentieth Century.” Founded under the auspices of the Diocese of Buffalo and spreading throughout the county, these adult education programs “consciously directed moral and intellectual training in an increasingly competitive industry environment to encourage business leaders to become instruments for justice in the powerful world of labor.” Members of Buffalo’s Jesuit community and faculty from Canisius College were active participants and instructors in this mid-century undertaking. Course of study in these programs included the social or labor encyclicals of Pope Leo Xlll and Pius XI to emphasize dignity and rights of “the worker.”
Dr. Lubienecki, a native of Philadelphia, spent 20 years in the corporate arena as a risk manager before pursuing his scholarly and academic passions. He obtained his BA in history from Temple University, an MA in pastoral ministry from Christ the King Seminary, and an MA in history/museum studies from SUNY/Buffalo State College. Most recently he was awarded his PhD in history from Case Western Reserve University. He is a frequent lecturer on Western New York local history, including Bishop John Timon and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Greycliff, and has published articles and books on these topics including Father Nelson Baker’s work with the African –American community during the 1930s. Currently he’s completing a manuscript on the history of Catholic labor schools in Buffalo and their influence on organized labor.
The Archives Speaker Series features scholars whose work is reliant on archival research, and who have produced an expression of scholarship based on that research. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. For more information contact Kathleen DeLaney, archivist at delaney@canisius.edu or at Ext. 8421.
Submitted by: Kathleen DeLaney, archivist/reference librarian
by Public Relations | Sep 20, 2013 | Alumni, Faculty, Parents, Staff, Students
Canisius College Lowery Writer-in-Residence Eric Gansworth will mark the release of his newest novel, If I Ever Get Out of Here, with a book reading, reception and signing, on Thursday, September 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge.
The book will be available for sale at that time, courtesy of Talking Leaves Books, Buffalo’s oldest independent bookseller.
If I Ever Get Out of Here is Gansworth’s first young adult novel. Read more about it by clicking here.
Submitted by: Marketing and Communication