Four Sheridan College graduates nominated for Premier Awards

Four graduates from Sheridan are among the more than 100 nominees for this year’s Premier’s Awards for outstanding college graduates

For Immediate Release: November 17, 2010
Oakville, Ontario

Four graduates from Sheridan are among the more than 100 nominees for this year’s Premier’s Awards for outstanding college graduates, which will be awarded Monday at a gala event in Toronto.

“The Premier’s Awards celebrate the many successes of Ontario’s college graduates,” said Jeff Zabudsky, Sheridan’s President and CEO. “We are proud of the achievements of our graduates and are pleased to see them being honoured at this year’s Premier’s Awards.”

The nominees from Sheridan are:

Glenn McQueen, Creative Arts & Design

Glenn (pictured on home page) graduated from Sheridan’s Computer Animation program in 1984, and was working as an Animation Supervisor at Pixar at the time of his death in 2002. Over the course of his short life, Glenn made a profound and lasting imprint on one of the world’s most successful animation studios. Every film that McQueen touched since joining Pixar in 1994 turned to movie gold. Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc. all received Academy Awards, with Toy Story garnering a Special Achievement Award for animation in 1996, and Monsters Inc. winning Best Animated Feature in 2002.

Karen Charles, Recent Graduate

Karen is a 2008 graduate of the Emergency Management program. She is Manager, Canadian Red Cross Society, Ontario Zone - Southwest & West Central Regions, Disaster Management. She provides leadership and support to the delivery of domestic and international disaster relief efforts. Over the course of her 16-year career with the Red Cross, Karen has been on the front line giving comfort and support to the survivors of numerous disasters, including 9/11 and Hurricanes Katrina and Ivan.

Anne Day, Community Service

As President/Founder of Company of Women, Anne Day supports, connects and promotes women in business. Anne also serves on the Governor’s Council for Opportunity International, a charity that provides micro credit financing to women in developing countries. She graduated from Sheridan’s Family Daycare program in 1980, and has pursued a diverse and successful career in community service over the past thirty years.

Mike Burnstein, Health Sciences

Mike graduated from Sports Injury Management in 1992, and has been Head Athletic Trainer for the Vancouver Canucks for the past 15 years. A recent career highlight was serving as co-athletic trainer for Canada’s gold medal-winning Men’s Olympic hockey team at the Vancouver Olympics.

The Premier’s Awards ceremony takes place Monday evening at the Sheraton hotel in Toronto. More than 600 people are expected to attend the celebration, which is part of the college sector’s annual conference, the Higher Education Summit.

A distinguished panel was assembled to judge this year’s awards: Jamie Kennedy, chef and owner of Jamie Kennedy Kitchens; Laura Formusa, the president and CEO of Hydro One; Don Drummond, the former senior vice-president and chief economist at TD Bank Financial Group; Mary Ito, host of Fresh Air on CBC-Radio 1; Sue Graham Parker, the senior vice-president of public, corporate and government affairs at Scotiabank; Frances Lankin, the former president and CEO of United Way Toronto; Gisèle Quenneville, the host of Panorama on TFO; and Kevin Costante, the Deputy Minister of Education.

“Every one of our nominees has achieved excellence,” Dr. Zabudsky said. “These awards honour their achievements and remind us of the tremendous contributions made by college graduates to our economy and our communities.”