List of Athabasca University people

This is a list of people associated with Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada. This includes faculty, notable alumni, staff, and former university Presidents. Athabasca University is a distance education university with open enrollment year round, accredited by the province and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. It has served more than 260,000 students since 1970.^[1] In 2007 it began offering some classes by cell phone,^[2] and in 2008 it became the first university in North America to offer a Doctorate in distance education.^[3] In 2009, it became the first Canadian university to offer a doctorate in Business Administration (DBA).

The university teaches approximately 32,000 students per year,^[4] and has a variety of students with various learning needs.^[5] Classes are attended at the location of the student's choosing.^[5] The university has a set number of standards for students in the delivery of its programs.^[6] It offers over 700 courses, and spends $2 million a year on research.^[7]

A

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Shannon-Ogbnai Abeda	Olympic athlete	Student	^[8]
Carrie Anton	Paralympic athlete	Employee	^[9]
Frank Appleby	Alberta MLA	Graduate and honorary degree	^[10]
Mark Arendz	Paralympic athlete	Graduate	^[11]

B

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Pierre Berton	Author and journalist	Honorary degree	^[12]
Paul Boutilier	NHL veteran, New York Islanders	Student	^[13]

C

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Debby Carlson	Alberta MLA for Edmonton Ellerslie	Graduate	^[14]
Gary Carr	Member of Parliament for Halton; NHL veteran, Boston Bruins	Graduate	^[15]
Larry Clarke	Businessman	Honorary degree	^[16]

D

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Deidra Dionne	Olympic bronze medalist in aerial ski jumping	Student	^[17]
Meagan Duhamel	Olympic athlete	Graduate	^[18]

F

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Christian Farstad	Former Olympic athlete, bobsleigh	Graduate	^[19]
Jonathan Filewich	Hockey player, Pittsburgh Penguins	Student	^[20]
Northrop Frye	Author	Honorary degree	^[16]

G

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Vicki Gabereau	Journalist	Honorary degree	^[21]^[22]
Jayne Gackenbach	Dream researcher	Professor	^[23]
Brent Gauvreau	Hockey player	Graduate	^[20]
Anna Greenwood-Lee	Anglican bishop	Graduate	^[24]
Stu Grimson	NHL veteran, Calgary Flames	Graduate	^[25]

H

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Ted Harrison	Artist	Honorary degree	^[26]
Thomas Hickey	Hockey player	student	^[27]
Lois Hole	Former Lieutenant Governor of Alberta	Former Governing Council Member	^[28]
Carol Huynh	Olympic athlete	Graduate	^[18]

K

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Sandra Keith	Olympic biathlete	Student	^[29]
Russell Kennedy	Olympic athlete	Graduate	^[11]
Ralph Klein	Former Premier of Alberta	Student	^[30]
Swede Knox	NHL veteran	Graduate	^[31]

L

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Jackson Lafferty	Northwest Territories MLA for North Slave	Student	^[32]
Dorothy Livesay	Poet	Honorary degree	^[33]
Mark Lubosch	Former Winnipeg City Councillor	Graduate	^[34]

M

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Ernest Manning	Former Premier of Alberta	Honorary degree	^[35]
Shirlee Matheson	Author	Graduate	^[36]
Alyn McCauley	NHL player, San Jose Sharks	Student	^[37]
Maureen McTeer	Wife of Joe Clark	Honorary degree	^[16]

N

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Graham Nishikawa	Paralympic athlete	Graduate	^[11]
Rachel Notley	Former Premier of Alberta	Former professor	^[38]

O

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Ryan O'Marra	Hockey player, Edmonton Oilers	Student	^[20]
Kaetlyn Osmond	Olympic athlete	Student	^[18]

P

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Marni Panas	LGBT activist	Graduate	^[39]
Joseph Pivato	Literary critic	Professor	^[40]

R

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Eric Radford	Olympic athlete	Graduate	^[18]
Joy Romero	Businesswoman	Chair, Governing Council	^[41]

S

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Beckie Scott	Olympic gold medallist in cross-country skiing	Student	^[42]
James Shapiro	Islet transplant doctor, University of Alberta	Honorary degree	^[43]
Monte Solberg	Conservative Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat	Student	^[44]

T

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Milaine Thériault	Olympic competitor	Student	^[45]
Amber Thomas	Paralympic athlete	Graduate	^[18]
Walter Patrick Twinn	Senator and Chief of Sawridge First Nation	Honorary degree	^[16]
Ian Tyson	Musician	Honorary degree	^[46]

W

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Eleanor Wachtel	Journalist	Honorary degree	^[47]
Pamela Wallin	Journalist	Honorary degree	^[48]
Anne Wheeler	Filmmaker	Honorary degree	^[16]
Tom Worthington	Australian computer programmer	Graduate	^[49]

Z

Name	Known for	Relationship to Athabasca University	Citation
Derek Zaplotinsky	Paralympic athlete	Graduate	^[11]
Moses Znaimer	Media baron	Honorary degree	^[16]

Presidential list

#	Name	Term	Citation
1	Tim Byrne	1971–1976	^[50]
2	Sam Smith	1976–1980	^[16]
3	Stephen Griew	1980–1985	^[51]
4	Terry Morrison	1985–1995	^[51]
5	Dominique Abrioux	1995–2005	^[52]
6	Frits Pannekoek	2005–2014	^[41]
7	Peter MacKinnon (interim)	2014–2016	^[53]
8	Neil Fassina	2016–2021	^[54]
9	Peter Scott	2021-2023	^[55]^[56]
10	Alex Clark	2023-Present	^[57]^[56]

References

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