2017 Award Recipients
As this academic year comes to an end, it is our pleasure to announce the recipients of The President’s Award for Excellence in Student Leadership for 2017. This award was established in 2008 to recognize exceptional students who have a record of academic achievement, consistently demonstrate leadership, and make significant contributions to our community.
Dirk Chisholm, Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) in Exercise and Health Physiology (with Distinction)
With his leadership and motivation to provide emergency medical support to students and the campus community, Dirk Chisholm co-founded the university’s volunteer Student Medical Response (SMR) team, the first group of its kind in Western Canada. Dirk has strengthened campus partnerships as SMR’s director of operations. SMR was recently recognized by Alberta Health Services as a certified medical first response agency. Using his licensed emergency responder and kinesiology background, Dirk is an undergraduate researcher and research assistant in the Department or Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine and Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology.
He volunteers as a Primary Care Paramedic with Canada Task Force 2 (disaster response team), the McMahon Stadium Medical Response team and the Kidney Foundation of Canada, and has been recognized for his contributions to St. John Ambulance during the southern Alberta floods. Dirk is a part of Avenue Calgarymagazine’s 2016 class of Top 40 Under 40, awarded for making the university safer through his work with SMR, and for using his EMT training to respond during catastrophic events.