1950s
Hon. Allan Wachowich, QC, '58 LLB
Hon. Allan Wachowich, QC will be inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence in October of 2018. Wachowich served as a judge in Alberta for 35 years from his initial appointment in 1974 until his retirement in 2009, and was appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench in 1993 and Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench in 2001. Nicknamed "the Polish Prince," Wachowich holds the provincial record for most new lawyers admitted to the bar at over 600. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta in 2012.
1960s
Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, '68 LLB
Former Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin accepted a new appointment as a non-permanent judge in the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong in the spring of 2018. She retired from the SCC in December 2017 after a 36 year judicial career. After leading Canada's top court for a record 17 years, she made her final appearance at UAlberta Law in her capacity as Chief Justice in September 2017 as Orientation Day keynote speaker for the incoming Class of 2020. She also released her much-anticipated debut work of fiction, a legal thriller entitled Full Disclosure, in May 2018.
Bryan Waller, QC, '68 LLB
Bryan Waller, QC was recently appointed Board Chair of Beacon Community Services in Victoria, BC - the province's largest charity by budget size, which provides health, children and family, training and employment, adult recreation, housing and volunteer services across southern Vancouver Island and the outer Gulf Islands. Waller and his wife Margaret reside in the Mount Newton Alley area of Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island, where they operate a small vineyard and live in a historic house that once belonged to former British Columbia Lieutenant Governor Maj.-Gen. George Pearkes, where he golfs regularly and drives a restored 1965 Morgan 4/4 convertible.
1970s
Hon. Sheila Greckol, '75 LLB
Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Sheila Greckol has been selected to receive a 2018 Alumni Award from the University of Alberta in recognition of her legal contributions to the protection of human rights. Greckol is well known for her role as lead counsel for Delwin Vriend in the landmark 1998 Supreme Court of Canada case Vriend v Alberta, which ruled that Alberta's lack of LGBTQ2 rights provisions violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In March 2018 she participated in the university's inaugural Chancellor's Forum "Pride or Prejudice" which marked the 20th anniversary of the ruling.
John Waddell, QC, '78 LLB
John Waddell, QC received the 2017 Georges A. Goyer, QC Memorial Award for Distinguished Service in November 2017, the highest honour given by the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (CBABC). A founding partner of the Victoria, BC law firm Waddell Raponi LLP since 1986, Waddell has been practising law for over 35 years and has been involved in leadership roles with the organized Bar, both provincially and nationally, for 30 years.
1980s
Hon. Sheilah Martin, '83 LLB
Hon. Sheilah Martin was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in November 2017. Martin was first appointed to the bench in 2005 as a Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta Justice, and also served as deputy judge for the Supreme Court of Yukon starting in 2009. She is famous for her role as part of David Milgaard's legal team, helping him secure a precedent-setting $10-million compensation award in 2005 following his exoneration for the 1969 rape and murder of Gail Miller, as well as for her role in securing compensation for Indian Residential School survivors.
Hon. Marta E. Burns, '88 LLB
Hon. Marta Burns was appointed to Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench in February 2018. Burns is well known for her work on social justice causes, including tutoring prison inmates and and leading two capital campaigns for WINGS of Providence Society, a second-stage shelter for women and children fleeing family violence. She received the Government of Alberta's Inspiration Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 for her work on behalf of victims of family violence. She has also taught bar admission courses and served as a guest speaker at the University of Alberta and other post-secondary institutions.
Alex Pourbaix, '89 LLB
Alex Pourbaix was appointed president and CEO of Cenovus Energy in October 2017. Prior to joining Cenovus, Pourbaix spent 27 years with TransCanada Corporation in a variety of roles, including Chief Operating Officer, in which capacity he oversaw numerous major infrastructure projects and operations. He has also served as Board Chair for the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association and currently serves on the Board of Trican Well Service Ltd. He is also a dedicated United Way volunteer.
1990s
Hon. Steven Mandziuk, '91 LLB
Hon. Steven Mandziuk was appointed justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in Edmonton in September 2017. Mandziuk began his legal career at the Edmonton law firms of Bishop & McKenzie LLP and Barr Picard Barristers & Solicitors, later joining the legal department at Telus Communications Inc. and then serving as General Counsel to Finning International's Canadian operations. He also served as the Alberta Branch President of the Canadian Bar Association from 2014 to 2015 and chaired the Steering Committee of the CBA Re-Think Project from 2014 to 2016.
Sandra L. Stolz, '91 LLB
Sandra Stolz currently serves as as co-coordinator of the Rotary International project "Water Filters for Families" together with her husband, a project that aims to bring clean, safe drinking water to the families in communities around Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The project encompasses hand-washing programs in schools, provision of individual small filters for families, health centres, schools and churches, stand-alone water purification plants for primary schools in local communities and distribution of educational materials to local communities. To date, the project has raised more than US$250,000 and brought clean, safe drinking water to more than 15,000 people.
Hon. L. Bernette Ho, '95 LLB
Hon. L. Bernette Ho was appointed to Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench in April 2018. As a partner with Norton Rose Fulbright Canada in Calgary, Ho specialized in representing energy companies in court and before the Alberta Utilities Commission and other regulatory tribunals, particularly in relation to the electricity industry. She is active as a Law Society of Alberta volunteer, serving on the society's Professional Responsibility and Conduct Committees, and has volunteered with the Alberta bar admission course.
2000s
Tania Bubela, '03 LLB
Tania Bubela was named the new Health Sciences Dean at Simon Fraser University in the Fall of 2017. A Horace Harvey Gold Medal-winning graduate, Bubela previously completed a PhD in Biology at the University of Sydney (Australia) and served as a professor of zoology at the University of Toronto. Prior to her appointment at SFU she served as an instructor hin intellectual property and technology commercialization at the Alberta School of Business and as Associate Dean of Research at the UAlberta School of Public Health from 2014 to 2016.
David Cuschieri, '04 LLB
David Cuschieri was recognized among Lexpert's Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40 in November 2018. He is a partner with Torys LLP in Calgary, where he specializes in corporate and commercial law with an emphasis on domestic and international energy, oil and gas, power and related infrastructure transactions. He was also named by Lexpert as a "leading lawyer to watch" in the oil and gas sector in both 2017 and 2018.
Cherie Langlois-Klassen, '06 LLB
Cherie Langlois-Klassen was appointed as a Tribunal member of the Alberta Human Rights Commission in 2017, and was recently appointed Vice-Chair of the Alberta Mental Health Review Panel, both for three year terms. She also currently holds a five-year appointment as a Clinical Associate in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. She is principal of the Cherie Langlois-Klassen Professional Law Corporation and maintains employment with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), representing the union and its members in labour disputes and at arbitration.