Alumni Relations
2002 Alumni Achievement Award Recipients
- Mark Benadiba, Business Administration '76
- Frieder Hochheim, Photographic Arts '77
- Lawrence Karlson, Instrument Technology '63
- Jane Langdon, Home Economics '75
- Karin Larson, Journalism '52
- Robert J. Sawyer, Radio & Television Arts '82
- William Stone, Hotel, Resort & Restaurant Administration '83
- Jim Thompson, Radio & Television Arts '66
- William R. Turner, Business Administration '66
- Anne Hung, Fashion '95
<<Back to Alumni Achievement Awards
Mark Benadiba
Business Administration '76
 |
Mark Benadiba is president of one of Canada's top companies - Cott Beverages Canada - and an active participant in this community. After graduating from Ryerson, he held increasingly senior and ownership positions in Canada's soft drink industry, including management positions with Seven Up Canada and Pepsi Cola Canada. Under his guidance, Cott's focus is two-fold - aggressive expansion into new markets, and active participation in charitable work. Cott's community support emphasizes children, youth, healthcare, and causes that are important to its employees. In 2002, Mr. Benadiba was appointed Executive Vice President, Cott Corporation, responsible for Cott Mexican Unit, R.C. International, Cott International, Cott Europe, and Cott Canada. |
TopFrieder Hochheim
Photographic Arts '77
 |
Frieder Hochheim invented a portable lighting system which has revolutionized lighting in the motion picture and imaging industry. In 1987, he founded Kino Flo® Inc., specializing in high-output, colour-correct, flicker-free fluorescent lighting systems. In 1995, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences honoured Mr. Hochheim and his team with an Academy Award for Technical Achievement. The lighting system is available in all major film production centres around the world and considered the standard of the industry. Mr. Hochheim was invited into the American Society of Cinematographers as an Associate Member in 1997 in recognition of his continued technical contribution to the motion picture industry. |
Lawrence Karlson
Instrument Technology '63
 |
Lawrence Karlson is an accomplished international businessman who focused on building companies through internal growth and acquisition. A Ryerson diploma in Instrument Technology launched a career encompassing numerous high technology companies and culminated in the acquisition of Spectra-Physics, Inc., a world leader in laser technology, opto electronics and instrumentation. After retiring from day-to-day management, he has devoted his time to venture capital, consulting and investing in both established and development-stage high-tech companies. He has served on the boards of numerous public and private companies in North America and Europe. |
Jane Langdon
Home Economics '75
 |
As President of Ketchum Public Relations - the Canadian partner of Ketchum, one of the top international public relations firms - Jane Langdon has been recognized with numerous awards of excellence, and she was named one of Canada's Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs by Chatelaine. She has made time to serve her profession and her community, through her work with the Canadian Public Relations Society, the National Institute of Nutrition, Second Harvest, and Ryerson University's Board of Governors, where she has served as Chair. A family interest in winemaking encouraged her to start the Wine Country Cooking School at Strewn Estate Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. |
 |
Karin Larson is the publisher of GAM on Yachting. A desire to avoid corporate life and a long-held dream to publish a magazine encourage her to launch the publication in 1957. Now North America's longest-lived sailing magazine, its pages talk about more than the sailing life. Whether advocating for protection of waterways, or raising fund for worthy causes - such as Toronto's Tall ships sailing program, or the donation of equipment and supplies to schools and hospitals in Cuba - Ms. Larson has been an influential activist. In recognition of her many contributions, she was inducted in to the Boating Hall of Fame in 2000. |
Robert J. Sawyer
Radio and Television '82
 |
Robert Sawyer was still a Ryerson student when he sold his first science fiction story in 1979. He has since published more than a dozen science fiction novels, including The Terminal Experiment, which won the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula Award for Best Novel of 1995. He has also won the top science fiction awards in Canada, France, Spain, and Japan. His novels Starplex, Framshift, Factoring Humanity, and Calculating God were all finalists for the Hugo, science fiction's international people's choice award. "By any reckoning, Sawyer is among the most successful Canadian authors eve," says Maclean's. |
William Stone
Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Administration '83
 |
His success in industry and his strong support of his alma mater are just some of the qualities that make William Stone stand out. under his guidance as Executive Managing Director, the brokerage firm Colliers International Hotels has been involved in transactions worth more than $1 billion. His knowledge of the industry is legendary and led to positions on the International Advisory Board of HOTELS Magazine, and Hotelier magazine. A tireless advocate of Ryerson University' School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, he has helped raise the profile of the School, and has been a key champion of its fundraising campaign. |
Jim Thompson
Radio and Television Arts '66
 |
Jim Thompson has had a lifelong love affair with sports. After graduating from Ryerson's Radio and Television program, he launched a sports broadcasting career in 1966. Over the next 30 years, he covered most amateur and professional sporting events across the country, and around the world. In the mid-1980's, he moved to the new cable network TSN, where he rose to become President and General Manage of TSN and Netstar Sports. he also served on a wide variety of sports organizations and committees, such as the Hockey Hall of Fame Board, and the Canadian Special Olympics Board. Shortly after taking on a new challenge as Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Mr. Thompson died suddenly. The University extends its condolences to the family of Jim Thompson. |
William R. Turner
Business Administration '66
 |
After graduating from Ryerson in 1966, Bill Turner joined Sears as a buying assistant, and rose steadily through the ranks to become President or Merchandising, Marketing, and Logistics. Active in the community, he served on the Board of Directors of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada for many years, including a tenure as President, and was a member of the Boys and Girls Clubs Foundation Board. Mr. Turner has also given back to the school that gave him his start in the business world, by serving as Chairman of the Advisory Boar of Ryerson University's School of Retail Management. |
 |
Anne Hung was named Designer of the Year at Ryerson, and was heralded as a designer to watch by Paris Vogue in 1995. Since then, she has captured the attention of both the media and consumers for her savvy business sense and her fashion-forward approach to design. In the 1990's, Ms Hung was best known as the "Cadbury Girl" her her unique clothing designs constructed with chocolate bar wrappers, which lead to an endorsement with the Cadbury Company. Her designs are now sold across North America and Asia, and she has been featured in such leading fashion magazines as Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Seventeen, and Mademoiselle. She opened her first ANNE HUNG Boutique in Toronto in September 2002. |
Bookmark with:
