Jaqueline Fraser

President's Service Award - Fall 1997

David Atkinson, former Dean of Arts and Science, supports Jacquie Fraser's nomination by saying, "...I have always been impressed by her commitment to the department and by her willingness to provide assistance to students and faculty alike." He also makes special mention of her exceptional work in the College's Equity Plan, noting that she "demonstrated both insight and sensitivity in the development of the plan." He notes, "she has made an enormous contribution as Managing Editor of the Canadian Journal of History, which is certainly one of Canada's most respected scholarly publications". Dean Atkinson mentioned her impressive contributions to technology development in the department, especially in connection with its World Wide Website.

One of her many supporters speaks of "her remarkable capacity both for meticulously detailed work and for the systematic marshalling, interrogation and interpretation of masses of data," and goes on to detail the major part she played in helping to orchestrate a 15 year Self-Study Document of the Department.

Dave De Brou, Associate Professor in History, highlights her dedication to improving the computer technology in the department: "This dedication to improving the computer environment in the University community deserves to be acknowledged. Let us applaud Jacquie's work on the web; she has brought the History Department, the College and the University much international praise and recognition." More kudos come from Professor Fry, who although retired, states his contact with the Department is sufficient to observe Jacquie's commitment to excellence. Another declares that she is "the heart and soul of the History Department" and refers to her "professionalism, ethic of responsibility, and willingness to grow beyond the bounds of her job."

Recognition of Jacquie Fraser's capabilities extends beyond the U of S campus. Historian Richard Jensen, of the University of Chicago, says that having visited about 50 history departments over the past five years, " I would rank her among the top three staff people I have met in terms of both effort and success in getting departments on-line and on the World Wide Web. To my knowledge, she set up the first official World Wide Web homepage for any department in North America."

In 1996, Ms. Fraser attended the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, in Atlanta, Georgia to present a seminar entitled "Another Window on the Past: New Computer Applications for the Classroom and the Lab". Anthony Gulig, an historian at Western Washington University, says Ms. Fraser's presentation was "the highlight of the session" both for novice and experienced Web users. "Without question, and because of Jacquie Fraser's work, the Department of History home page at the University of Saskatchewan is a model now used by many other departments in Canada, the United States, and elsewhere around the world...As well, the home page (which also showcases The Canadian Journal of History/Annals canadiennes d'histoire and H-CANADA) is one of the few, if not the only bilingual WWW sites in North America, and is always easily accessible, up-to-date, and one of the most informative sites of its type in North America.

Michael Swan, Professor of History, sums it up by saying, "Jacquie is a person of outstanding capacity and character who has made a contribution to the Department (and beyond it) that would be hard to overstate."