The President’s Award may be presented to an individual at the discretion of the President at the end of their term. As there are no specific criteria to follow, the recipients are as wide and varied a group as the Presidents who have bestowed the honour.
In thinking about whether to present this year, I considered many factors. Should the recipient be an Alberta Land Surveyor, or someone who has given to the profession. There are awards that recognize these individuals for contributions to the profession so adding one more seems unnecessary. Should the recipient be completely outside of surveying and unrelated to the Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association. There are many deserving individuals who may feel such an award is unremarkable in their otherwise remarkable pursuits. At its simplest, the recipient should be someone that everyone can agree makes sense.
After much consideration on the merits of a potential recipient, and the qualifications that they should meet, I finally settled on a simple question : If I could pick one name that represents dedication to their craft, a sincere and broad understanding of how their craft supports the ALSA, and is someone that continues to provide an example of how I could be better as a professional, the answer is crystal clear and makes sense.
This year’s President’s Award is given to Julie Brough. Julie is known to all Council members that have served over the last 10 plus years. She is well known to all the executive members during those Council terms, and she is very well known to every Secretary Treasure over the last dozen years. At it’s simplest, she provides a service that allows ALSA Council to steward your resources fairly. Her understanding of our role in protecting the public’s interest is mirrored with the professionalism in which she looks after our interests. Her sincere and patient desire to inform and educate Council on the behind the curtain process of her decisions has left me confident that our interests are being quietly and thoughtfully guarded. In those times of concern or stress within the ALSA she has repeatedly shown her care is not for us as the client, but rather a deep and honest concern for us as an organization and for the individuals within it. Her willingness to see the ALSA not as a column on a spreadsheet, but rather a group whose mandate is the protection of the public speaks volumes on how she practices her profession, and who she is as a person.
