Dr. Rob Currie, senior scholar in the Department of Entomology, has been named professor emeritus for his distinguished service to the University of Manitoba. The title is one of the University’s highest honours. Individuals are selected on their distinguished service to teaching, research, creative and scholarly works and service.
His nomination reads:
Dr. Robert Currie
An alum of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Rob returned to the University of Manitoba in 1991 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology, where he has served his discipline and the University with distinction for 32 years. Rob held the role of Head of the Department of Entomology for ten years, providing leadership to a Department that had recently undergone a major renewal and sound mentorship to a retinue of junior faculty members.
An internationally recognized expert in apiculture and commercial bee management, particularly in the area of honey bee pests and diseases, Rob’s research on varroa mite management through honey bee resistance and the control of honey bee viruses has been widely recognized by his peers. He has received no fewer than nine research and service awards acknowledging his outstanding contributions to the beekeeping industry, including the Canadian Honey Council Willie Baumgartner Memorial Award, the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists Outstanding Service Award, and the Alan Clemson Memorial Foundation Award for Excellence in Honey Bee Research (from the New South Wales Apiarists’ Association).
During his career, Rob secured more than $29 million in collaborative and personal grants from government and industry sources, bringing nearly $3.5 million in research grants and contracts to the University of Manitoba. He graduated 16 M.Sc. or Ph.D. students, as well as supervising over 60 summer students, technicians, and research associates and served on 32 additional student advisory committees in eight different departments. Rob authored or coauthored 56 refereed scientific articles, 13 book chapters and review articles and more than 80 other publications and research reports; he and his many trainees have delivered over 300 presentations disseminating knowledge to the scientific community and to the apiculture industry.
Rob taught courses at the diploma, degree, and graduate levels and regularly lectured on different topics in other courses. As a well-appreciated instructor, Rob received many awards, including the Teacher of the Year Award from Agriculture Diploma students three times. Notably, he taught the Beekeeping course for 30 years, nearly a third of its 102-year history; over 3,000 students have taken the beekeeping course since its inception in 1923. In recent years, Rob adapted the course for hybrid delivery and created a version offered through the Stony Mountain Penitentiary.
