Paul B. Latour, a microbiologist with a long and varied career teaching a number of science courses at Conestoga College, is the 2000-2001 winner of the Aubrey Hagar Distinguished Teaching Award, the College’s highest faculty honour.
Latour is the fourteenth recipient of the award, named in honour of Aubrey Hagar, who served Conestoga in many capacities, including Director of Academic and College Planning and Director of Strategic Planning. At the College and throughout the Ontario community college system, Hagar was noted for leadership and innovation in promoting the importance of the teaching-learning process as central to the college educational experience. The award was established upon his retirement and is given annually to a full-time faculty member who demonstrates professionalism in curriculum design and delivery, concern for students, and commitment to the advancement of the College. It consists of an inscribed and framed College Coat of Arms, a specially designed liripipe (ceremonial shoulder sash) and a credit of $800 to be used towards professional development activities.
President John W. Tibbits will present Paul Latour with the award at Conestoga’s 33rd Convocation ceremony on the afternoon of June 20.
A native of Belgium, Latour came to Canada as a youth in the company of his parents. He began teaching at Conestoga in 1969, shortly after earning his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Guelph. Subsequently, he received an Honours Science designation from Guelph in 1973, and a Master of Science degree in veterinary bacteriology in 1979. He resides in Guelph.
He is a well-known figure at Conestoga, having developed and taught a wide array of science courses in a variety of academic areas. For example, for many years he taught anatomy, physiology, pathology and microbiology in health sciences programs. He has also taught forensic science in law enforcement programs, as well as various courses in environmental and engineering technology programs.
Now, he teaches primarily in the School of College Access and Preparatory Studies, in a number of options associated with the General Arts and Science program – the diploma option, the pre-health option and the pre-technology option. A professional microbiologist, his main subject areas include biology, microbiology, physics and general science. He has a reputation for being exacting and challenging, yet fair and thoroughly dedicated to the enjoyment of learning and the growth of his students.
"I inherited my father’s love of science,” he observes.
In addition to his teaching, he has authored learning manuals and computer programs for his courses, designed and constructed numerous experiments, and developed videotape presentations, all designed to engage the interest and best efforts of his students.
Faculty colleague Rudy Hofer, himself one of Latour’s former students, comments, "Paul is someone who works to change the world into a more positive place, rather than standing by on the sidelines complaining.”
In fact, he has a longstanding reputation among newer teachers at the College for his mentoring abilities among colleagues, based on his knowledge and experience of Conestoga, his many contacts throughout the college system, his thirst for knowledge, his high professional standards and his commitment to keeping his subject lively and relevant to his students.
He is held to be an advocate of the discipline, practical importance and enjoyment of science for students of all ages. Over the years, this has included serving as a French- language judge for the Waterloo-Wellington Science and Engineering Fair and providing support for science teaching at St-René-Goupil School in Guelph.
A committed part of the Franco-Ontarian community, he is a longstanding active member of the Association Canadienne Française de l’Ontario and was for many years Chair of the French Language Advisory Committee of the Wellington County Board of Education. He was a founding member of Club Richelieu de Guelph Inc., a Francophone service club. From 1990-92, he was away from Conestoga, seconded as the first French Language Health Services Co-ordinator with the Hamilton-Wentworth District Health Council.
Yet his dedication to science is paramount. A member of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists, he is a founding member of two other groups – the Canadian College of Microbiologists and the Colleges Bioscience Teacher’s Association. He has even found time to be a consultant to various law firms in matters pertaining to forensic science and microbiology. He is fully dedicated to his field, his students and his college, commenting, "Our product is knowledge, which faculty develop and possess. Our process is the transferring of knowledge to students, enabling them to transform themselves into the professionals that will graduate from our college. Our milieu is the institution, which, if supportive, makes excellence possible, and Conestoga College certainly does.”
He and his wife, Andrea, have been married 35 years and have two children. Andrea is also a teacher and a recent graduate of the University of Guelph. Their daughter, Gisele, and her husband are both physics graduates of the University of Waterloo. They now live in Saskatchewan, where Rick is a database administrator with the Saskatoon District Health Council, and Gisele teaches science and computer science in a French-language school in Vonda (near Saskatoon). The Latours’ son, Christian, is the purchasing agent for Compusmart in Hamilton, and his fiancee, Robyn, an information systems graduate of Mohawk College, is head cashier for the same company.