Alumni Notes

Wayne Alexander, MBA’66, BSc(Eng)’64, died on March 3. He was 81 years old. While completing his undergrad in mechanical engineering, he played saxophone in the Queen’s bands and was involved in organizing the 1964 Science Formal. Queen’s is also where he met his wife, Jane Trussler, Artsci’66, PHE’67. After completing his MBA, Wayne began a career with IBM. He retired in 1994. The family spent the ski season and summers at their cottage on Belmont Lake in Ontario, where Wayne taught his children and grandchildren to sail. Wayne is survived by Jane, his three children, including Randy Alexander, MBA’00, BSc(Eng)’95, and Greg Alexander, BSc(Eng)’93, and four grandchildren.

Bruce B. Alexander, QC, BCom’60, received an honorary degree (LLD) at Queen’s November Convocation in recognition of his substantial contributions to the University and to Canada. After his BCom, he added degrees from the London School of Economics and Dalhouse Law School and began his career in 1967 with the law firm Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt in Toronto. He then spent 13 years with the Ontario provincial government before becoming a Special Advisor to the Right Hon. Joe Clark, then federal Minister for Constitutional Affairs, during the Charlottetown Accord negotiations. He returned to the private sector in 1993 as a principal in GlobeInvest Capital Management and was subsequently Vice-President of McCutcheon Steinbach Investment Management. Since 1999 he has been Vice-Chair of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal. His service to Queen’s dates all the way back to his student days as President of the AMS 1959-60 and recipient of the A.E. MacRae Award in 1960. He was elected to two terms on the University Council (1968-80), received its Distinguished Service Award in 1988, and was a valued member of the Board of Trustees from 1970 to 1982. He chaired the Toronto Alumni Branch’s John Orr Dinner in 1984 and 1985, was co-founder of the Kingston and Queen’s Rowing Clubs, and had a role in founding Queen’s Public Sector Management Program. In addition to his DSA, Bruce has received the National Alumni Award

Jim Petropoulos, BCom, is involved in coaching young golfers as Director of Golf at Olympia Sports Camp, and Golf Coach at The Country Day School. He recently retired as Director of Basketball Tournaments – Spring/Fall Classic at Olympia Sports Camp, and from coaching at the Jewish Community Centre. Jim was happy to witness the continued Queen’s spirit at Homecoming in 2015, and looks forward to reuniting with classmates for their 60th in 2020

Ross Wilby, BCom’60, died on March 3 following a brief illness. He was 88 years old. Ross met his wife Gwen during his time in Kingston, and they settled in Burlington, Ont., to raise their family. Ross worked in human resources at Stelco for a few years, then joined rival steel company Dofasco, where he had a long career in personnel development. In retirement, Ross enjoyed playing golf, bridge, collecting vintage jazz and hot dance records from the 1920s and spending time at the family cottage at Cedar Springs. Ross is survived by Gwen, their three sons, including John Wilby, BCom’86, and three grandchildren.

Derek Acland (BCom, MBA’63) died March 16. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Joan (Reid); his three sons, Charles (Haidee Wasson), Bruce and Stephen (Meghan Lauber); and seven grandchildren. He was a noted academic, working as a professor at QSB (1963-1970); in the Department of Economics and Accounting at Carleton University (1970-1983); and in the Department of Accountancy at Concordia University (1983-2001), from which he retired as Professor Emeritus. He was elected a Life Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 2007 and was an active member and past-President of the Canadian Academic Accounting Association.