One of the greatest athletes in University of Saskatchewan history…female or male…has been added to the Canada West Hall-of-Fame.
Dr. Sylvia Fedoruk was a multi-sport athlete and part of 12 Huskies teams that won inter-varsity championships. She is a member of the Huskies Hall-of-Fame, was the first female Chancellor at the University of Saskatchewan and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. Following is the news release from Huskie Athletics and the Canada West Hall-of-Fame…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2019
USask legend Fedoruk inducted to CW Hall of Fame
Canada West Communications
NAME: Dr. Sylvia Fedoruk
UNIVERSITY: Saskatchewan
CATEGORY: Builder
YEARS ACTIVE: 1946-1951
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Member of 12 Saskatchewan teams that won intervarsity championships
- First female Chancellor at the University of Saskatchewan
- Member of the Saskatchewan Huskies Hall of Fame
- Officer of the Order of Canada
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Sylvia Fedoruk had a remarkable multi-sport at the University of Saskatchewan and went on to make tremendous contributions in the field of medical physics.
At the U of S, Fedoruk competed in basketball, volleyball, track and field, hockey, golf, and was a member of 12 intervarsity championship teams: She celebrated with the Cecil Race Trophy five times as part of Huskiette basketball team; was on the track team that won the Rutherford Trophy twice, played with the volleyball squad that captured the Landa Trophy three times and on two occasions helped the golf team lay claim to the Birks Trophy.
The Canora, Sask., native was active in many facets of campus life, serving as president of the Women’s Athletic Board in 1948-49. In 1949 she received the Spirit of the Youth Trophy, a prestigious award given to a U of S female student-athlete in recognition of leadership, sportsmanship, character, academics and athletics.
Fedoruk went on to a distinguished career in medical physics, specializing in the use of radiation in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. One of Canada’s foremost medical biophysicists, Fedoruk was the only woman conducting medical physics research in Canada in the 1950’s. She was part of a a team of scientists involved in the development of one of the world’s first cobalt-60 units and one of the first nuclear medicine scanning machines, which pioneered the curative treatment of cancer using high intensity radioactive cobalt in humans.
She served as chief medical physicist for the Saskatchewan Cancer Foundation. In 1986 she became the first female Chancellor at the University of Saskatchewan, a role she held until 1992, and was Saskatchewan’s Lieutenant-Governor from 1988 to 1994.
In 1987 Fedoruk was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. She was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2009.
She was Inducted as an athlete into the Saskatchewan Huskies Hall of Fame in 1984.
U of S legend Fedoruk inducted
Medical physics pioneer was sports standout from 1946-51
EDMONTON – Before going on to a distinguished career in medical physics, Sylvia Fedoruk was a multi-sport standout at the University of Saskatchewan.
Fedoruk enters the Canada West Hall of Fame as a builder after competing in basketball, volleyball, track and field, hockey, and golf at the U of S during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Canora, Sask. native was part of 12 intervarsity championships before going on to remarkable career in the field of medical physics.
During the 1950s, Fedoruk was the lone women in the country conducting medical physics research. Her contributions to the field would bring honour to the U of S and her sporting roots.
In 1986 she became the first female Chancellor at the University of Saskatchewan, was Saskatchewan’s Lieutenant-Governor from 1988 to 1994.
She was Inducted as an athlete into the Saskatchewan Huskies Hall of Fame in 1984.
To read more about Fedoruk’s pioneering career, click here.
