Distinguished Alumnus/a Award

Saint Mary's presents this award to an alumnus/a for outstanding achievements in their chosen profession. The award reflects career achievements with particular focus on the Lasallian values of mentoring and making an impact on others.

2025 Awardee: Dr. Brian L. Desbiens B’67

Dr. Brian L. Desbiens B’67 has dedicated his life to education and service to his community. He worked at St. Clair College from 1968-2004, starting as a faculty/counselor, senior administrator and eventually as a campus principal in Chatham, Ontario. He then went on to serve as president of Sir Sandford Fleming College from May 1988 to August 2004. Since retirement, he has established Desbiens Services which provides executive leadership coaching to senior leaders in higher education (nongovernmental organizations, colleges, and universities) and health care, and is an associate partner with Promeus, an executive search firm. He has worked at or taught for St. Clair College, Sir Sandford Fleming College, Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, Contact North|Contact Nord, and OISE-University of Toronto.

Dr. Desbiens served on several national and provincial organizations. He served nationally on the Prime Minister’s National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, on the National Advisory Council on Energy Efficiency, was a founding member of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, and served on the Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation and the Loran Scholarship Foundation. In education, he served as a member and chair of the Canadian Network of College Presidents, as well as chaired the provincial Council of Presidents, the Ontario College Application Centre Management Board, and the Human Resource Development Task Force.

Provincially, he was a member of the founding Board for the Optical Regional Advanced Network of Ontario (ORANO), the Secondary School Reform Committee of Ontario, the Central Ontario Smart Growth Panel, the Educational Quality and Accountability Board (which he chaired for seven years), and is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Ph.D. program in Leadership at the University of Toronto, in which he is an adjunct professor.

Dr. Desbiens has been a research associate with Contact North/Contact Nord for the past decade. He was a founding member of the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association research team conducting an annual national study of online and digital learning. He has received several awards throughout his career including the Order of Ontario. Locally he has tirelessly served his community through many organizations like the United Way and benefitting many causes including healthcare, economic development, flood relief, poverty reduction, at-risk families, and literacy.

Dr. Desbiens enjoyed being a student-athlete. He was fortunate to be captain of many teams throughout his youth, including the Men's Hockey Team while he attended Saint Mary's, and is especially proud of that team winning the 1963-64 and 1964-65 MIAC Championships. He and his wife Ellen reside in Omemee, Ontario, Canada and enjoy their three children and five grandchildren.

Eligibility:

This award is presented to a degreed alumnus/a of SMUMN who has shown outstanding achievements in their chosen profession. The award reflects career achievements with particular focus on the Lasallian values of mentoring and making an impact on others. Nominate your Distinguished Alumnus/a Award nominee here.

The awardee must have achieved the following:

Personified professional excellence.
Played a role in community improvement.
Made a significant impact or recognition in their field.

Past Recipients:

Thomas J. Mulvaney B'59 – 1966	Rev. Paul Halloran B'49 – 1967	James Carroll B'53 – 1968
Dr. John Kearney B'55 – 1970	Dr. Hugo Keim B'56 – 1971	Dr. William Rock B'49 – 1972
Dr. John Sbarbaro B'58 – 1973	Gen. John Hennessey '42 – 1974	Judge C. Bernard Carey B'56 – 1975
Dr. John Hoffman B'51 – 1976	Dr. Robert Hoffman B'56 – 1976	Most Rev. George Speltz, DD B'32 – 1977
Judge Michael Bilandic B'47 – 1978	Dr. Joseph Kraft '43 – 1979	Br. Laurence Walther, FSC B'44 – 1981
John Parmer B'50 – 1982	Thomas Meagher B'53 – 1983	Bernard Semler B'38 – 1984
Dr. Lorin Nevling, Jr. B'52 – 1985	Eugene Figliulo B'46 – 1986	Thomas Barger '30 – 1987
Kenneth Wakefield B'42 – 1987	Thomas Johnston B'43 – 1988	Anthony J. Adducci B'59 – 1989
Edward M. Allen '50 – 1990	Carl Calabrese B'41 – 1991	Br. Leonard Courtney, FSC, Ph.D B'37 – 1992
John M. "Jack” Sharkey B'53 – 1993	Dr. Hugo C. Pribor B'49 – 1994	David B. Collins B'70 – 1995
George J. Murtaugh B'61 – 1996	John H. Ehlert B'67 – 1997	Dr. Jon J. Kabara B'48 – 1998
Br. Andrew Gonzalez, FSC, B'59 – 1999	Dr. Charles Giammona Jr. B'70 – 2000	Robert K. Hentzen B'57 – 2001
Robert H. Wheeler B'67 – 2002	Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson B'53 – 2003	Sen. Michael Johanns B'71 – 2004
Patrick A. Salvi B'75 – 2005	Phillip Corcoran B'76 – 2006	Charles Wolande B'76 – 2006
Joseph Ross B'67 – 2007	Edward Zabrocki B'63 – 2008	Justice Thomas Kilbride B'78 – 2009
Dr. Jane (Weydert) Homeyer B'86 – 2010	Dr. Donald Truhlar B'65 – 2011	Dr. Roger Lucas B'65 – 2012
Pablo Gaito M'06 – 2013	Holly Hall M'11 – 2013	Janeé Harteau B'03, M'06 – 2013
Scott Thomas M'05 – 2013	Kathy Wilde M'92 – 2013	Paul Meyer, J.D. B'64 – 2014
William G. Jungbauer B'75 – 2015	Merle Wilberding B’66 – 2016	Richard "Dick" Drogosz B'61 - 2017
Dr. Bobbie (Smith) Gostout CST'78, '83 - 2018	Jerome "Jerry" Colletti B'69 - 2019	Michael "Mike" Morsberger M'97 - 2019
Dr. Thomas "Tom" Clasen B'78 - 2021	Robert “Bob” Skemp ’49 - 2022	Hon. Judge George Stephenson B’80 - 2022
Paul P. Magallanes B'63 - 2023	Candace (Langan) Lynch B'83 - 2024	Dr. Brian L. Desbiens B’67 - 2025