Dr. Steven K. H. Aung is a geriatric, family, and integrative medicine physician, and a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner and teacher. At the University of Alberta, Dr. Aung is a Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. He is also a Visiting Professor to universities in China, Japan, the United States, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. Dr. Aung is a Vice Chair (North America) of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, based in Beijing. He is also a World Health Organization advisor and consultant on TCM, acupuncture, and cancer pain control. Dr. Aung was awarded a Professional Excellency from the Académie Diplomatique de la Paix in 1986, the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2002, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003, the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, a Physician of the Century Award in 2005, and Canada’s highest civilian honour, the Order of Canada, in 2006. Dr. Aung has lectured internationally, and published many articles, books, and treatises on the integration of TCM and Western health care, and continues to offer his own practice in the spirit of a natural and compassionate approach to medicine.

You can learn more about Dr. Aung, including information about upcoming events Dr. Aung is facilitating, by visiting his official website.

We would like to congratulate Patrick Tomczyk, the recipient of the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Graduate Scholarship! This scholarship is one of 3 supported by the Foundation and awarded to outstanding students at the University of Alberta.

Patrick Tomczyk is a PhD student in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta.  His doctoral research is in non-violent conflict transformation and peace-building through the arts, particularly theatre and drama. He is interested in how theatre and drama can be used in Alberta K-12 classrooms to challenge stereotypes, prejudices, and inequalities in order to educate and transform how we work with interpersonal conflict and particularly bullying.  The goal of this research is to build positive relationships and to promote empathy and healthy communication, so that we may heal ourselves and in turn our world. While not studying at the UofA, Patrick can be found working with youth with special and complex needs as both a teacher and therapist.

I am the Principal at Glendale School and have been a Board Member for the past year. Being a member of the Board has been such a rewarding experience for many reasons. Most importantly, it has helped me broaden my understanding of the concept of peace. I use to think of the concept of peace as the opposite of (military) war. I now understand it has more to do with how we choose to exist in our everyday practice of living. More specifically, how we interact with people. The ones who are easy to care for as well as those who are not. Being at peace is about seeking to understanding the plight of others as well as your own. One does not supersede the other.  We are challenged everyday to hold strong to such beliefs in spite of how difficult this may be at certain times. We know that anything worth "it" sometimes is also worth the effort. Here's to those who try to hold strong to their beliefs.