Dear Lynn,

It has been my honour, privilege, and pleasure to count you as one of my greatest teachers, mentors, and friends.

From the first class, I could tell that you were someone very special. Your courses were always engaging and infused with your own dear personality –warm, playful, compassionate, gracious, and inclusive…professional, intelligent, articulate, and interdisciplinary…supportive, team-oriented, ambitious, and hardworking…optimistic, practical, innovative, and visionary…

You have inspired your students, believed in us all, and encouraged us to be compassionate and visionary leaders both inside the classroom and beyond. Thanks to your faith and encouraging mentorship, I have dared to take on tremendous new opportunities –from projecting futures, working in government, studying policy, chairing various committees, and coordinating a first ever BC Peace Education Conference (http://www.bc-peace-ed.org/), to recent beginnings with the blossoming new applied foresight network, and Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education. Through all of this, top scholars, scientists, leaders, teachers, policy makers, humanitarians, and innovators have graced me with their time and wisdom, but none have guided my development and touched my life, so fundamentally as you.

In studying the foibles and breakthroughs of human history, Humanities students learn to appreciate the power of ideas and the importance of choosing our ‘visions’ well. The danger is that we may become discouraged and stop there –unsure of how to move beyond reflective criticism, and implement effective change in a world where we are just making our start.

You act with vision, implement with grace and intelligence, lead by inspiration, teach with love, and show us all a gentle kind of power that can participate effectively in the world ‘out there’ and truly make a change for the better.

Just watch, and see the waves you make!

In Gratitude and Admiration,

Zaena Campbell
zmc@sfu.ca