NATALIE ALVES

"She never ever gives up. She’s a very driven young lady."

From the head of the class to the back of her horse, Natalie Alves’ competitive streak knows no bounds.

The 15-time national champion equestrian had universities lining up with open arms following her 4.0 GPA at Mission’s Heritage Park Secondary.

But Alves knows life, like horseback riding, is all about balance. So she chose UFV’s Graphic and Digital Design program.

Nearing the end of her GDD training, Natalie hopes to ply her trade in the design industry with a possible focus on environmental and social responsibility while continuing to pursue her equestrian passion.

STEPHEN CLEWS

"It’s the greater good. It’s service to others. There are people who are vulnerable and uncertain and alone and I have the ability to help."

He met Prince Harry.

A bomb exploded under the tank he was driving.

Stephen Clews isn’t your average UFV nursing student.

Clews was the same age as many classmates, 18, when he joined the Canadian Forces in 2003. Deployed to Afghanistan in 2007, he was three weeks into his first tour when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated under his tank. The gunner’s leg was shattered. Clews and his commander’s backs were pulverized, and the tank’s loader didn’t remember anything until waking up in Canada, 10,000 kilometres away.

Since then, he completed a second tour in Afghanistan, joined the Veterans Transition Network, helped create a powerful war mural, acted in a play about his experiences, and helped countless other vets along the way.

Gary Bass

“I was, and continue to be, a strong advocate of integration of police services across jurisdictions."

He might not match your vision of a university student, unless your default is a high-level, mid-career RCMP leader in his 50s, but Gary Bass was, and now he's the 2016 winner of UFV's Distinguished Alumni award.

Part of the first cohort of UFV’s Master of Arts in Criminal Justice, he graduated in 2007. Gary Bass was a top cop when he first attended UFV looking to learn more about the criminology theories he was putting into action with the RCMP.

He worked his way up to Office in Charge of Major Crimes in BC, then Commander of E Division, then Deputy Commissioner for Canada West. His career in the RCMP spanned almost 40 years.

Gary has worked undercover, investigated serious crimes, and served as an expert witness. He’s been involved in investigations of homicide, organized crime, and drugs, and in the area of national security.

As for how he feels about adding yet another accolade to his many other awards and medals, Gary simply says: “I’m very honoured.”

Shannon Thiesen

“We’re creating these 21st century learners; the majority of their jobs that we’re trying to get them ready for haven’t been invented yet."

Inspired by her 30 kids and sometimes smeared by squeegee or fork, the paintings created by UFV’s 2016 Young Distinguished Alumni Award winner Shannon Thiesen make their mark in more ways than one.

She was the very last student to join her UFV Teacher Education cohort – accepted only two days before classes began. Now she’s the program’s first graduate (2011) to win UFV’s YDAA.

Thiesen started with journalism at Carleton University before settling into a major in English literature with minors in law and women’s studies. From there she jetted to Japan, teaching private-school English.

She credits UFV instructors for inspiring her to become a great teacher for her own students at the Abbotsford School of Integrated Arts North Poplar campus, teaching a Grade 4-5 split class.

A live art veteran, she won Art Battles in Chilliwack and Abbotsford before being crowned the B.C. champ and competing at the national championships in Toronto. Her pieces are in even higher demand after winning a Fraser Valley Arty Award in Visual Arts this year.

Elaine Malloway

"In naming Elaine, her dad is peeling back the layers in leadership to an earlier time."

We have a chief in our midst at UFV.

Elaine Malloway was recently chosen by her father, the highly esteemed Chief Frank Malloway (Siyemches), to succeed him as hereditary chief of the Yakweakwioose First Nation in Chilliwack, part of the Stó:lō Nation.

She was formally named at a swearing-in ceremony in August. UFV President Mark Evered attended the ceremony, representing the university.

Elaine has worked in the Indigenous Student Centre since 2009. She grew up in Yakweakwioose and attended Sardis Elementary and Secondary. Her mother was determined to keep her children out of residential schools as she had bad experiences at one herself.

She is a 1987 graduate of the UFV Applied Business Technology program (then known as Office Careers).

ROGER FRIESEN

“Those years of blood, sweat, and tears paid off."

A secret weapon for elite athletes, Friesen cheered trackside when Canada’s women’s pursuit cycling team won an Olympic bronze medal in Rio.

He combines teaching duties as an associate professor of kinesiology at UFV with a thriving career as a performance psychology consultant, helping athletes hone their mental game.

Still, Friesen not only helps motivate athletes to succeed, he’s also there for them when their results disappoint them.

Sukhi Brar

“I decided I didn’t want to be that quiet person in university anymore. So I got out there and made things happen.”

She ran a marathon on the Great Wall of China after ice-climbing Rocky Mountain glaciers and shaving her head for cancer research, so it might be hard to believe Sukhi Brar started at UFV as a quiet, introspective student.

She did.

That changed.

She spent a week climbing through the Columbia Icefields with renowned Canadian adventurer Daniel Griffith, speaks fluent Punjabi, is President of the UFV Student Union Society, acted on the senate standing committee for student appeals, sits on UFV’s 2025 Visioning Committee, and researched Indo-Canadian contributions to B.C.’s sawmill industry.

“When you’re in a big university classroom it’s really one-sided; you’re being lectured to. But here people want to know my opinion. It’s a more involved way of learning."

Reid & Angi Peters

“I figured out way back that it’s important to finish what you started. My kids think it’s cool that I’m going to school with Grandpa.”

Reid and Angi Peters are a first-class father-daughter duo.

At age 67, Reid graduated from UFV in June following the final semester of his Social Services diploma with a First Nations option, while Angi has taken several courses in the Social Services diploma program (First Nations option) since starting at UFV more than 10 years ago. She appreciates the flexibility UFV gives while working and raising her kids.

Michael Hildebrand

Distinguished Alumni Winner

“I was slowly transformed by the mentors who invested in me, both at UFV and during my PhD studies."

Working in a Carleton University lab that bears his name while conducting chronic pain research, Distinguished Alumni winner Mike Hildebrand is one of UFV’s most accomplished Bachelor of Science graduates.

He received almost $400,000 in research funding for his lab, including a $175,000 NSERC Discovery grant and a $140,000 Canada Foundation for Innovation grant. But he’ll never forget the vital foundation he built at UFV, not far from the Fraser Valley farm he called home.

Alex Reimer

Young Distinguished Alumni Winner

“UFV instructors had such great teaching tools. They talked to you like an adult, they used humour, but they were also showing you what life was like in the real world.”

Alex Reimer is wired for success.

While still in his 20s, UFV’s 2015 Young Alumni Award Winner was lead contracting inspector for a $7-million compressor station — overseeing electrical and instrumentation installation at a plant worth $100 million while managing budgets and contractors and ensuring the safety of a 60-person crew.

Reimer accepted the Young Distinguished Alumni award at UFV’s Town and Gown gala dinner Nov. 12.