Photojournalism Graduate Donald Weber Presented Loyalist College Distinction Award

Donald Weber, a Loyalist Photojournalism 2001 graduate, was honoured recently by the Loyalist College Alumni Association with an Alumni Distinction Award. This award is presented to Loyalist graduates who have achieved exceptional success in their careers and have made valued contributions to their communities and beyond. Donald received this award following a presentation at the College on October 31st when he shared a collection of his photographs and the stories behind the images.

“It is really nice to come back to where you started and be recognized for your achievements,” said Donald Weber. “Before coming to Loyalist I had heard about their advisory committee and I liked the idea of getting to know photo editors while still in school. I felt this would be an in when I started looking for work and I was right. When I graduated from Loyalist I got a summer job at the Toronto Sun, through Hugh Wesley who I met here at Loyalist during an advisory board day. At the end of the summer I went to see Erin Elder, then photo editor at the Globe and Mail, who I met on that same board day. She remembered me and started giving me freelance assignments. Travelling to the Ukraine in 2004 during the Orange Revolution helped me find a direction to the stories I wanted to tell. These days I am getting into the why of everyday events.”

In the spring of 2007 Donald was named as one of the recipients of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship Grant, chosen from applicants from across the United States and Canada. This year, American Photo Magazine named Donald as one of the New Generation of Photo Pioneers in their Emerging Talents Issue. In June 2007 he won the Applied Arts Magazine Annual Photography competition in the Photojournalism category for his story Bastard Eden: Chernobyl at Twenty. In addition to his project work, during the past year he has completed assignments for Walrus Magazine in Calgary, Portfolio Magazine on Sakhalin Island in Russia, NGO War Child in Ethiopia, and covered the Ukrainian Elections. He has also received a World Press Awards honourable mention and the Dorothea Lange/Paul Taylor award from Duke University.

Additional Alumni Distinction Awards will be presented at the Alumni Association’s annual general meeting on Friday, November 30 at 5:30 p.m. in the College’s Club 213. All Loyalist graduates interested in attending are invited to contact Connie Millar, Manager of Employment and Alumni Services at (613) 969-1913, ext. 2244.

Media Contact: Marilyn Warren, Communications, Loyalist College, (613) 969-1913, ext. 2332; e-mail: mwarren@loyalistc.on.ca or Connie Millar at (613) 969-1913, ext. 2244