Three Agricultural and Food Sciences profs recognized with emeriti title

Three retired faculty members were named professors emeriti in 2025 for their distinguished service to the University of Manitoba: Dr. Harold Aukema, Dr. Ying Chen and Dr. Qiang Zhang.

The title is one of the University’s highest honours. Individuals are selected on their distinguished service to teaching, research, creative and scholarly works and service.

Each of the awardees contributed to the Faculty and UM throughout their accomplished research and academic careers. Their nominations read:

Harold Aukema, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences
A dedicated faculty member for 26 years, Dr. Harold Aukema has made transformative contributions to nutritional science, becoming a global leader in the study of diet and fatty acid metabolites, known as oxylipins.

His pioneering research has advanced understanding of dietary interventions for kidney health, directly shaping national and international dietary recommendations for polycystic kidney disease. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals of nutrition, lipid, and renal research. His widely cited review on oxylipins derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids is regarded as a foundational reference for researchers and graduate nutrition programs worldwide. His extensive collaborations, spanning Canada and abroad, have influenced research across a wide range of diseases.