1990 Alumni of Distinction

Barbara Cassel Registered Nursing, 1977     Barbara Cassel is president of the Durham Region chapter of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario and a member of the Durham College Nursing Diploma Advisory Committee. Cassel currently works as a visiting nurse for Saint Elizabeth Health Care in Toronto. Previously, she held the position of psychotherapy nurse at the Whitby Mental Health Centre and correctional nurse at the Whitby Jail. She is a member of the Ontario Correctional Nurses’ Interest Group; the Nurses Christian Fellowship; Nurse Healers – Professional Associates International; and Canadian Parents for French. Cassel is enrolled in the University of Ottawa’s post-Registered Nursing program offered via Durham College’s distance education program and was the speaker at Durham College’s winter convocation in 1996 for Nursing and Engineering Technician graduates. Her hard work for crib safety awareness was rewarded with a regulation change issued by Canada’s Office of Consumer Affairs.

Dave Thom Business — Data Processing, 1973     Dave Thom joined Maple Leaf Foods in its data processing department as a master console operator, where he was chosen to program its least-cost formulations, which selects ingredients for daily production based on the cost of each morning’s ingredients. Later in his career, he became a plant accounting manager for Cadbury Schweppes in Scarborough. After five years, he was promoted to controller with Warner Lambert Canada. In his spare time, Thom teaches scuba diving and works on getting his private pilot’s license at the Oshawa Airport.