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Prof. William G. Hillman
 Assistant Professor
 Education : C & I (Math/Science)

A reprint of the Faculty Profile featured in 2003 on the Brandon University Web site.
 http://www.brandonu.ca/academic/profiles/detail.asp?P_ID=70

William "Bill" Hillman has spent over 50 years in classrooms, mostly in Strathclair Collegiate and Brandon University. He was born and raised on a family centennial farm near Strathclair, MB. Bill’s entrance into Brandon College in 1961 coincided with the start of the campus "boomer" expansion that saw the building of Men’s Residence, Dining Hall and Flora Cowan Hall. At that time the whole southwest part of the campus, that is now covered with asphalt and modern buildings, consisted of sprawling grassland, used mainly for informal football scrimmages. Lack of funds prompted a return to Strathclair where he taught high school on “permit” for three years. In 1968, at the prompting of Dr. John Tyman, he returned to BU and graduated, as a Silver Medal winner, with a B.Sc. and B.Ed. (5 year) in 1971.

Bill returned to a teaching position in Strathclair Collegiate – a job he held until he qualified for early retirement in 1997. During this time he was active in the promotion and integration of A/V, computer technologies, distance ed. and  Interactive Television procedures into the Manitoba school system. He participated in numerous projects for the Department of Education: teacher initiated courses, curriculum committees, technology in-service presentations, public relations assignments, research projects, and a multitude of workshops for all ages.

In 1989, upon learning that Brandon University was planning a new Masters of Education program, Bill took enough night  courses to finish off his fourth-year Bachelor of Science degree, a partial pre-Masters requirement. He was then accepted     into the new M. Ed. program and managed to complete all course and thesis requirements within one year while teaching full time and commuting 200 km each day after work. In 1991, through the encouragement and guidance of Dr. Robin Enns, Bill became the first Canadian to graduate with a M. Ed. degree from Brandon University. His thesis project was THE INTEGRATION OF MICRO COMPUTERS INTO THE HIGH SCHOOL LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAM.

In 1995, Bill was commissioned by professors Welsted, Everitt and Stadel of the BU Geography Department to contribute the chapter: "Strathclair: A Prairie Town with a Past, Present & Future" for the university textbook, THE GEOGRAPHY OF MANITOBA: ITS LAND AND ITS PEOPLE, published by the University of Manitoba.   http://home.westman.wave.ca/~hillmans/strathwh.html

Bill joined the Brandon University Northern Teacher Education Program in 2001 to design and present courses for northern students: Technology & Computers, Journalism, and Communications. Following this, he was recruited by the Faculty of Education, Dept. of C & I: Math & Science, to instruct on-campus courses full time in Computers, Technology and the Internet. http://www.hillmanweb.com/bu

Bill Hillman has always combined his love of performing and show business with his academic and teaching pursuits. Bill and his wife Sue-On, who have been married since 1966, have recorded 12 music albums and have performed countless one-nighters, television shows, and summer tours across Canada, the USA, and England. Their MUSICAL ODYSSEY portfolio is online at: http://www.hillmanweb.com

Sue-On, a graduate of Brandon University (B.A., B.Ed.), also teaches on BU campus where she is part of the English For Academic Purposes program for foreign students. These corresponding careers at BU should come as no surprise as Bill and Sue-On have always shared career interests as educators, entertainers, parents, travellers, restaurateurs – even to the extent of both earning black belts in Wado-Kai karate. http://home.westman.wave.ca/~hillmans/sueonbio.html

 Their three children, Ja-On, Robin and China-Li, are all very involved in music and entertainment, as well as being either students or graduates of BU. A family highlight in 2003 was Bill presenting son Robin with his 4-Year B.Sc. Honours degree in computer science at the 92nd BU Spring Convocation.

Bill is much in demand as a writer, consultant, lecturer and Web designer on 20th Century popular media and has created a massive online encyclopedia consisting of thousands of reference Web pages. Included in this eclectic cyber compendium are a multitude of Web site projects he has created as volunteer service: BCATP Air Museum, XII  Manitoba Dragoons, Brandon Mental Health Centre Museum, Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame, Waves of Hope Dragon Boat Team, Women of the War Years, local history projects, music festivals, family tributes, Asian martial arts  sites and monthly e-zines for veterans of Canada’s armed forces. Another pet project has been the creation of Web sites showcasing the creative talents of faculty colleagues and show business friends: http://home.westman.wave.ca/~hillmans/

He is also a long-time member and contributor to the Amateur Press Association. His current projects include research into the influence of American author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, on all facets of Western popular culture and media. Currently, in addition to compiling and researching the huge Burroughs, Inc. archives in Los Angeles, he is serving as a production associate, advisor and commentator for the three-hour Burroughs Biography produced by Griffen Films / PBS for U.S. Public Broadcasting System network release. His thousands of Web pages connected with this project and his weekly Burroughs e-zines are archived at: http://www.erbzine.com

Bill has a multitude of interests that he manages to integrate into classroom instruction and his personal library contains an amazing collection of movies & videos, music albums, computer software, old time radio shows, magazines, comics, nostalgia items, memorabilia, SF art, Chinese art and furniture, vintage guitars, first editions, biographies and reference books. His first love, however, is performing and finding ways of sharing this portfolio of interests and skills to communicate with an audience ~ whether through media, on stage or in the classroom. http://home.westman.wave.ca/~hillmans/
 
 

Written in the third person by Prof William G.’s alter ego, Bill H.
at the request of Brenda Jasper, Communications Officer, Brandon University.