Austin Mardon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Austin Albert Mardon
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| Born | 25 June 1962 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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| Nationality | Canadian |
| Alma mater | University of Lethbridge South Dakota State University Texas A&M University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Historical astronomy |
Austin Albert Mardon, CM (born 25 June 1962) is a Canadian author, community leader, and advocate for mental health. He is an assistant adjunct professor at the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta. In the mid-1980s, he founded and today still directs the Antarctic Institute of Canada, a non-profit entity based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is married to lawyer and activist Catherine Mardon, and has co-written several books with her.
Biography
Family history
Mardon's paternal grandfather, Austin Mardon, attended Cambridge University prior to becoming a professor in comparative classics and history. With his wife, Marie, Mardon's grandfather purchased Ardross Castle in Scotland, which remained in the Mardon family until 1983.
Early years
Mardon was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1962 to May and Ernest George Mardon. Mardon grew up in Lethbridge and currently resides in Edmonton.
As a child, Mardon was often sick and subject to bullying in school. During this time, he spent many winters in Hawaii with his mother and sister. In his late teens, Mardon lived in Scotland and attended Grenoble University. Mardon returned to Canada and attended the University of Lethbridge. Here, he pursued a major in geography. He also served in the Canadian Primary Reserves, taking his basic training at the Canadian Armed Forces Base at Dundurn, Saskatchewan.
Education
Mardon graduated in 1985 with a major in cultural geography from the University of Lethbridge. He became a graduate student at South Dakota State University, where he also attended the Space Studies Program, and received a master's of science in 1988. He also received a master's degree in education from Texas A&M University in 1990. After he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, he earned a Ph.D. from Greenwich University. He has done work on other degrees from Newman Theological College, Kharkov National University, and the University of South Africa. He received an honorary law degree (LL.D.) from the University of Alberta in 2011.
Career
While doing graduate work at the South Dakota State University in 1986, Mardon was invited to be a member of the 1986-87 Antarctic meteorite expedition for NASA and the National Science Foundation. 170 miles from the South Pole station when his team found hundreds of meteorites. During his sojourn he suffered environmental exposure which damaged his lungs and gave him a permanent cough. He received the Antarctica Service Medal for his efforts and risk.
On his return to Alberta, he gave lectures on Antarctica at the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge. He secured an interview to be a member of the Canadian/Soviet Arctic traverse from northern Siberia to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, but failed to get on that expedition.
He was a part of the failed meteorite recovery expedition in the Canadian Arctic near Resolute in the Northwest Territories, and wrote a paper on his conversations with locals and what the Inuit thought of meteorites. He was also supposed to join an Argentinian Antarctic expedition in the late 1980s, but a fire at the Argentinian Antarctic base caused his membership to be canceled.
One of his most significant contributions to astronomical science was a series of articles he wrote on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Chronicle is a running commentary on different events in England during the medieval period. With the assistance of his father, a medieval scholar, Mardon found eleven cometary events mentioned in the Chronicle that are not mentioned anywhere else in astronomical literature, as well as two meteor showers recorded in the Chronicle.
In 1991, Mardon was invited to join an expedition to the South Pole sponsored by the Geographical Society of the USSR. He traveled to Moscow and met with some expedition officials, receiving a strange welcome with little information and odd accommodations. He soon found out that he was under suspicion by the authorities and was arrested first by the GRU, then by the KGB. Mardon was questioned, held for a time, and then forced to wander the streets of Moscow with an escort that could have been a spy or guard as well as a guide. Mardon finally secured passage back to Canada after a harrowing experience in Moscow, and eventually received an official letter of apology from Moscow.
In 1992, Mardon was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Following his diagnosis, Mardon began work as an activist for people with mental illnesses. Mardon has written multiple books on the subject of mental illness, and has been bestowed several honors and awards for his work as a mental health advocate. In 2011 the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) awarded Mardon the CMA Medal of Honour in recognition of, "[...] personal contributions to the advance of medical research and education." In regards to the awarding of the medal to Mardon, CMA president Jeff Turnbull said, "Dr. Mardon has worked tirelessly to help Canadians better understand the issues around mental illness. In courageously talking openly about his own experiences, he is truly making a difference in coaxing mental illness out of the shadows in this country." Mardon was awarded the Order of Canada in 2006.
Awards and honours
- Antarctic Service Medal- US Congress(Navy)- 1987
- Duke of Edinburgh Award- Bronze Level- 1987
- Texas State Proclamation #51, Texas Legislature- 1988
- Governor Generals Caring Canadian Award- 1996, presented 1999
- Nadine Stirling Award, Canadian Mental Health Association- Alberta 1999
- Flag of Hope Award, Schizophrenia Society of Canada- 2001
- Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Lethbridge- 2002
- Presidents Award, Canadian Mental Health Association-Alberta- 2002
- Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal- 2002
- Alberta Centennial Medal- 2005
- Ron LaJeunnesse Leadership Award, Canadian Mental Health Association- Edmonton 2005
- Order of St. Sylvester - 2017
- Order of Canada, Member- October 2006, Invested- October 2007
- Bill Jefferies Family Award, Schizophrenia Society of Canada- 2007
- C.M. Hincks Award, Canadian Mental Health Association- National Division- 2007
- Best National Editorial, Canadian Church Press- 2010 for Western Catholic Reporter article
- Medal of Honour, Alberta Medical Association- October 2010
- Mental Health Media Award, Canadian Mental Health Association-Alberta October 2010 for AHE Edmonton Journal articles
- Honorable Kentucky Colonel- Commonwealth of Kentucky April 2011
- Honorary Doctorate, L.L.D., University of Alberta- 10 June 2011
- Medal of Honour, Canadian Medical Association- 25 August 2011
- Catherine & Austin Mardon CM Schizophrenia Award permanently endowed at U of Alberta for $500 per annum 2012
- Dr's Catherine & Austin Mardon CM Student Award Bursary established at Newman Theological College 2012
- Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal- Presented 28 May 2012
- Catherine & Austin Mardon CM Schizophrenia Award endowed at Norquest College for $1,000 per annum August 2013
- Honorary Doctorate, L.L.D., University of Lethbridge, 19 June 2014
- Honorary Social Worker, Alberta College of Social Workers, April 2015
- Mardon was elected into the Royal Society of Canada as a Specially Elected Fellow in 2014.
- Order of St.Sylvester (2017)
See also
In Spanish: Austin Mardon para niños
