Remembering Ralph Hazleton (1938 – 2008)

Former colleague and a good friend the dedicated and passionate Ralph Hazleton, who died suddenly on December 30, 2008, had an engaging and varied association with World University Service of Canada (WUSC). An economist, Ralph worked as a WUSC volunteer from 1980-82, serving as Head of Department of Business Studies and Senior Lecturer in Economics at Ramat Polytechnic in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Subsequently, he returned to Prince Edward Island and served as a member of the WUSC Board of Directors and started the WUSC Local Committee on University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) campus.

In the mid-80s he joined the WUSC staff as Country Director in Botswana and Lesotho. Upon his return he worked briefly with the Eastern Caribbean Economic Management Programme before settling in to the Indonesia Program. He moved to CARE Canada in 1993 and in 1997 he received a Meritorious Service Medal in recognition of his work in the Rwandan refugee camps in Zaire.

“Ralph Hazleton was someone who inspired more than one generation of students at U.P.E.I. to help change the world. His leave from UPEI to work for WUSC in Africa inspired his lifelong passion for Africa where he ultimately accomplished so much humanitarian work. Before he left UPEI, he left a legacy in founding the Student Refugee Program on campus in which so many UPEI students participated.”

– Leo Cheverie, WUSC Board Member, former student and friend.