– February 28, 2025
One of Canada’s most renowned and lucrative scholarships has enabled Dalhousie to welcome some of the country’s most promising young leaders to its campuses for 35 years. 
Loran Scholars are chosen for their character, leadership potential, service, and commitment to leaving the world better off than they found it — qualities founder Dr. Robert Cluett saw as an investment in Canada’s future when launching the Loran Scholars Foundation more than three decades ago. 
“Dalhousie was founded with a vision to be ‘of important service’ to the community of Nova Scotia. In much the same way, we look for Loran Scholars to be of service to their communities,” says Meghan Moore, CEO of the Loran Scholars Foundation. “With a mutual goal of supporting the academic and leadership development of these exceptional students, this partnership was one truly built on shared values.” 
Dalhousie became Loran’s first partner institution on Canada’s east coast, helping expand its reach and shape its national impact that now extends to 25 university partners across the country. Dal demonstrated its support by co-investing in Loran Scholars, providing an annual tuition waiver for students that ensures they have the financial freedom, academic opportunities, and collaborative community to thrive.  

In turn, these scholars reinvest their talents to make a meaningful impact — as many of Dal’s 27 Loran Scholars to date have. 
Take Laura O’Connor, who received a Loran Scholarship in 1999. O’Connor was always highly involved in her community as a teen growing up in Charlottetown, P.E.I., but it wasn’t until her high school principal introduced her to the Loran program that she realized she might embody the values of a leader.  
Shown right: Laura O’Connor
“Loran had me pegged as someone who sees the bigger picture and wants to be involved in more than just a front-line level,” says O’Connor. “For a 17-year-old from a small town, it gave me a perspective that maybe I could make an impact.”  
O’Connor studied biochemistry and molecular biology at Dal and got involved with the Dalhousie Science Society, the Dalhousie Student Union, and leadership roles in residence. Although O’Connor initially struggled with self-doubt, she says receiving the Loran award filled her with encouragement.  
“It felt like a vote of confidence in me,” she says. “It made me want to work hard and live up to the expectations of Loran.” 
It felt like a vote of confidence in me
O’Connor discovered a passion for family medicine after Dal when she pursued medical school at Memorial University. She returned to P.E.I. via Dal’s family medicine residency program and has been a practicing physician in Charlottetown since 2013. Beyond her clinical work, O’Connor has taken on significant leadership roles, including chair of the Provincial Drug and Therapeutics Committee, Provincial Medical Advisory Committee, and serving as provincial medical director of Family Medicine for Health PEI — an opportunity she credits to the values instilled in her by Loran.   

O’Connor, third from left, with fellow med students.
“Being associated with Loran and their principles gave me a sense of responsibility and intention to make an impact on the world and not take it for granted and to use my skills for other people,” she says.  
O’Connor’s journey with Loran didn’t end after graduation. Since 2003, she has been involved in Loran Regional Selections committees across Atlantic Canada, helping to identify similar traits in future leaders.  

One of those leaders is Jessica Telizyn, who became a Loran Scholar in 2018 and has been forging her own path of impact.  
Telizyn still remembers the moment she received the news. She had given up her chance to compete at the national speed skating championships to attend the Loran finals. As she waited at the airport to go home, the call finally came.  
Shown left: Jessica Telizyn
“I remember being so ecstatic. I phoned my mom immediately,” she says. Before Telizyn even arrived home, her small hometown of Fort. St. John, British Columbia, was celebrating its first Loran Scholar.  
Dal’s strong reputation in neuroscience was a major factor in Telizyn’s decision. She majored in the subject, minoring in entrepreneurship and innovation. Without Loran’s support, she says studying at Dal and pursuing her passion might not have been possible. 
“I learned a lot about the university system and how to advocate for myself. I don’t think I would have known how to reach out to people or that those people were eager to talk to me regardless of whether I was a Loran scholar,” she says. 
A varsity rower, Telizyn also served as the head coach of the long track speed skating for Team Nova Scotia at the 2023 Canada Winter Games and coached at the Halifax Region Speed Skating Club. On campus, she was actively engaged, sitting on the Dalhousie Senate Discipline Committee and contributing to the university’s sexualized violence phone line. 
I learned a lot about leadership and the type of leader I want to be
“Dal set me up for where I am now,” she says. “I learned a lot about leadership and the type of leader I want to be.”  
Telizyn was able to apply her skills from undergrad to her master’s Degree at Stanford University and now medical school at the University of British Columbia. Through Loran’s summer programs, she gained valuable, hands-on experience.  After being a caseworker for a homeless shelter in Northern British Columbia, she says “I saw a lot of different things through those jobs. It gave me a really big breadth of experience that lots of my peers and colleagues didn’t have.”  
Coming from a rural community herself, Telizyn has found purpose in improving health care access in rural and resource-limited areas as a mental health and addictions clinician. Now, equipped with the skills, connections, and leadership gained through Dalhousie and Loran, she is working to make that vision a reality.   
With three new scholars on campus this year and two in-stream, Loran and Dalhousie are continuing to nurture Canada’s next generations of leaders dedicated to making a lasting impact. 
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada  B3H 4R2
1-902-494-2211
Agricultural Campus
Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada  B2N 5E3
1-902-893-6600
 
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2
1.902.494.2211

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