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George Geddie Patterson was a barrister, teacher, judge, historian and author. He was born in 1864 at Greenhill, Pictou County, the son of the Rev. George Patterson and Margaret McDonald. He received his BA (1882), MA (1887), LLB (1889) and LLD (1933) from Dalhousie University before setting up a private law practice and lecturing at Dalhousie Law School. From 1901-1906 he served as stipendiary magistrate and MLA for Pictou County. He was appointed to the Executive Council in May 1906, but was defeated in that year's general election. From 1907-1939 he served as judge of County Court District No. 5.

George Patterson was a journalist, Presbyterian minister, author and antiquarian. He was born in 1824 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, the son of Abraham Patterson and Christiana Ann MacGregor. He married Margaret McDonald in 1851, with whom he had eight children. Patterson was educated at Pictou Academy, Dalhousie College and Edinburgh University. He was licensed to preach in 1848 and became minister of Salem Presbyterian Church in Greenhill, Pictou County, from 1849-1876.

Patterson is best remembered for his biographies of pioneer ministers in the Maritimes and early missionaries to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), which did much to strengthen the church’s missionary program. After he left the Salem church, he published articles on scholarly and antiquarian subjects. He was a member of the Nova Scotian Institute of Natural Science, the Nova Scotia Historical Society, the American Folk-Lore Society, and the American Institute of Christian Philosophy. His best known-work is History of the County of Pictou, Nova Scotia (1877). He died in 1897 in New Glasgow.

Dixie Pelluet was born in London, England. She studied botany and graduated with an MA from both the University of Toronto and Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania, where she also obtained her PhD in biology. She was a laboratory assistant in zoology in Alberta and taught zoology in various American colleges before being hired at Dalhousie as a lecturer in elementary zoology. Pelluet became an assistant professor of biology in zoology in 1931, appointed by President Stanley Mackenzie. Three years later in 1934, she married fellow zoologist Ronald Hayes at Dalhousie and became one half of a greatly respected academic couple. At the time, Pelluet was concerned that her marriage to Hayes would threaten her position as a professor. Before her marriage, Pelluet raised her concerns with President Carleton Stanley. The marriage went on as planned and Stanley made Pelluet an associate professor in 1941, but her salary remained frozen until 1947.

Pelluet was an outspoken advocate for equal gender treatment in academics, and wrote to President Kerr stating that she was “being quite unjustly penalized” for her gender and marriage. Her research focused on cellular differentiation. She and her husband were the first husband and wife team to receive honorary Doctors of Laws degrees on May 13, 1965.

Pelluet retired from Dalhousie University in August 1964 after working at the university for 26 years. She was 68 years old when she retired, during a period when women were not allowed to work at the university past 65 years of age. She was promoted to full professor three months before her retirement. Dixie and her husband are honored through the Ron Hayes and Dixie Pelluet Bursary in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 
awarded annually by Dalhousie.

Marion Pennington was one of two faculty members hired by Dalhousie's nascent School of Nursing. She was born in Cranbrook, BC, graduated from Vancouver General Hospital in 1932, and receiving her degree in nursing from UBC in 1933. In 1943 she joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps and later worked for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in Germany as a nursing supervisor in camps for displaced persons.

In 1949 she obtained her MA at Columbia University and was appointed Assistant Director of the new School of Nursing at Dalhousie University. She left in 1952 to become the Director of the Teacher Training Program for graduate nurses in Ankara, Turkey, under the auspices of WHO. Later she returned to Cranbrook, where she was a school teacher from 1965-1971. She died in 1991.

Art Penson was born and raised in Creston, British Columbia, and is now based in Ottawa. He became interested in theatrical design after joining the drama club at university where he was studying to be an art and music historian. He worked with the Bastion Theatre in Victoria and later went to the Kootenay School of Art in Nelson, BC. At Kootenay he won a scholarship to continue his studies at the Pasadena Playhouse in California.

Penson's relationship with Neptune goes back to the 1970s. He met his wife Barbara Howatt there and served as Head of Props in the 1971/1972 season before earning a Canada Council grant allowing him to study theatre in England for three years. Recently he has been a regular designer for Neptune under the artistic directorship of Ron Ulrich. He has designed costumes, sets, props, and furniture for productions of Jesus Christ Superstar, Chicago, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. His costume designs for this latter production won a Merritt Award in 2004.

Stephen Phillips is a clinical and research neurologist widely regarded as a leader in stroke care in Nova Scotia and across Canada. Born and raised in southwest England, he was educated at King’s College, London, before receiving his clinical training at St. George’s University of London (Class of 1979). He emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1981 and served for 33 years on Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine before retiring in December 2021.

In 1999 Dr Phillips helped to found the Canadian Stroke Network, collaborating with Heart & Stroke to develop the Canadian Stroke Strategy, which led to the first evidence-based guidelines on stroke care in Canada. A regional and national advocate for the adoption of coordinated multidisciplinary team care provided on dedicated stroke units, in 2002 he published a study showing the positive impact of this approach on patient outcomes at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

An avid photographer, his artwork decorates the walls of the stroke unit at the QEII hospital and has been reproduced and sold to support fundraising for stroke unit staff professional development. Among other honours received in recognition for his research and clinical work, Dr Phillips was invited to present the 2021 Hnatyshyn Lecture ‑- Canada's most prestigious annual lectureship in the field of stroke.

Sheila Piercy was an opera singer, voice teacher and philanthropist, who supported aspiring artists and the performing arts in Nova Scotia and across Canada. Born on 18 November 1933 to Lilian MacKinnon and Reginald Piercy, she began singing at a young age under the tutelage of her mother. She attended Halifax Ladies College and toured with a ballet company and skating show before studying at Dalhousie University from 1951-1954, where she was active in sports and the Dalhousie Glee and Dramatic Society and King’s College Dramatic and Choral Society.

After studying voice in Halifax under Leonard Mayoh, she moved to Toronto in 1956 to take up a scholarship at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto opera program. Mentored by Ernesto Vinci, she began life as a professional soprano with the Canadian Opera Company (COC) in 1958, where she stayed for the next 13 years. In addition to her work with the COC, Sheila Piercy performed regularly on the CBC and at the Banff Centre, Stratford Festival, Rainbow Stage and Charlottetown Festival. After retiring from the COC in 1971, she moved back to Nova Scotia, and from 1977 -1982 she taught voice at Dalhousie University. She was a key supporter of Dalhousie's Performing Arts Campaign, and her gift of $1.5 million honoured some of her mentors through the naming of the Ernesto Vinci Studio and Leonard and Doris Mayoh Studio. A third studio, the Sheila K. Piercey Rehearsal Studio, provides a rehearsal space for students. She died on 20 May 2019.