To be greeted by Nestor Korchinsky is to understand a lot about him and his outlook on life. First, he approaches – all six and a half feet of him – with open arms and a broad smile. Then as his right hand envelopes yours, his left arm gently pulls you into a warm embrace.

And that’s how he says hello to a stranger. In the 38 years that Nestor worked at UBC, tens of thousands of students, staff and faculty members have enjoyed his enthusiastic greetings.

Nestor joined UBC in 1967 as a Faculty member in what is now the School of Human Kinetics. In the sixties, it appeared to Nestor that UBC was without spirit, because, he reasoned, it did not have a soul. He concluded that while a strong academic environment gave the University its character, what was needed was a stronger and more coordinated co-curricular program which would give the University its personality. The combination of character and personality would give UBC its soul and with it a sense of community spirit and university tradition. Nestor was determined to work with others to help bring spirit to the campus, and the intramural program became part of his plan as did The POINT newspaper, UBC-TV and Live@UBC.

At first the Intramural Program was run by two students. Slowly Nestor built the program up, and today UBC Rec is run by 120 student volunteers and nine full-time staff, and is the largest program of its kind in Canada.

To stimulate student leadership, Nestor has endowed an award that recognizes students who have demonstrated a commitment to leadership and positive change both on and/or off campus.

“The Award recognizes the incredible influences inviting and enriching curricular and co-curricular learning environments can have, ” Nestor says. “This award is to encourage students to create a community that is so exciting, challenging and inviting that you don’t need to do all the searching to find something right for you…you just get drawn in.”

Learning environments that embrace. Just like Nestor.

Awards at UBC can be funded on either an annual or an endowed basis. Annual funding means that the donor gives the University the full amount of the award each year, with a minimum three-year commitment. Endowed funding means that one or more donors sets up a capital fund at UBC so that the earned interest on the capital can be used for an annual award. Please contact us for more information on establishing an award at UBC.

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