Dr. Shakeel Akhtar, who retired from the department of animal and poultry science in the College of Agriculture in 2004 and became supervisor with the neurology research group at the Saskatchewan Centre for Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder at the U of S, was awarded the Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal in recognition of service and community involvement. His volunteer activities reflected broad interests in the educational, social, cultural and religious welfare of the province.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Shakeel Akhtar earned his BSc in Zoology, Botany, and Chemistry from Agra University, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India (1960); an MSc in Inorganic Chemistry from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India (1962); and a PhD in Radiation Chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan (1968). Dr. Akhtar was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the U of S from 1971-1975. He was Laboratory Supervisor. Acting Director, Saskatchewan Feed Testing Laboratory from 1975-1991. He was Laboratory Supervisor with the Department of Animal and Poultry Science at the U of S from 1991-2004. Since 2004 Dr. Akhtar served as Senior Scientific Advisor at Royal University Hospital (2021). Dr. Akhtar's contributions are honoured with the naming of 'Akhtar Bend' in the Brighton neighbourhood of Saskatoon.

Bio/Historical Note: Multiple images appeared in 29 Apr. 2005 issue of OCN.