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Congratulations to Dr. Leslie Cake, a professor emeritus and current (ARC‑NL) management board member, who is being honored with a Atlantic Award next month in Halifax.

Dr. Cake was an integral faculty member in Grenfell Campus’s program and he spent decades studying human development and community wellbeing. Yet one gap in Canada’s research landscape continued to concern him: Newfoundland and Labrador — the country’s most rapidly aging province — had no dedicated centre focused on aging research. Determined to change that reality, Dr. Cake helped lead the effort that ultimately created the ARC‑NL, which officially opened in 2018 — the very year he turned 70.

Since then, he has remained deeply involved in shaping the centre’s direction as a member of its management board, helping guide its research agenda and ensuring its work reflects the real needs of older adults across the province.

Dr. Cake has also continued his own scholarly work. As professor emeritus and honorary research professor, he has led research exploring attitudes toward older adults in rural communities and is currently contributing to projects aimed at improving digital literacy and technology training for older adults.

Through research, mentorship, and advocacy, Dr. Cake continues to demonstrate that curiosity, leadership, and impact do not retire. His work has helped establish a lasting research platform that will support healthier aging for generations to come.

Top 7 Over 70 is a national initiative founded in Calgary in 2017 that celebrates individuals who embark on remarkable new achievements after the age of seventy. The program highlights innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, artists, philanthropists, and community leaders whose work demonstrates that later life can be a time of creativity, leadership, and bold beginnings. The initiative is expanding across Canada with events now being organized in multiple cities.