Graduate makes U of S history as top student in both arts and science

A University of Saskatchewan student has completed a big achievement, and it’s a first in the university’s 116-year history.

Graeme Dyck walked across the U of S stage on Tuesday. He not only collected two degrees – in music and mathematics – but was also recognized as the top undergraduate student in both the arts and sciences.

Dyck said he received the U of S Film Society Prize, which recognizes the most distinguished graduate in fine arts, the Earl of Bessborough Prize as the university’s top science student, and the Haslam Medal naming him the top student in the College of Arts and Science.

According to the university’s Department of Music, Dyck is the first person in the school’s history to receive the College of Arts and Science’s top award for both science and fine arts.

“I enjoyed it all, but it was quite a lot of work,” Dyck said.

Throughout his five years of study, Dyck said he mainly focused on the trumpet and flugelhorn in his music studies, and composes music himself. As for mathematics, his interests lay in abstract algebra.

Although math and music are two very different fields, Dyck said they can act as different lenses to approach a variety of different subjects or problems.

“They’re both equally valuable,” he said.

Dyck said he was able to amalgamate the two fields through his honours thesis on jazz harmony.

Time management was the key to success for Dyck, he explained. He said he would often practice playing his instruments up to three hours a day on top of working on his assignments.

His U of S graduation isn’t the end of Dyck’s academic career. Later this year, he said he will be jetting off to the United Kingdom to pursue a masters in music at the University of Birmingham.

Ultimately, he said he is looking to use his skills in research or creative fields, or to work in an academic position at a Canadian university.