Northey, Margot 1940- (Margot Elizabeth Northey)

PERSONAL:

Born 1940. Education: University of Toronto (graduated); York University, M.A., Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home—North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada.

CAREER:

Writer, educator, and consultant. Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, professor and dean of Queen's School of Business, 1995-2002; University of Western Ontario, London, Western Business School, associate professor, 2002—. Alliance Atlantis Communications, director, 2001—. Member of board of directors of British Columbia Transmission Corporation, Stressgen Biotechnologies, Norbord, Inc., British Columbia Transmission Corporation, Wawanesa Insurance Company, Nexfor, Inc., and Fraser Papers, Inc.

MEMBER:

International Association of Business Communicators (served as vice president), Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (former director).

WRITINGS:

The Haunted Wilderness: The Gothic and Grotesque in Canadian Fiction, University of Toronto Press (Buffalo, NY), 1976.

"MAKING SENSE" NONFICTION WRITING SERIES

(With David B. Knight) Making Sense in Geography and Environmental Studies: A Student's Guide to Research, Writing, and Style, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1992, 2nd edition published as Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Geography and Environmental Sciences, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001, 3rd edition, 2007.

(With Lorne Tepperman and James Russell) Making Sense: Social Sciences: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2002, 2nd updated edition published as Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Social Sciences, Oxford University Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004, 3rd edition, 2007.

(With Joan McKibbin) Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing, 4th updated edition, Oxford University Press (Don Mills, Ontario, Canada), 2005, 5th edition, 2007.

(With Judi Jewinski) Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Engineering and the Technical Sciences, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2007.

(With Brian Timney) Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Geography and the Life Sciences, 4th edition, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Margot Northey is an author, educator, and consultant. She serves as an associate professor in the Western Business School of the University of Western Ontario. A noted effective administrator, Northey served as the dean of Queen's University School of Business in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. While there, she worked to strengthen the school's professional and academic reputation while affecting significant improvement in the school's financial status, reversing annual revenue losses and increasing the school's income by a factor of four, noted a biographer on the Province of British Columbia Web site.

A professional business communicator and instructor, Northey dedicates much of her time to teaching effective business communications for students in a variety of disciplines. To this end, she has written several books in the "Making Sense" series, which concentrate on the writing, research, and communications requirements, both in general terms and in specialist genres for students in academic areas such as the social sciences, engineering and technical fields, geography and environmental studies, and the life sciences.

Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing is a "guide to writing and research that should be in the hands of every serious student in high school or university," commented reviewer Joan Marshall in Resource Links. The book contains a "great deal of information on how to write clearly, simply and with style," Marshall noted. Northey provides specific, detailed information on writing in various formats, including book reports, essays, business reports, laboratory and research reports, resumes, letters of application, and more. "Crystal clear examples immediately convey the kernel of each idea," Marshall stated. Elsewhere in the book, Northey explains the proper use of charts, graphs, and illustrations, and offers suggestions on making effective oral presentations. She also reviews important concepts in grammar and punctuation, providing illustrative examples of correct and incorrect usage, and explains the importance of documentation in academic writing.

Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Engineering and the Technical Sciences, written with Judi Jewinski, covers writing issues that are likely to confront students in scientific, engineering, and technical fields. The authors cover general style, usage, and grammar topics and offer specific details on issues such as writing lab reports, project proposals, abstracts, and letters of application. They also cover such topics as adhering to stylebooks, avoiding plagiarism, and working with a collaborator.

In Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northey and coauthor David B. Knight provide advice for students studying geography and environmental sciences. In addition to general writing advice, they explain how to avoid writer's block, how to get acquainted with the local libraries, and how to steer clear of common writing errors. Southeastern Geographer critic Jaclyn Hall noted that the book "does contain some very good advice" for students and researchers.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Canadian Geographer, fall, 1995, Jean-Marie M. Dubois, review of Making Sense in Geography and Environmental Studies: A Student's Guide to Research, Writing, and Style.

Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, August, 1990, Peter J. Carrington, review of Making Sense: Social Sciences: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing, p. 420.

Choice, October, 2005, T.C. Bekhuis, review of Making Sense: Social Sciences, p. 272.

Emergency Librarian, November, 1983, review of Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing, p. 41.

Reference & Research Book News, May, 2007, review of Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Engineering and the Technical Sciences.

Resource Links, October, 2005, Joan Marshall, review of Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing, p. 42.

Southeastern Geographer, May, 2006, Jaclyn Hall, review of Making Sense in Geography and Environmental Studies, p. 166.

ONLINE

Alliance Atlantis Communications Web site,http://www.allianceatlantis.com/ (February 4, 2008), biography of Margot Northey.

Province of British Columbia Ministry of Labor and Citizens' Services Web site,http://www.lcs.gov.bc.ca/ (February 4, 2008), biography of Margot Northey.

Province of British Columbia Web site,http://www.news.gov.bc.ca (February 4, 2008), biography of Margot Northey.