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CMU to honour Dr. Nora Murdock with 2026 CMU PAX Award
Dr. Nora Murdock, recipient of the 2026 CMU PAX Award for a career in education and leadership marked by work alongside First Nations communities.
Dr. Nora Murdock, an educator, consultant, and administrator whose career has been committed to strengthening First Nations education in Manitoba, will be awarded the 2026 CMU PAX Award.
Murdock is a leader whose dedication to First Nations education, guided by a postcolonial theoretical framework, is informed by the experiences, perspectives, and lives of Indigenous peoples.
CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls will present the award to Murdock as part of the CMU class of 2026 convocation ceremony on April 25 at Knox United Church in Winnipeg.
"Dr. Murdock embodies expansively rooted vision with gentle courage. She brings out the best in everyone around her, gets things done, and transforms the conditions of life for communities. It is a joy and honour for CMU to present the PAX Award to Dr. Murdock and learn from her words as convocation speaker," said Pauls.
Murdock's decades-long career in education and leadership has been marked by her work alongside First Nations communities and her dedication to advancing culturally grounded approaches to learning.
Murdock is currently working with Fisher River Cree Nation to develop culturally responsive curriculum, programs, and land-based education. This work supports students in gaining a deep understanding of their own cultural history and ways of knowing, rooted in the Cree language.
She previously served with the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre as Director of Instructional Services for the Manitoba First Nations School System. In that role, she contributed to strengthening educational supports and resources for First Nations schools across the province.
Since 2007, Murdock has built relationship across Fisher River Cree Nation and CMU. She is currently a member on the University of Manitoba Faculty of Education Indigenous Advisory Council and the CUSO International Indigenous Advisory Circle.
Through her work, Murdock has helped foster educational environments that support reconciliation by bringing together the gifts of wisdom and ways of knowing of communities who share life and land. She lives out and calls forward what it means to be rooted and healthy across Christian and Indigenous spiritual traditions.
Established in 2015 and awarded annually, the CMU PAX Award acknowledges and honours people who lead exemplary lives of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society.
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