Dr. Pannekoek received his B.A (Hons) and MA from the University of Alberta, and his Ph.D. from Queen's Kingston. He has had a wide professional experience as Head of Historical Research for Parks Canada, Prairie Region, Director of Historic Sites and Archives for Alberta, Director of Information Resources and Chief Librarian, University of Calgary and President Athabasca University. He was a Director of the Canadian Association of Academic Libraries, President of the Canadian Association of Learned Journals, President of the UNESCO affiliated International Council of Distance Universities, President of the Calgary Civic Trust, and a member of the Board of the Mikai'sto Foundation and the research committee at the Blood Tribe's Red Crow College where he is known as "Loads Gun." His research interests include Western Canadian history, Metis history, Alberta history, the new information digital age, Canadian social history, heritage policy, post secondary management theory, and distance education. For his work in distance education he received an honorary doctorate from the University of South African. He is also an honorary Professor at Tianjin University, PRC. He was inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2017 for his work in digitizing Alberta history, and the creation of a network of heritage facilities in the Province.
His most current publications are on residential schools and on the contribution that Indigenous people have made to the changes in Canadian business. He is currently writing a book on heritage policy development in Alberta.
Certificate: Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Leadership Institute for Senior University Administrators, Aug. 2007.
Certificate: Senior University Administrator Course, University of Manitoba, Banff Centre, 1999.
Certificate: Inter University Consortium for Political Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbour (Computer statistical methods and quantification in the social sciences), 1976.
2005-21
with Vivian Manasc, Non Indigenous Architecture on Indigenous Lands. Standoff: Red Crow College, 2021).
with Arthur Bear Chief, My Ten Years at Old Sun My Lifetime of Hell. (Edmonton: Athabasca University Press, 2017.)
with Helen Clarke and Mary Hemmings, “Popular Disinformation: Popular Culture and the Information Society” in Bart Beattie, Rebecca Sullivan, Derek Briton and Gloria Filax eds. How Canada Communicates III, Popular Culture and Communication (Edmonton: Athabasca University Press, 2009)
“Canada’ Historic Sites: Reflections on a Quarter Century, 1980-2005.” The Public Historian, Vol. 31, No. 1(Winter, 2009), pp. 46-68.
with Shabnam Inanloo Dailoo, “Nature and Culture: A new World Heritage Context,” International Journal of Cultural Property, Vol. 15, 2008, No. 1, pp. 25-47.
“Cowtown It Ain’t:” The Stampede and Calgary’s Public Monuments, in Max Foran ed. Icon, Brand, Myth: The Calgary Stampede. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press, 2008, pp 252-269.
with David Taras and Maria Bakardjieva, eds. How Canadians Communicate II, Media, Globalization and Identity. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2007.
with Helen Clarke and Andrew Waller, “Globalization and Scholarly Communication: A Story of Canadian Marginalization,” in F. Pannekoek, David Taras, and Maria Bakardjieva, How Canadians Communicate II, Media Globalization and Identity. (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2007), pp. 239 – 260.
Behind the Man: John Laurie, Ruth Gorman, and the Indian Vote in Canada. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2007, 277p.
“Ruth Gorman: A Strong Minded Woman” Remembering Chinook Country. Calgary: Alberta Historical Society, 2005.
“On the Edge of the Great Transformation 1857-58” in Michael Payne, Don Wetherell and Cathy Kavanaugh, eds. Alberta Formed Alberta Transformed. Edmonton and Calgary: Universities of Calgary and Alberta Presses, 2005, pp.181 - 207.
“Canadian Memory Institutions and the Digital Revolution: the Last Five Years” in Frits Pannekoek, Maria Bakardjieva, and David Taras eds, How Canadians Communicate. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2003, pp. 71-96.
With Janice Dickin, Claude Martin, David Mitchell, Paul Bernard, “The Internet as a Site of Citizenship” in Frits Pannekoek and David Mitchell eds. “The Information Deficit: Canadian Solutions.” The Canadian Journal of Communications, Vol. 27, No. 4, 2002, pp. 509-534.
“Cyber imperialisme et marginalisation des Autochtones au Canada,” In Jean-Paul Baillargeon, ed. Transmission de la culture, petites societes, mondialisation. Quebec: Les Presses de l’universite Laval, 2002, pp. 85-104. (Translation)
“Metis History,” in Theodore Binnema, Gerhard J. Ens, and R.C. Macleod, editors, From Rupert's Land to Canada: Essays in Honour of John E. Foster (University of Alberta Press, 2001).
With Janice Dickin and David Mitchell. The Internet as a Site of Citizenship. The Final Report of the Information Deficit: Canadian Solutions Conference http://www.ucalgary.ca/idcs-disc. Calgary and Montreal: The Universities of Calgary and Montreal, 2001.
“Time for a Change? The Alberta Historical Resources Act” Legacy Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 30-31.
Senior editor, The Alberta Heritage Digitization Project (http:www/alberta2005.org) Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1998 – present. (The searchable digital site for all of Alberta’s newspapers, local histories, statutes, and folklore.)
with Claude Bonnelly, Director, Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval, co editor, Our Roots: Canada’s Local Histories on Line (http:www.ourroots.ca). Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2002 – 2005.- (The digital site for Canada’s local histories).
I have also spoken widely at various international venues in Asia, Africa, Europe, the United States and South America on issues facing distance education. However my greatest joy remains teaching students, and serving the wider community. That is what it is all about.