MADAM CHANCELLOR, it is in the context of this university’s commitment to community engagement that I am honored to cite the contributions of Lee Frances Lakeman, whose life-work as a women’s equality activist exemplifies an extraordinary commitment to community building.
Ms. Lakeman is one of Canada’s most dedicated, knowledgeable and articulate public educators in the cause of ending violence against women.
For the past 35 years, she has directly, and in collaboration with others, responded to some 40,000 abused women callers to the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter.
Concurrent with her dedication on the front-lines, she has undertaken national and international leadership challenges in a tireless pursuit of social justice, ultimately guided by her unflagging conviction that equality for women is a fundamental pre-condition to ending gender-based violence.
As the regional representative of the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centers, she has shared vast hands-on experience with colleagues across Canada, and assisted parliamentary, legal and social institutions to bring previously hidden issues to light, to address enormous harm, and to inform Supreme Court decisions concerning violence against women.
In Canada, three criminal law amendments framed with the benefit of her equality analysis have withstood the test of time and constitutional challenge.
Her expertise has often been sought internationally, and in 1995 she served as a special advisor to Canada’s Federal Minister of Justice as part of the Canadian delegation to the Ninth United Nations Conference on Crime Prevention and Treatment of the Offender.
Along the way she has taken pen in hand time and again to publish books and articles that have garnered the deep respect of legal professors and commanded the attention of a wider Canadian public.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of her extraordinary service to this community, and her unyielding pursuit of the social, economic and legal equality of women, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon LEE FRANCES LAKEMAN.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, we take great pride in recognizing a UBC alumnus who has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to serving the people of British Columbia in the field of law, in legal and aboriginal education, and through his leadership in the aboriginal community.
By the time The Honorable Steven Lewis Point entered the UBC Faculty of Law, he had already served almost five years as chief of the Skowkale First Nation. After entering private practice, he continued to lead aboriginal communities at local, regional and provincial levels. From 1994 to 1999 he served as tribal chair of the Stó:lo Nation, and was also honoured as Grand Chief by the Chiefs of the Stó:lo Tribal Council.
He went on to serve on an administrative tribunal in the Federal Department of Immigration and Employment, and in 1999, he was appointed a provincial court judge. In 2005 he was appointed Chief Commissioner of the British Columbia Treaty Commission, and in 2007, he was sworn in as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.
During his term as Lieutenant Governor, he endeavored to serve as a role model to aboriginal youth, emphasizing that retaining their cultural identity and succeeding in education needn’t be mutually exclusive objectives.
At the heart of his efforts was a literacy campaign focused on children in remote communities, and encouraging literacy development through the writing of stories. During the campaign he visited communities and met with elders, councils and schools, from where he received stories from almost 3,000 students, and took the time to write back to each one.
His commitment to aboriginal education has also been evident at UBC, where he is a former director of the First Nations Law Program and an inspirational speaker at Faculty of Law events.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of his leadership and dedicated public service, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon Xwelīqweltel, THE HONOURABLE STEVEN LEWIS POINT.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, it is in the context of this university’s commitment to sustainability and global citizenship that I am honoured to cite the transformational contributions of Tzeporah Berman.
Ms. Berman’s journey toward becoming a leader in the global environmental movement began over two decades ago, when she coordinated the largest civil disobedience protest in Canadian history, resulting in preservation of the old growth forests of Clayquot Sound.
Strategic, articulate and balanced in her approach, she is equally effective in the boardroom as on the front lines of peaceful demonstration. As co-founder and strategic director of the international environmental organization, ForestEthics, she fostered respectful dialogue with, and among, representatives from business, government, environmental and aboriginal communities.
Along the way, she successfully challenged multi-national corporate consumers of forest products to adopt environmental procurement policies, thereby compelling producers to adopt more sustainable harvesting practises. The net effect of this and other related endeavours was the protection of over 66 million acres of endangered forest on two continents, including British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest.
She then sharpened her focus on climate change as co-founder and executive director of PowerUp Canada. Once again she brought together representatives from diverse interests in support of clean energy leadership in Canada.
In 2010 she became co-director of Greenpeace International’s Climate and Energy Program. Soon, however, her overwhelming concerns for Canada’s environmental future prompted her return to domestic debates concerning climate and energy policy, oil sands development, and related pipeline issues.
Both principled and pragmatic, Ms. Berman has at times been besieged by critics from within and outside the environmental movement. Still, she has always remained focused on her objectives: the introduction of environmental policy that preserves natural habitat and biodiversity, while recognizing the imperatives for economic stability.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of informed activism and strategic leadership in the global environmental movement, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon TZEPORAH BERMAN.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, for decades, Canadians have viewed polar bears as indomitable symbols of our Arctic regions.
In more recent times, however, UBC alumnus Ian Grote Stirling has been instrumental in teaching the entire world to view them as sensitive indicators of global climate warming, and to take seriously both their plight and its origins.
After earning his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from UBC, Dr. Stirling ventured to Antarctica to conduct research on Weddell seal populations. It was there on the barren sea ice that he took his first steps toward becoming one of the world’s foremost experts on high-latitude marine mammal ecology.
For these efforts, he earned a Ph.D from New Zealand’s Canterbury University. And though he has returned time and again to lead further studies of Antarctic ecosystems, it is his research on Canada’s polar bears that is particularly significant.
From 1970 to 2007, Dr. Stirling served as a research scientist for the Canadian Wildlife Service, for which he led the most extensive research program ever undertaken on polar bear ecology, population assessment, and the relationships between polar bears, seals and ice conditions.
The outcome of his scientific rigor and diligence, and that of the many graduate students he inspired along the way, has proven vital to the effective management of polar bears internationally.
He has also authored more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and five non-technical books, designed to stimulate public awareness of global environmental issues.
The combination of his work, leadership and thoughtful participation on countless international panels, boards and commissions has been frequently recognized, including by his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada and his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of his wisdom and guidance on critical pathways of natural history, and for his contributions to the global sustainability movement, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon IAN GROTE STIRLING.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, UBC Law alumnus Marvin Storrow is an admired and visionary leader who has made remarkable contributions to the legal profession in Canada, to the legal community in British Columbia, and to the Faculty of Law at his university.
A senior litigation counsel engaged in both civil and criminal law, Mr. Storrow has made almost 40 appearances before the Supreme Court of Canada. He was lead counsel on three cases judged by Canadian legal scholars as being among the most important cases in Canadian legal history on Aboriginal rights. His contributions were integral to numerous landmark cases involving the development of law in Aboriginal title rights and fiduciary duties of Aboriginal people.
Mr. Storrow has been recognized with many prestigious awards, including the Georges A. Goyer, QC Memorial Award for Distinguished Service and the UBC Alumni Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Recently, he received the Law Society of BC Award, which honours exceptional lifetime contributions, as well as the Lexpert Zenith Award, which acknowledges lawyers from across Canada who have demonstrated leadership through innovation for 40 or more years.
Mr. Storrow’s commitment to the legal community, however, extends beyond the courtroom. He served on the Board of Directors for the Justice Institute of British Columbia for 14 years, where he left a lasting legacy with the creation of a bursary to support Aboriginal students pursuing legal studies. He has been active in inspiring the next generation of legal leaders through the UBC Faculty of Law, where he established a scholarship for the student with the highest standing in the first year of the First Nations Legal Studies Program. He has also chaired numerous reunions for his Class of ‘62, enabling his classmates to reconnect with their university, and to engage directly with students.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition his many contributions to the legal profession and its future leaders, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon MARVIN R.V. STORROW.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, as a fatherless child growing up in Tehran, Djavad Mowafaghian took his mother’s lessons about kindness and generosity deeply to heart. Her influence during his early years manifested in remarkable acts of philanthropy that have improved access to healthcare and education for children in many parts of the world.
During the 1970s, an ambitious entrepreneurial spirit propelled him to develop one of Iran’s largest general contracting companies. He subsequently moved to Switzerland, but remained connected to his homeland by funding the construction of 26 elementary, middle and technical schools, some of which were specifically designed for visual- and hearing-impaired students, and one for physically disabled girls.
In 1987, Mr. Mowafaghian immigrated to Vancouver, where he established a commercial real estate development company and continued to support a wide range of education and healthcare initiatives in Europe. In 2003 he established the Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation, which has provided generous and critically important support to numerous healthcare organizations in Vancouver, including BC Children’s Hospital, enabling the creation of a much needed oncology unit. He has also made significant contributions to other local hospitals and universities, including UBC, where he has enabled new forms of interdisciplinary research of brain disorders in children through the creation of a new Centre for Brain Health that bears his name.
In addition to supporting a growing list of local charities, Mr. Mowafaghian has maintained his international focus, including recent support to help build a school in Haiti, to establish scholarships for international students in England and to fund bone marrow transplant facilities for children in Switzerland.
Not surprisingly, his extraordinary philanthropic record has been recognized with numerous honours, including the Order of British Columbia, and his recent appointment as a Member of the Order of Canada.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of decades of vision, kindness and generosity on three continents, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon DJAVAD MOWAFAGHIAN.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, a philanthropist and entrepreneur, UBC alumnus Michael Audain has a long history of social activism, community development and generous support of the visual arts and culture in British Columbia.
Mr. Audain’s dedication to improving communities began in the early 1960s, when he was a UBC Arts student researching residential segregation in the American South. His interest in the civil rights movement prompted him to actively support the group famously known as the Freedom Riders, and their peaceful protest of segregation laws. After spending a month in a Mississippi prison, he returned to UBC, where he co-founded the BC Civil Liberties Association in 1962 and later completed a Master’s degree in Social Work.
He subsequently undertook a series of appointments as a social worker, agricultural economist and housing policy specialist with the Ontario Housing Corporation and the Canadian Council on Social Development. With enduring ambition in community development, he later founded Polygon Homes Ltd, one of British Columbia’s most successful homebuilders.
In 1987, he established the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts in British Columbia, with a goal to promote the visual arts in BC and Canada. His foundation’s support has been extended to numerous British Columbia universities and galleries, including UBC, where among many examples of philanthropy and volunteer service, he has enabled the creation of the Audain Arts Centre to engage students and the community in learning opportunities and gallery events.
He has also served as Chair of the Board of the National Gallery of Canada and is a Trustee and Past President of the Vancouver Art Gallery, as well as Chair of the Vancouver Art Gallery Foundation.
For his efforts and contributions, Mr. Audain has received many formal honours, including his appointment to the Order of British Columbia and as an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of his record of community service, and for enriching the cultural heritage of our province and nation, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon MICHAEL JAMES AUDAIN.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, born in 1948 in the Tahltan community of Telegraph Creek in northwestern British Columbia, Dempsey Bob survived dire circumstances and an unsympathetic school system to train in the Tahltan-Tlingit style of Aboriginal art. Today he is internationally regarded as one of the foremost Aboriginal artists of his generation, and his sculptures, castings, jewelry and prints are seen by countless visitors to museums, galleries and public spaces around the world, including Vancouver International Airport.
In a recent lecture at the First Nations Longhouse, he recounted that as he progressed as an artist, he had few teachers, as people knowledgeable in the traditions of Tahltan carving had greatly diminished in number owing to the decimation of Aboriginal communities whose artists had developed the work over multiple generations. His accomplishments therefore extend beyond his vast body of work to include the reclamation of identity and culture of earlier generations.
His carving career began in 1969 under the teaching of Haida artist Freda Diesing, and within five years he had produced the first of a vast litany of major works whose quality and unique characteristics are demonstrated by their presence in many of the world’s most notable galleries, including the Smithsonian Institute, the Columbia Museum of Ethnology, the UBC Museum of Anthropology and the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
After four decades of commitment to northwest coast Aboriginal art as both practitioner and teacher, he has inspired two generations to learn and excel, and his contributions have been recognized with many honours and awards, including his appointment just this year as an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of his work as a foremost artist and as a cultural preservationist and ambassador, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, upon DEMPSEY JAMES BOB.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, Dr. Lisa Sennerby Forsse ignored the conventions of a traditionally male dominated field to emerge as one of Northern Europe’s most influential leaders in forestry practises and research.
After obtaining her Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Stockholm University, Dr. Sennerby Forsse worked as a senior scientist and soon thereafter became a program leader in the Department of Ecological and Environmental Research at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. She continued her advance in leadership roles when in 1994, she became Director of Research at the Swedish Forestry Research Institute. In 2000, she was appointed as Director for the Department for Natural Resources in the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, and the following year she was named Director General of the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning.
In 2006, she returned to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, where she remains in the institution’s foremost position as Rector, from which she has provided leadership and guidance to an extraordinary number of government, scientific and environmental organizations. The examples include service on the advisory boards of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, the Swedish National Veterinary Institute, the European Science Foundation, and as Chair of the Swedish Scientific Council for Climate Research. Her current appointments include Board Member of the Research Council for the Nordic Council of Ministers and Sweden’s branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The extraordinary depth and range of her activities have been recognized through numerous awards and honours, including the Royal Gold Medal from the King of Sweden for Outstanding Achievements in Agricultural Sciences.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of her pioneering leadership and for her impact on the science and practise of forestry in her homeland, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon LISA SENNERBY FORSSE.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, James Clifford is an American historian of Anthropology and Professor Emeritus in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
He obtained his Master’s degree from Stanford and his Ph.D. from Harvard, and is considered one of the most original, influential, and controversial scholars working in anthropology today.
Upon completion of his doctoral studies in 1978, Dr. Clifford was among the first faculty appointed to the History of Consciousness Department Ph.D. program, where he served as Chair from 2004 to 2007. The Department continues to be an intellectual center for innovative, interdisciplinary and critical scholarship in the United States and abroad, due in large part to his influence.
He has published and lectured extensively on a variety of anthropological topics related to Indigenous People and questions of cross cultural representation. His recent work focuses on decolonization in the Pacific region and the emergence of contemporary indigenous cultural politics. His interest in these subjects resulted in a collegial association with the UBC Museum of Anthropology, and his current service as a member of the museum’s advisory board.
His widely cited and translated books have sparked controversy and critical debate in a number of disciplines, including Literature, Art History and Visual Studies, and Cultural Anthropology. He has been on the editorial boards of many of the leading journals and has been a visiting professor at l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales Paris, University College, London and Yale University.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of his prodigious scholarly work and influence, and for his generous service to this university, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon JAMES CLIFFORD.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, after completing a Master’s degree in Communications from Stanford University, Bonnie Klein began an extraordinary 50-year career as a documentary filmmaker, author and disability rights activist. A native of Pennsylvania, she and her husband immigrated to Montreal in 1967, where she went to work with the National Film Board in Challenge for Change, a program that experimented with the use of media as a tool for social change. Over the next 20 years she produced and directed numerous films, but is perhaps best known for her documentary, Not a Love Story, a provocative and controversial examination of the pornography industry.
In 1987 her life and her work were irrevocably changed by two strokes, after which she was afflicted by "locked-in syndrome," a rare neurological disorder that leaves its victims fully aware but unable to speak or move. After three years of intense rehabilitation, she emerged to become a passionate advocate for the disability rights movement. The 1997 publication Slow Dance: A Story of Stroke, Love and Disability is Ms. Klein’s candid account of her life-altering strokes and their aftermath.
After relocating to Vancouver in 1993, she co-founded the Society for Disability Arts and Culture, and is the producer of the KickstART! Festival, which brings isolated artists together to express their experience of disability in dance, comedy, music, theatre and visual art. She also counsels, consults and speaks about health care, rehabilitation and disability rights, and culture to health care professionals, disability organizations and the general public.
Her many honours include the Vancouver YWCA Women of Distinction Award in Arts and Culture, the Vancouver Woman of the Year in Film and Video Award, the Governor General’s Award, and her appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of her many contributions to arts, culture, and the rights of the disabled, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon BONNIE SHERR KLEIN.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, Dr. Janet Rossant is widely recognized for her ground-breaking work in understanding the roles of genes in embryo development.
Her major research findings relate to the question of how genetically identical cells adopt distinct characteristics during embryo development, and are paramount for better understanding of diseases caused by abnormal development processes, ranging from birth defects to genetic predispositions to various diseases, including cancer.
Dr. Rossant trained at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. She came to Canada in 1977 to Brock University, then to the Samuel Lunenfield Research Institute at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital. Today, she is today a senior scientist in the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, Chief of Research at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, and a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is also Deputy Scientific Director of the Canadian Stem Cell Network and Director of the Centre for Modeling Human Disease at the Toronto Centre for Phenogenomics.
She is also actively involved in the international developmental and stem cell biology communities and has contributed to the scientific and ethical discussion on public issues related to stem cell research. She chaired the working group of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research on stem cell research, which developed guidelines for federally funded research in this area.
Dr. Rossant has been recognized for her contributions to science with many awards, including the Killam Prize for Health Sciences, the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology and the Michael Smith Prize in Health Research, Canada’s most prestigious health research award. She is a fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Canada, and is a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Science.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of her pioneering work in one of the most important areas of human health research, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon JANET ROSSANT.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, Dr. Justin Yifu Lin is a prominent and prolific economist in international policy circles, and his work has compellingly informed global debates concerning development, agricultural economics and Chinese economic reform.
From 2008 to 2012 he served as Chief Economist and Vice President of the World Bank, where he provided intellectual leadership in shaping the economic research agenda of the institution. Dr. Lin also served for 15 years as Founding Director and Professor of the China Centre for Economic Research at Peking University, where he currently serves as Honorary Dean of the National School of Development.
He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from National Chengchi University, a Master of Arts in Economics from Peking University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. He has authored over 30 books, and his publications appear on syllabi around the world, including UBC, where his scholarly work is well known among faculty members in Economics and Asian Research. He is a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World.
Dr. Lin has served with numerous international organizations and councils on development policy, technology and environment, including the International Advisory Council of the World Bank; the UN Millennium Task Force on Hunger; the Eminent Persons Group of the Asian Development Bank, and the Global Agenda Council on the International Monetary System.
Although he holds honorary doctorates on three continents, he has yet to be so recognized at a prominent research university in North America. In light of this university’s deep commitment to global issues, and its long-standing focus upon Asia, we are today honored to be the first.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of his prodigious scholarly output and impactful leadership in moving the global debate on development and economic reform in new directions, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon JUSTIN YIFU LIN.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, UBC alumnus Raymond Lee exemplifies many of the qualities that we as an academic institution value and celebrate: a strong record of academic achievement, career success, and a commitment to public service.
After graduating with honours from the UBC Faculty of Applied Science in 1993, he founded the Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Company, which has grown to become one of the top global producers. With a clear commitment to social responsibility, the company is one of the most environmentally friendly paper manufacturers in the world. Its production processes utilize over six million tons of recycled material annually, while consuming the least amount of water and energy among its peers.
At just 43 years of age, Mr. Lee has been appointed to the boards of several community organizations and government committees. By way of example, he is currently a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, one of the top governing bodies of the Chinese government. He also serves on the executive committee of Hong Kong’s Green Council, a non-profit body that promotes environmental protection in business practises.
He has exercised considerable philanthropy among some 40 health care, education and social service organizations in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the People’s Republic of China. He has also supported his university, with a generous gift to help establish a new alumni centre to serve as a hub of connectivity between and among UBC students and alumni.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Lee has received countless awards for his business success and community service, including the 2002 Young Industrialist of Hong Kong Award, the 2008 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for China, and as an Honorary Citizen of several Chinese cities.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of his achievements and commitment to public service, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon RAYMOND MAN CHUN LEE.
MADAM CHANCELLOR, after completing graduate studies in Social Planning and Demography, Michel Sidibé unleashed his passion for advancing global health in his native Mali, where he took up the cause of the nomadic Tuareg people. His tireless efforts to improve their health and welfare evolved into a role as the country’s director for the international development federation, Terre des Hommes.
In 1987, Mr. Sidibé joined UNICEF in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In his 14 years at UNICEF, he oversaw programs across 10 francophone countries in Africa, where his numerous leadership achievements included pioneering the continent’s first movement for girls’ education, and negotiating the successful release and rehabilitation of child soldiers from the Eastern Congo.
In 2001, he joined UNAIDS, the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, where he has played a key role in fighting to preserve human rights, particularly for the millions of men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in developing countries.
In 2009, he was named Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, and committed to supporting countries to achieve universal access goals to HIV treatment, prevention, care and support. Based on a strategy pioneered at the UBC-affiliated British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Mr. Sidibé’s bold new initiative calls for the expansion of antiretroviral therapy coverage to end AIDS related morbidity and mortality and the spread of new HIV infections.
An influential advocate, Mr. Sidibé has strengthened UN reform and plays a key role in strengthening collaboration with numerous global partners, including the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Madam Chancellor, in recognition of his extraordinary record of international public health service, and for his leadership in catalyzing the global movement for universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention and support, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon MICHEL SIDIBÉ.
MR. CHANCELLOR, UBC Alumna Constance Isherwood has earned inordinate distinction through almost 64 years in the legal profession, and continues to do so as the most senior practising woman member of the Bar in British Columbia.
Mrs. Isherwood was a 1951 graduate of the UBC Faculty of Law and the first woman to receive the Law Society of BC Gold medal for the highest academic standing in her class. She was called to the Bar that same year, joining the Victoria firm of Tait and Holmes where she practised until 1964.
She then became a partner in the firm of Holmes and Isherwood where she continues her wide ranging practice today.
It is equally notable that Mrs. Isherwood is also a long-serving contributor to her community. Her many activities have included serving as President of the BC Government’s Family and Children’s Services Commission; as an author of the original constitution of the University of Victoria Alumni Association, and as a member of the university’s senate.
She has maintained decades of service to the Anglican Church in a variety of roles, including as Chancellor of the Diocese of British Columbia during a challenging time of transition and serious legal issues relating to First Nations communities, residential schools, marriage, human rights and church property.
She has also served a number of business and cultural organizations in Victoria and has been active in advancing equity and diversity in the legal profession.
Not surprisingly, her list of accolades is extensive, and includes her appointment as Queen’s Counsel in 1998, the Victoria Women’s Pioneer Award in 2012 and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of her lifetime of distinguished service and achievement, I ask you to confer the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon CONSTANCE DORA ISHERWOOD.
MR. CHANCELLOR, a great love of music and an extraordinary knack for management have enabled Gary Cristall to make a profound mark on the music culture of this city.
In 1978, as co-founder of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Mr. Cristall was instrumental in creating what has become one of Vancouver’s signature cultural events.
During his 17 years as the Festival’s artistic director, he consistently attracted an extensive international roster of performers, thereby securing the Festival’s importance among many of the world’s leading artists and establishing it as a beacon for traditional music lovers.
Mr. Cristall also extended his influence industry-wide by establishing Aural Tradition Records for the production of folk music recordings, and Festival Records for the distribution of thousands of titles by an eclectic array of artists.
He has produced countless shows and annual concert series, arranged tours for festival performers and organized the popular Folklife Pavilion at Expo 86, a venue that further solidified Vancouver’s reputation as an international centre for folk, traditional and world music.
In 1994 he moved to Ottawa where he worked at the Canada Council for the Arts. Most notably, he led the creation of a new funding model that recognizes Canada as an aboriginal and multi-cultural nation with a range of traditions worthy of support.
In 2000 Mr. Cristall returned to Vancouver where he continues to work as an artist manager and agent, concert producer, and as an instructor in the Arts and Entertainment Management program at Capilano University.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his rich and lasting contributions to the cultural life of our city and province, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon GARY ERIC CRISTALL.
MR. CHANCELLOR, UBC alumnus Hart Hanson has distinguished himself as one of the most accomplished and prolific graduates in the history of the UBC Creative Writing Program.
For 25 years he has written and produced hundreds of episodes of well-known serial television dramas, including the award-winning Judging Amy, and Bones, one the most successful series productions in industry history.
Mr. Hanson completed his Master of Fine Arts degree at UBC in 1987 and subsequently went to work as a screenwriter of various Canadian dramatic series, including the popular Road to Avonlea and North of Sixty. After his move to California, his influence grew in step with the consistent success of his productions, including the series Stargate SG-1, which was shot in and around Vancouver.
With four Gemini Awards to his credit, he is one of today’s most respected names in Hollywood, and his work is well acclaimed by both the industry and the public.
A member of the Writers Guild of America and the Writers Guild of Canada, Mr. Hanson lends considerable time working with apprentice screenwriters through the Canadian Film Centre and at various international film and television festivals.
I am particularly pleased to say that he has also become increasingly connected to his university and to the Creative Writing program, where he participates in lectures and workshops and engages with UBC students entering the field.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his remarkable success and talent, and of his generous service to students of his university, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, upon HARTWICK DAVID HANSON.
MR. CHANCELLOR, for over half a century, Uno Langmann has been a fixture of the Vancouver art and antiques community, and is renowned throughout Canada for his expertise and for his wide-ranging efforts to promote Canadian and international art.
After immigrating to Vancouver from Denmark in 1955, Mr. Langmann went to work as a labourer, but continued his lifelong study of art and antiques. After gathering a sizable collection, he opened his first Vancouver gallery, The Cedar Cottage, in 1968.
In 1977, he established Uno Langmann Limited Fine Arts in the South Granville district, and later Sotheby Parke Bernet, where he organized Vancouver’s first Sotheby’s art auction in 1979.
Mr. Langmann is widely considered to be Canada’s foremost specialist in North American and European paintings from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. He is also a much sought-after expert who has made numerous appearances on CBC television, sharing his insight on Canadian artists and on an eclectic array of international exhibitions.
His gallery has hosted countless exhibitions, and he has long been a champion of under-recognized Canadian artists, including several of British Columbia’s now most prominent First Nations artists.
He has also contributed to the development of collections across Canada and to guiding curatorial staff in professional activities. He has generously donated rare and precious works of art to various public galleries and institutions, including the University of British Columbia, where he has long served as a member of the Library Advisory Board.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his many lasting contributions to Vancouver’s fine art community, to Canadian artists and to art education in Canada, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon UNO LANGMANN.
MR. CHANCELLOR, there is no individual less in need of introduction to members of this university community than Stephen Toope, who is unquestionably one of this country’s most distinguished legal scholars as well as one of its most accomplished academic leaders.
In 1979, Dr. Toope graduated magna cum laude with a degree in History and Literature from Harvard University. He received degrees in common law and civil law with honours from McGill University in 1983, and his PhD from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1987.
As UBC’s 12th President and Vice Chancellor, he provided a critical combination of vision and direction that were essential in guiding UBC through a period of significant growth, and in propelling the university to the highest echelon of academic reputation and distinction.
Prior to joining UBC in 2006, he was President of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, and from 1994 to 1999, served as Dean of McGill University’s Faculty of Law. His areas of scholarly expertise include legal theory, public international law, human rights and international dispute resolution.
His service to the community includes serving on the boards of non-governmental organizations that promote human rights and international development.
From 2002 to 2007, he represented Western Europe and North America on the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, and in 1994 he was a member of the UN observer delegation to the first post-apartheid South African elections.
Today Dr. Toope is Director of the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, where he continues to conduct research within various realms of international law.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his extraordinary accomplishments as a scholar and academic leader, and of his profound and lasting influence on this university, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon STEPHEN JOHN TOOPE.
Mr. Chancellor, Hugh Possingham is a renowned scientist whose interdisciplinary pursuits and innovation have led to the development of sound conservation principles worldwide.
Described as the world’s foremost quantitative ecologist, his academic career has followed a diverse pathway, beginning with his first position as a lecturer in Applied Mathematics at the University of Adelaide. Dr. Possingham was subsequently appointed as Professor of Applied and Molecular Ecology before moving to the University of Queensland, where he is currently the Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow and holds a dual appointment as Professor of Mathematics and Professor of Ecology.
His research activities include a number of expanding fields within Conservation Biology, Basic Ecology Theory and Applied Ecology. Most notably he played the lead role in the development of a systematic conservation planning tool known as Marxan, which is used today in over 100 countries to support the design of marine and terrestrial reserves, including the rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the largest systematically designed reserve network in the world. Marxan’s other applications have included protected species planning in New Zealand and conservation prioritization in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest.
His work at the University of Queensland also includes serving as Director of the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, which connects his conservation research colleagues and graduate students with networks of Australian and international research teams working on the science of effective decision making to conserve biodiversity.
He has co-authored numerous papers that have been published in the world’s pre-eminent science journals and has received numerous awards and fellowships, including recently becoming the first Australian elected as a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America.
Mr. Chancellor, on behalf of a university with deep commitments to research excellence and sustainability, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon HUGH PHILIP POSSINGHAM.
Mr. Chancellor, the lives of hundreds of thousands of African refugees have been transformed by new opportunities and hope, thanks to the work and wisdom of Marangu Njogu.
A visionary leader in the development of refugee education, his efforts have focused on the world’s largest refugee settlement in the region of Dadaab, Kenya.
As the executive director for the past 10 years of Windle Trust Kenya, Mr. Njogu has been responsible for the implementation of educational programs from primary to university levels, including special education programs for girls and teacher education programs.
His remarkable humanitarian odyssey began in 1991, when after obtaining a Master’s degree in Education from Manchester University, he returned to his homeland as a lecturer at the Kenya Institute of Special Education. He subsequently began a series of escalating education and community service leadership positions with CARE Kenya, culminating in his appointment in 2001 as program manager of CARE’s Refugee Assistance Project.
It was in this capacity that Mr. Njogu successfully oversaw a number of local area projects and assumed responsibility for the provision of education for approximately 30,000 students; community, water and sanitation services for over 140,000 inhabitants, and microfinance support for some 20,000 clients.
In 2006 he assumed his current executive directorship, where his extraordinary program development efforts have included the establishment of the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees project, which brought together a consortium of Kenyan and Canadian universities - one of which we note with pride was the University of British Columbia - to provide teacher education programs in the Dadaab camps.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his success in bringing opportunity and hope to severely marginalized populations, and for enabling this university to take part in these noble pursuits, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon TERAH MARANGU NJOGU.Mr. Chancellor,Rachel Thibeault is an influencer of global health and human rights policy and has made extraordinary contributions to improving the lives of those in marginalized and inhumane circumstances.
As an occupational therapist, professor, community developer and activist for health and social justice, she has worked for over three decades with population groups that face overwhelming stigma, including victims of war in Sierra Leone, persons with AIDS in Zambia and leprosy in Ethiopia, and with physical disabilities in Nicaragua.
In pursuit of a greater goal to advance civil society, her approach goes beyond strict rehabilitation measures, and builds on the principles of sustainable livelihoods, service integration, engagement in meaningful occupations and social inclusion.
Dr. Thibeault has effectively applied these principles through community re-integration programs and small business development using microcredit initiatives, all widely applauded by notable organizations that include the Canadian International Development Agency, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the US State Department.
In 2008 she was named an official member the United Nations International Association of Millennium Development Goals Trainers, an organization comprised of renowned experts, specializing in the important work of the UN Millennium Project.
Closer to home, she has assisted marginalized groups in Canada, including developing a program for soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and another for aboriginal health and elder care in Arctic communities.
Dr. Thibeault is also an academic leader in the occupational therapy and occupational science disciplines as a Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Ottawa. In 2003, she received the Award for Excellence in Teaching from the University of Ottawa, and in 2007 she was awarded the National Capital Award for Excellence in Teaching by the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of her accomplishments as a community builder, activist and educator, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon RACHEL THIBEAULT.
Mr. Chancellor, Susan Solomon is the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is widely recognized as a global leader in the field of atmospheric science.
She and her colleagues have made important contributions to understanding chemistry and climate coupling, including critically important research findings on the irreversibility of global warming linked to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.
After receiving her Doctorate in Atmospheric Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Solomon embarked on a long and remarkable research career at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where in 1986 she proposed that refrigerants and other industrial chemicals were responsible for the Antarctic ozone hole discovered a year earlier. Later that same year, she began work as the Head Project Scientist of the National Ozone Expedition at McMurdo Station, Antarctica where she and her team collected some of the earliest data linking chlorofluorocarbons to the deterioration of the ozone layer.
She also showed that volcanoes could accelerate the reactions caused by chlorofluorocarbons, and thereby increase the damage to the ozone layer. Her work subsequently formed the basis of the UN Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to protect the ozone layer by regulating damaging chemicals.
She has also worked as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which along with Al Gore was a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Her many other awards include the National Medal of Science and the prestigious Vetlesen Prize, which recognizes globally significant achievement in Earth Sciences.
She is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the European Academy of Sciences, and the French Academy of Sciences.
Mr. Chancellor, on behalf of a university dedicated to research excellence and sustainability, and in recognition of her extraordinary and critical contributions to climate change research, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon SUSAN SOLOMON.Mr. Chancellor, Dr. Calvin Stiller is a visionary Canadian scientist, physician, policy innovator and entrepreneur whose work has enriched the Canadian healthcare system, its research enterprise and social fabric.
As a medical scientist and professor at Western University, he led the Canadian team that established the effectiveness of cyclosporin in transplantation and stimulated its worldwide use as a revolutionary therapy to prevent transplant rejection.
He was the first in the world to demonstrate that Type I Diabetes could be altered by immune suppression, confirming that it was an autoimmune disease and opening the door to a vast body of international research in this field.
Dr. Stiller has created and led many innovative public organizations. In 1985 he established the Multi-Organ Transplant Service at University Hospital and Western University, one of the first such programs in the world, and served as its director for over a decade. In 1986 he was a co-founder and driving force in the development of the now-revered John P. Robarts Research Institute at Western.
He has served as president of the Canadian Society of Nephrology, Chair of Genome Canada and Chair of the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund. He co-founded the MaRS centre, the Ontario Genomics Institute, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, and the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Stiller is a recipient of numerous honours, including the Queen’s Jubilee Award in 2002, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Society of Transplantation in 2003 and the Gairdner Foundation Wightman Award in 2010. He is also a member of the Order of Ontario, and an officer of the Order of Canada.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of a lifetime contribution to Canadian medical research and service to the people of Canada, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa,to CALVIN RALPH STILLER.
Mr. Chancellor, Chantal Hébert is one of this country’s most influential writers and commentators, and a highly revered source of balanced and factual opinions on constitutional and political affairs in Canada.
She is a national affairs writer and political columnist for the Toronto Star,and a regular guest columnist for Le Devoirand L’Actualité.She is perhaps best-known across Canada for her weekly appearances as a member of the "At Issue" political panel on CBC Television’s The National,and as a regular participant in various other French and English language television and radio current affairs programs.
She has also written two books: French Kiss: Stephen Harper’s Blind Date with Quebec,shortlisted for the 2008 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-fiction, and The Morning After: The 1995 Quebec Referendum and the Day that Almost Was,shortlisted for the 2015 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
In 2005, Ms. Hébert received the Public Service Citation of the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada. In 2006, the Public Policy Forum presented her with the Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism. She was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2012, has received Honorary Degrees from five Canadian universities, and is currently a Senior Fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto.
At ease in both French and English Canadian cultures, Ms. Hébert is a fearless political journalist and pundit who is passionate about Canadian politics, yet never fails to retain the objective and dispassionate stance of her profession.
Politicians at all levels, and of all political persuasions, fear yet nevertheless seek out her insightful and incisive comments. Canadians everywhere rely on her for clear and objective perspectives on our diverse political realities.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of her contributions to informed and thoughtful discourse on political and constitutional affairs across this country, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon CHANTAL ST-CYR HÉBERT.
Mr. Chancellor, Mary Simon has devoted her life’s work to advancing Inuit rights and culture in Canada, and to achieving social justice for Inuit and other Aboriginal peoples at home and abroad.
Born in Nunavik, she began her remarkable career in public service with the Northern Quebec Inuit Association, an organization dedicated to supporting Inuit rights and interests in Nunavik, including during negotiations of Canada’s first comprehensive lands claim agreement in 1975. She was subsequently elected as the association’s president, and played a leadership role in the implementation of the historical James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreements.
She was also one of the Senior Inuit negotiators during the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution, during First Minister meetings from 1982 to 1992, as well as during the 1992 Charlottetown Accord discussions. In 1994 Ms. Simon was appointed to be the first Canadian Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs, and took the lead role in negotiating the creation of an eight-nation Arctic Council. She also served as Canada’s Ambassador to Denmark.
She is the founding Chair of the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation and a founding member of Canadians for a New Partnership, an organization of distinguished Canadians working to rebuild the relationship between the Indigenous Peoples of Canada and Canadians.
Her achievements and contributions have been well recognized. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the National Order of Quebec, the Gold Order of Greenland, the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Symons Medal and the Governor General’s Northern Award.
Ms. Simon is also a member-inductee of the International Women’s Hall of Fame, a Fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America, and was recently honoured by the Public Policy Forum for her contributions to public life, public policy and governance in Canada.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of her life’s work to advance critical social, economic and human rights issues for Canadian Inuit and Aboriginal peoples internationally, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa,upon MARY MAY SIMON.
Mr. Chancellor, Michael Koerner is a universally respected Canadian business leader, one of our nation’s most supportive patrons of the Arts, and a loyal and longtime friend of this university.
Among the many well-known organizations to have benefited through his generosity and guidance are the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Ballet School, the Ontario Arts Council Foundation and the Royal Conservatory of Music.
His contributions to the Arts have been widely acknowledged, beginning in 1984 when he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2006 he was awarded the Edmund C. Bovey Award, a national award given for outstanding and longtime support of the Arts. A lifelong pianist and harpsichordist, Mr. Koerner was appropriately honoured in 2011 when he was appointed as the first Chancellor of the Royal Conservatory of Music.
He is particularly well-known within the university community as a member of the Walter C. Koerner family, which has been instrumental in laying the foundation for UBC as we know it today. Following the lead of his father, he has had a strong hand in advising and supporting major UBC projects, most notably the Museum of Anthropology, which he has helped to transform into one of the most advanced anthropological research facilities in the world.
Similarly, his contributions to the Faculty of Forestry’s Loon Lake Research and Education Centre were instrumental in revitalizing an important forestry education camp, and his recent gift to The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health is advancing knowledge of brain disorders, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and autism.
Indeed, rare are individuals such as Michael Koerner, who possess the wisdom, desire and capability to advance such a broad spectrum of initiatives for the benefit of all Canadians. Fortunate are we who have been chosen to work with him in support of shared dreams and aspirations.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of a lifetime of vision and generosity that have touched the lives of countless Canadians, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa,upon MICHAEL M. KOERNER.
Mr. Chancellor, a respected business leader, an influential proponent of responsible corporate governance, and a torchbearer for learning and research – these are the hallmarks of the enduring career of Stephen Jarislowsky.
After completing a Master’s Degree in Business Administration at Harvard University, he founded Jarislowsky Fraser Limited in 1955, and directed the growth of the company to become one of the largest, most trusted, and most successful independent investment firms in Canada. Now in his 91st year, he remains Chairman of the Board and reports to the office every day.
Throughout a business career that has included directorships on numerous corporate boards, he has been renowned as a relentless advocate of shareholder rights, and as a fierce defender of business ethics. He has exemplified his commitment to high fiduciary standards in countless ways, but perhaps most convincingly by his role as a co-founder of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance.
Mr. Jarislowsky has also been a philanthropic leader with a particularly strong interest and belief in the power of education to create dynamic, just and democratic societies. To that end he has endowed eighteen research chairs at universities across Canada in a diverse range of disciplines.
I am pleased to note, Mr. Chancellor, that this university is among those he has chosen to support, in the form of the Harold and Dorie Merilees Chair for the Study of Democracy in the UBC Faculty of Arts, and as a member of the advisory board of the UBC Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions.
His work and reputation have garnered numerous awards, including honorary degrees at 11 Canadian universities and appointment as a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his contributions to business ethics, responsible corporate governance, and indeed, to the people of Canada, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa,upon STEPHEN A. JARISLOWSKY.
Mr. Chancellor, Meeru Dhalwala and Vikram Vij are superb examples of the power of global thought and local action.
They are well-known, both within this community and beyond, as award-winning restaurateurs, chefs and best-selling cookbook authors. But what is less well known is their extraordinary contribution as social entrepreneurs to the business, art and science of creating sustainable food systems – systems that not only meet local needs, but are models for replication in other parts of the world.
For many years Ms. Dhalwala has worked to create large networks of local farmers and suppliers; to provide respectful employment opportunities for immigrant women, and to provide leadership to local sustainability organizations. I am particularly pleased to note that she is the founder and organizer of Joy of Feeding, the annual international food fair at UBC Farm. She has also been a fundraising leader for the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, and is currently a mentor for Social Entrepreneurship students in the Sauder School of Business.
One of Vancouver’s best-known culinary figures, Vikram Vij has been a torchbearer for optimizing both the quality of locally produced food and the sustainability of local food production. To that end he championed the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise Sustainable Seafood program, which today has over 600 partners and educates and empowers consumers all across Canada about issues surrounding sustainable seafood. He has long been an active supporter of the UBC Farm, and an advocate of using food as a medium for learning and cultural integration. In 2013 his vision and generosity culminated in the creation of Vij’s Kitchen in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, a learning space for basic food theory, food preparation, and for multicultural culinary exchanges.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of their global awareness and local action, and of their overall contributions to human well-being, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa,upon MEERU DHALWALA and VIKRAM VIJ.
Mr. Chancellor, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram is an eminent plant scientist whose research and breakthroughs in wheat production and breeding technologies have benefited farmers, consumers, and hunger-stricken populations around the world.
Born in 1943 in a small farming village in northern India, he attended school at a time when almost 96 per cent of the rural population had no formal education. After winning several undergraduate scholarships in India, he completed a doctorate in plant breeding at the University of Sydney.
He then went to work at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre in Mexico, under the directorship of Dr. Norman Borlaug, a 1970 Nobel Prize winner often called “the father of the Green Revolution.” After succeeding him as director in 1972, Dr. Rajaram continued to advance the Centre’s work during a period of intense scientific progress in wheat breeding and production.
Most significantly, his research discovered ways to produce varieties of wheat better able to tolerate a wide range of climate conditions, provide disease resistance and permit growth in challenging conditions. His team subsequently developed 480 high-yielding, disease and stress-resistant wheat varieties that today are grown over 58 million hectares on small and large farms across six continents.
The impact of these achievements cannot be overstated, as these varieties today provide the average annual wheat intake of as many as 2.5 billion people, the majority of whom reside in the developing world.
In recognition of his work, Dr. Rajaram was awarded the 2014 World Food Prize, the foremost international award recognizing achievement in advancing human development through improvements in world food supply.
Simply stated, his work is a truly compelling example of the potential and power of innovation in responding to the most pressing global challenges.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of extraordinary scientific and humanitarian achievement, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa,upon SANJAYA RAJARAM.
Mr. Chancellor, Dr. Arthur McDonald has been acknowledged as one of this country’s most accomplished scientists, and one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists.
After receiving his Master’s degree at Dalhousie and Doctoral degree at the California Institute of Technology, Dr. McDonald embarked on his long and distinguished career at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratory in 1970, and was subsequently appointed Professor of Physics at Princeton University.
He returned to Canada in 1989 as University Research Chair at Queen’s University and as director of what became one of the most productive research collaborations in Canadian history.
More than 25 years later, he remains the Director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Collaboration, where his team famously conducted ground-breaking research that led to the 2001 discovery of neutrino oscillations.
I hasten to add - and with considerable pride Mr. Chancellor - that Dr. McDonald’s team included members of UBC’s Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Fourteen years later, that discovery made him a co-recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics, the most recent in a long list of honours bestowed upon him over the course of his remarkable career.
In 2006, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada; in 2007, he was the co-recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics, and in 2009 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. In 2011 he was awarded the Royal Society of Canada’s Henry Marshall Tory Medal, and just last year he was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada.
Not surprisingly, his contributions have also been recognized by honorary degrees from seven Canadian and American institutions, and we take great pride in similarly recognizing him here today.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his profound contributions to Theoretical Physics and to the scientific community of Canada, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa,upon ARTHUR B. McDONALD.
Mr. Chancellor, Dr. Roch Carrier is a national literary treasure and one of the most influential champions of bilingualism in both French- and English-speaking Canada.
His books and stories, still taught as part of school curriculum across Canada after several decades, help Canadian children understand French-Canadian and English-Canadian identities through humor and symbolic references to national pastimes such as sport.
Dr. Carrier became a household name among countless Canadian families after the 1979 release of his literary masterpiece for children, Le Chandail de hockey - The Hockey Sweater.His place in the literary history of our country was reinforced again in 1992, when he was awarded the coveted Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Prayers of a Very Wise Child.
In addition to making his mark in children’s literature, he has written dramatic works for the stage and novels that thematically explore war, nationalism and French Canadian culture.
Born in Sainte-Justine, Québec, he studied at the Université de Montréal and at the Sorbonne, in Paris, where he received a doctoral degree in Literature. In addition to his success as an author, he has also served the national Arts community as Head of the Canada Council for the Arts from 1994 to 1997 and as National Librarian of Canada from 1999 to 2004.
I am particularly pleased to note that Dr. Carrier has a special connection to this university, as the founding Honorary President of The Centre de la Francophonie de UBC. In 1999, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, and continues to actively promote Canada’s official languages in all parts of the country.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his lifetime commitment to French and English languages and cultures in Canada, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Letters, honoris causa,upon ROCH CHARLES CARRIER.
Mr. Chancellor, Brandt Louie has contributed to his community in countless ways, but his influence on learning and research is particularly remarkable.
After graduating from UBC with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1966, he embarked on a long and successful business career helping to develop his family’s business, HY Louie Company Ltd. and London Drugs, into one of this province’s largest and most respected companies.
Today, he is the company’s Chair and CEO, however he is equally well known as a community leader and philanthropist, and one with a noticeably strong commitment to post-secondary education, both in this province and beyond.
In addition to serving as Chancellor of Simon Fraser University, he served on the Dean’s Council at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and as a member of Vancouver Community College’s Council of Governors.
Mr. Louie has also had a long association with UBC, where in 1994 he established the Tong Louie Chair in Pharmacy Administration in honour of his father, a former UBC Board Member, who preceded his son in receiving an Honorary Degree from this university in 1990, in recognition of his own remarkable record of service.
Both Mr. Louie and London Drugs provide wide-ranging support to the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and other UBC projects, including a Professorship in Obstetrics and Gynecology, which is making meaningful contributions to the lives of women and families in BC and the world.
He has generously shared his time and business expertise with community organizations across the country: as co-chair of Variety Club’s Cash for Kids program, as a national trustee of Brain Canada, and as a Governor of the Vancouver Board of Trade and BC Business Council, to name only a few.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his extraordinary contributions of community leadership and visionary support of learning and research, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws honoris causa,upon BRANDT C. LOUIE.
Mr. Chancellor, Hayley Wickenheiser is one of the most accomplished athletes in Canadian history and one of our most respected sport ambassadors.
Widely considered the greatest female hockey player in the world, Ms. Wickenheiser joined the Canadian women’s national hockey team at just 15 years of age. She has since competed with the national team in five Winter Olympics, earning one silver and four gold medals - more than any other Canadian Olympian.
As a professional hockey player she achieved several historical firsts, including becoming the first woman to play fulltime professional hockey in a position other than goalie, and the first woman to score a goal in a men’s professional league. She is one of only a handful of athletes in the world to compete as Olympians in two different sports, having represented Canada in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in softball.
Ms. Wickenheiser is much more than an athletic force of nature. She is a role model to young women through her extensive community and international service work with organizations such as Right to Play, Kidsport, Jumpstart, Project North, and Ovarian Cancer Canada.
Maintaining a focus on excellence in all her endeavours, she enrolled at the University of Calgary in 2011 and joined the Dinos women’s hockey team. Not only was she named the league’s Most Valuable Player, she was twice named an Academic All-Canadian for maintaining honours grades while completing a degree in Kinesiology in the Faculty of Science.
Not surprisingly, Ms. Wickenheiser’s achievements in Canada have garnered countless awards, including her appointment to the Order of Canada. I am pleased to note that she remains a member of Canada’s national team and intends to stay in the game at least until 2018 in order to make a remarkable sixth consecutive appearance in the Winter Olympic Games.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of her achievements in sport, her contributions to girls’ and women’s hockey across Canada, and her tireless community service, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa,upon HAYLEY WICKENHEISER.
Mr. Chancellor, James Ehnes is an acclaimed and internationally renowned violinist, and among the world’s most sophisticated and accomplished classical musicians of his generation.
Mr. Ehnes began violin studies at the age of four, and at age nine became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. He later studied at The Juilliard School, where upon graduation he was awarded the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music.
Today, he maintains an active professional career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician who has performed in over 30 countries on five continents, and appears regularly in the world’s great concert halls and with many of the most celebrated orchestras and conductors.
His international performances in the past year alone have included concerto solo performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Danish National and the Melbourne, Sydney, San Diego and Washington DC National symphony orchestras.
His extensive discography includes over 35 recordings, many of which have been honoured with international awards and prizes, including a remarkable ten Juno Awards and a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra.
In 2007, at just 31 years of age, he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2010 and an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in 2012.
I am pleased to note that he maintains a regular presence in our region, as a guest artist of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, by occasionally leading master classes for students in the UBC School of Music, and by serving since 2011 as Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his achievements as an artist and his contributions to the cultural fabric of Canada, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Letters, honoris causa,upon JAMES DOUGLAS EHNES.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Judith Hall is a distinguished clinical geneticist and pediatrician whose prolific research on the neural mechanisms and genetics underlying human congenital anomalies has received national and international recognition.
Dr. Hall joined UBC in 1981 as a Professor of Medical Genetics and Director of Genetic Services for British Columbia. She served as Head of the Department of Pediatrics and the BC Children's Hospital for ten years, where she played an active role in developing standards for clinical genetic services both at home and abroad.
She also established numerous liaisons with lay groups on a variety of issues related to specific genetic disease entities, health care delivery for children, child advocacy issues, gender issues, and international pediatric child health.
An influential scholar and leader, Dr. Hall is a Foundation Fellow of UBC's Green College and a key figure in the establishment of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She has edited major international journals and served numerous organizations, including the United Nations Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation, the Management Committee of the Canadian Genome Analysis and Technology Program, and the American National Center for Human Genome Research.
As Professor Emerita, she continues to be an active researcher, advocate, and contributor to her university's intellectual life and its international profile as the recipient of countless awards, including her investiture in 1998 as an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2011 she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and in 2013 she received the Founders Award for Excellence in Medical Genetics from the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists. Finally, just two years ago, she took her well-deserved place in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of her vast and extraordinary contributions to the study and treatment of genetic disorders, and for her profound influence as a health care advocate and leader, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon Dr. Judith Hall.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, André Picard is not only a distinguished and award-winning journalist, but also one of this nation's most influential health and public policy commentators.
He is the public health reporter and columnist for the Globe and Mail and the author of several best-selling books, including his most recent work, Matters of Life and Death: Public Health Issues in Canada.
He has received a litany of acclaim for his insightful work, including the Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service Journalism, the Canadian Policy Research Award, and the Atkinson Fellowship for Public Policy Research.
In 2002, he received the Centennial Prize of the Pan-American Health Organization as the top public health reporter in the Americas, and in 2005 he was named Canada's first Public Health Hero by the Canadian Public Health Association.
Mr. Picard is also an eight-time finalist for the National Newspaper Awards – Canada's version of the Pulitzer Prize - and in 2010, he was honoured as the country's top newspaper columnist.
He has been repeatedly recognized and honoured by leaders of Canada's nursing profession, including being awarded the Canadian Nurses' Association Award of Excellence for Health Care Reporting.
His advocacy work has been honoured by a number of consumer health groups, including Safe Kids Canada, the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, and the Canadian Hearing Society.
In 2012, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to improving health care in Canada, and he is a recipient of honorary degrees from four Canadian universities.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of his prolific work to critically examine the most pressing health care issues confronting policy makers and the people of Canada, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, upon André Picard.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, through his extraordinary record of public service, Preston Manning is one of this nation's most influential champions of democratic and political reform.
He was the founder of two political parties – the Reform Party of Canada and the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance – both of which became the official Opposition in the Canadian Parliament, and laid the foundation for the new Conservative Party of Canada.
A Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2001, Mr. Manning served as Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2000 and was also his party's science and technology critic.
Since leaving politics, he has contributed extensively to public policy discussions through research and educational organizations, and in particular through the Manning Centre for Building Democracy which he co-founded with his wife Sandra in 2005.
Mr. Manning was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2007 and appointed to the Privy Council in 2013. He is also a recipient of honorary degrees from seven Canadian institutions.
In recent years, he has provided invaluable guidance to the UBC's Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions, and in particular to the recent creation of the Summer Institute for Future Legislators, which will focus on training and mentoring aspiring legislators.
In an era of increasingly extreme partisanship, Mr. Manning is notable as an elder statesman for his deep commitment to the value of democracy, his interest in strengthening Canada's democratic institutions, and his belief in the importance of inclusive citizenship.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to democratic and political reform, and indeed to the people of Canada, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon Preston Manning.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, Jon Kimura Parker is an internationally acclaimed concert pianist and one of our country's most celebrated cultural ambassadors.
Born and raised in Vancouver, Dr. Parker began his musical journey as a member of the Vancouver Youth Orchestra and as a student at the Vancouver Academy of Music. He also studied for two years at the UBC School of Music before completing his formal music education at the Juilliard School in New York with a Doctor of Musical Arts.
He has performed with numerous other virtuoso artists and as a guest soloist with well-known orchestras in many of the world's great concert halls. His extraordinary versatility has also enabled him to publicly improvise with artists such as singer and actress Audra McDonald, vocal virtuoso Bobby McFerrin and big-band leader Doc Severinsen.
More recently he debuted his new project, Off The Score, a quintet with The Police drummer Stewart Copeland, featuring original compositions and fresh takes on the music of Ravel, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. He is also a founding member of the highly acclaimed Montrose Trio.
As a member of the outreach project Piano Plus, he has toured remote areas including the Canadian Arctic. In 1995 he travelled to war-torn Bosnia to give two performances of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with the Sarajevo Philharmonic. He has given command performances for Queen Elizabeth II, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Prime Ministers of Canada and Japan.
He is also an active media personality as host of the Bravo television series Whole Notes and CBC Radio's This is My Music. His wide-ranging contributions were officially recognized in 1999 with his investiture as an Officer of the Order of Canada.
We are indeed grateful that Dr. Parker has maintained a presence in this region as Artistic Advisor of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival and by recent performances on this very stage in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's Classical Traditions series.
A committed educator, he has lectured extensively at leading US music schools and is currently Professor of Piano at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of artistry and achievements that have pushed the boundaries of conventional classical music, I ask you to confer the degree, Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, upon Jon Kimura Parker.MR. CHANCELLOR, Eden Robinson is one of Canada's leading Indigenous authors and is widely regarded as one of the most talented and fearless writers of her generation.
A novelist and short fiction writer from the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations, she completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in U.B.C.'s Creative Writing program in 1995.
Her collection of short stories, Trap Lines, was published the following year to critical acclaim, signaling the beginning of her ascent as a master storyteller and an influential commentator on modern issues confronting Indigenous Canadians, including the enduring tragedy of residential schools.
Her most recent novel, Son of a Trickster, was published in 2017 and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada's preeminent prize in literature. Her early works, however, were similarly recognized. Her first novel, Monkey Beach, was shortlisted for both the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General's Literary Award, and ultimately received the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.
In 2016, she was suitably honored by the Writers' Trust of Canada with the Engel/Findley Award, and thereby joined a list of many of the most critically acclaimed authors in the history of modern Canadian literature.
As a writer-in-residence at various institutions across Canada, including U.B.C., she has been a mentor to many young writers, and in particular to young Indigenous writers.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of her achievements in the literary arts and contributions to social justice in this country, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, upon EDEN VICTORIA ROBINSON.
MR. CHANCELLOR, Patsy George is both an accomplished social worker and one of this province's most influential advocates for human rights and social justice.
Over the course of a long professional career, she served in a series of escalating leadership roles, including director of Multiculturalism and Immigrant Settlement Services for the B.C. Ministry of Multiculturalism and Immigration, and as an advisor on community development for the B.C. Ministry of Social Services.
She has also made enormous volunteer contributions to a great many non-profit and community-based initiatives, including serving as a founding director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation; president of the Vancouver branch of the United Nations Association in Canada; founding member of the B.C. Organization of Immigrant Women, and as vice- president of the National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada.
She also led the development of the B.C. Settlement Workers Association and was a founding member and past- president of Pacific Immigrant Resources Society, which provides language training, settlement support and leadership development of immigrant and refugee women.
On a global scale, she has served as president of the International Council on Social Welfare and as the North American vice president of the World Organization, participating in a number of UN summits and forums contributing to the development of international agreements and protocols to fight poverty, enhance social cohesion, human rights and sustainable development.
Her many formal recognitions include the Order of British Columbia in 2002, the Order of Canada in 2007 and the U.B.C. School of Social Work's Distinguished Service Award in 2013.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of contributions to her profession, to social justice, and to local, national and global communities, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon PATSY GEORGE.
MR. CHANCELLOR, Dr. Peter Agre is a remarkable combination of eminent physician-scientist and diplomatic agent for change.
A molecular biologist and Distinguished Professor of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he is best known for his discovery of aquaporins, the proteins that regulate and facilitate the transport of water molecules across cell membranes. For this discovery, he and Dr. Roderick MacKinnon were jointly awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
As the director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, he is using his discovery of aquaporins to understand the role the protein plays in the parasite that causes malaria. His work focuses on finding innovative ways to target and treat the disease, which causes nearly one million deaths annually.
Dr. Agre has also demonstrated a deep commitment to improving relations with the most isolated and insular nations of the world through scientific diplomacy. While serving as President and Chair of the Board of Advisors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he led a series of science diplomacy visits to Cuba, North Korea, Myanmar and Iran, with the hopes of fostering exchanges and collaborations on peaceful scientific projects.
He was also a founding member of Scientists and Engineers for Change, and was one of the 72 Nobel laureates to appeal for climate protection as an initial signatory of the Mainau Declaration 2015 on Climate Change.
He has received 19 honorary degrees and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the National Academy of Medicine.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of extraordinary contributions to medical research, and to international diplomacy, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon PETER C. AGRE.
MR. CHANCELLOR, through her scientific endeavours, Mary-Claire King has made a unique and extraordinary combination of contributions to studies of common inherited diseases, and to the identification of victims of human rights atrocities.
She is a geneticist and the American Cancer Society Research Professor of Medicine and Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. For more than 40 years, the primary focus of her work has been to understand inherited predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer.
In 1990, she proved the existence of the gene BRCA1, which is responsible for inherited breast and ovarian cancer among many young women. Since that time, identification of women at extremely high risk of breast and ovarian cancer due to inherited mutations in BRCA1, and also in numerous so-called “sister genes,” has become standard practice in oncology.
In addition, the approach that she developed to identify the gene has since proven extremely valuable in the study of many other genetic diseases and conditions.
Her research team was also responsible for developing and deploying DNA technology for identification of victims of human rights abuses on six continents in collaboration with the UN Forensic Anthropology Team and The Hague Tribunal, and for providing DNA identification services for the U.S. Army and the UN's war crimes tribunals.
She has also worked independently with numerous human rights organizations such as Physicians for Human Rights and Amnesty International, to identify missing people in numerous countries in the Americas as well as Rwanda, the Balkans and the Philippines.
She has been recognized as a member of many of the world's most prominent scientific academies and associations and as the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of her remarkable record of service to genetic research, and to international human rights and justice, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon MARY-CLAIRE KING.
MR. CHANCELLOR, Ross Beaty is not only one of this country's most successful mining entrepreneurs, he is also one who has clearly demonstrated that resource development and environmentalism need not be incompatible pursuits.
After completing Bachelor of Science and Law degrees at U.B.C., and a Master of Science at the University of London, he began a 40-year-long career in mineral and renewable energy industries, as founder and chairman of Pan American Silver Corporation and global renewable energy producer, Alterra Power Corporation.
In addition to overseeing two successful organizations in distinct sectors, he has actively supported a number of environmental conservation initiatives as both an advocate and philanthropist. This was perhaps best exemplified in 2007 when he and his wife Trisha co-founded the Sitka Foundation, which for more than a decade has provided financial support to numerous environmental conservation organizations.
Although he is a lifelong resident of British Columbia, he has extended his active reach far beyond its borders, highlighted by major gifts to the Canadian Museum of Nature to enhance national research and collections efforts, and to establish a water research centre at Queen's University.
But it is this University that has been the greatest beneficiary of his vision and generosity, emphasized by his participation on the President's Strategic Advisory Council from 2008 to 2014, by chairing the U.B.C. fundraising campaign to build the Earth Science Building, and by his generosity to establish the building as well as the Beaty Biodiversity Centre.
Not surprisingly, his many achievements and contributions have garnered a commensurate number of distinctions, culminating in two prestigious appointments just last year, as a member of the Order of Canada, and as an inductee into the Business Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of a long and extraordinary record in business, environmental conservation and community leadership, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon ROSS JAMES BEATY.
MR. CHANCELLOR, Jonathan Fanton is a leading advocate for a more just, sustainable and peaceful world, and one who has devoted his entire professional life to promoting higher education, international justice and philanthropy.
After earning a Ph.D. in American History at Yale University, he went on to serve at Yale in administrative leadership positions before being appointed as vice president for planning at the University of Chicago.
In 1982, he began a 17-year term as president of The New School for Social Research, where he was credited with reconnecting the School to its European roots and provided critical assistance to dissident scholars in Eastern and Central Europe, many of whom were leaders of human rights organizations.
During his subsequent tenure as president of the MacArthur Foundation, he strengthened the organization's commitments to international justice, human rights, peace and security, biodiversity conservation, and community and economic development. Through the Foundation, he provided critical support for Canadian-led initiatives such as the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, the creation of the International Criminal Court, and the formation of the doctrine of “Responsibility to Protect.”
From 2009 to 2014, he served as interim director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at City University of New York's Hunter College. In addition to his leadership of these organizations, he has served as board chair for several others, including Human Rights Watch, the Security Council Report, and the New York State Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities.
Cited for numerous awards, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999, and was appointed in 2014 to his current position as the Academy's president.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of an extraordinary lifetime of humanitarian service and advocacy, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon JONATHAN FOSTER FANTON.
MR. CHANCELLOR, from rudimentary beginnings growing up on an Okanagan Valley farm with no electricity, Ryan Holmes emerged to become one of the icons of British Columbia's technology industry.
At age 10, he won a computer programming contest, and received an Apple IIc computer, which was rewired to run off a car battery. He spent much of his spare time on the computer, both at school and at home. But at the same time he demonstrated equal interest and ambition for business. He started his first business, a paintball field, while still in high school. Later as a student at Okanagan College he started a pizza restaurant and sold the franchise the same year.
In 1999 he moved to Vancouver, where he taught himself internet design and development while working at a local technology firm. From there he went on to found a digital media agency called Invoke Media, from which grew Hootsuite, a social media management innovator whose clients have included Facebook, HBO, the Virgin Group and the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama.
Today, with headquarters in Vancouver, Hootsuite has more than 1,000 employees and over 16 million users around the world. His contributions to fostering innovation in British Columbia do not stop there, however, as in 2013 he launched an accelerator program designed to help other young aspiring entrepreneurs bring their innovations to market, and to foster further growth in Canada's technology sector.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his contributions to British Columbia's technology industry, and of his support for young entrepreneurs to pursue similar aspirations, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon RYAN HOLMES.
MR. CHANCELLOR, Leroy Hood is an American biologist who has developed a number of ground-breaking scientific instruments which have enabled major advances in the treatment of serious illness.
These patented innovations include the first automated DNA sequencer, which was an enabling technology for the Human Genome Project, and a protein sequencer, which was instrumental in the development of a protease inhibitor for the treatment of AIDS.
In addition to his scientific contributions, he has also played a key role in founding fifteen biotechnology companies, including Amgen, one of the world's largest independent firms.
He received an M.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1964 and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1968, where he subsequently became full professor and chairman of the Division of Biology. In 1991, he moved to Seattle to found and direct the Department of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Washington Medical School.
In addition to his ground-breaking research, he has published some 750 papers, received 36 patents, 17 honorary degrees, and is one of only 15 individuals elected to all three National Academies—the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Dr. Hood is also the recipient of over 100 national and international awards, including the 2002 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology and the 2006 Heinz Award for pioneering work in Systems Biology to name only a few. In 2013, he was presented with the National Medal of Science from then U.S. President Barack Obama.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of a lifetime of transformative innovation leading to new medicines and advancements in global healthcare, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon LEROY HOOD.
MR. CHANCELLOR, Naomi Oreskes is a geologist, a historian of science and one of the most influential communicators on the pressing issue of climate change.
As a professor of the History of Science and affiliated professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University, she is best known for her written work and for her public speaking and outreach on the scientific consensus of climate change and the mechanisms of climate denial.
Her 2004 essay, "Beyond the Ivory Tower: The scientific consensus on climate change", has been widely cited, both in the United States and abroad, including in the Royal Society's publication, A Guide to Facts and Fictions about Climate Change, in the Academy-award winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, and in Booker Prize-winning author Ian McEwan's novel, Solar.
Her opinion pieces have appeared in the world's foremost newspapers and in the leading scientific and political journals. Her 2010 book, Merchants of Doubt, co-authored with Erik M. Conway, was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and received the 2011 Watson Davis and Helen Miles Davis Prize from the History of Science Society.
In 2017, she was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication, the Frederick Anderson Climate Change Award from the Center for International Environmental Law, and the Geological Society of America Public Service Award, to name only three.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of her exemplary model of publicly engaged scholarship, and of her significant impact on public understanding of human-caused climate change, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon NAOMI ORESKES.
Santa Ono, President and Vice-Chancellor,
The University of British Columbia
Your Highness, Your Honour Lieutenant-Governor Austin, Chancellor and Governors of UBC and SFU, friends of our two universities and of the Ismaili community:
I am deeply honoured today, with my esteemed colleague, SFU President Andrew Petter, to welcome and present His Highness the Aga Khan IV, Imam of the world’s Shia Ismaili Muslims. We are gathered today to confer honour upon His Highness. Specifically – and for the first time in our two institutions’ history – we are here to confer honorary degrees from both of our universities.
The honorary degree is the highest honour that a university can bestow, one that recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of an exceptional individual. In honouring a candidate of eminence and excellence, we also offer a public illustration of our own values and ambitions. We do so to inspire our graduates and our community. To this end, I can think of no candidate who so deserves this unprecedented joint recognition than His Highness the Aga Khan.
Speaking from the perspective of my own university, UBC has defined its purpose as: “Pursuing excellence in research, learning and engagement to foster global citizenship and advance a sustainable and just society across British Columbia, Canada and the world.” Related to that pursuit, our vision is: “Inspiring people, ideas and actions for a better world.”
Who, in that regard, could be a better exemplar than His Highness the Aga Khan? The Aga Khan Development Network – the AKDN – works in more than 30 countries. Operating roughly 1,000 programmes and institutions, it employs more than 80,000 people and invests more than $1 billion, every year, in non-profit development activities.
This is a profound example of global citizenship, and one that is inclusive of race and ideology. The AKDN is guided by the ethical principles of Islam, particularly consultation, solidarity with those less fortunate, self-reliance and human dignity. But the Aga Khan’s leadership is not restricted to a particular community, country or region. Rather, the AKDN focuses on the poor and vulnerable – although, as many UBC students and graduates can attest, it also supports programmes in Europe and here in North America. Working with every religion, race, ethnicity and gender, pluralism is a central pillar of the AKDN’s ethical framework. We are, again, inspired by this example.
His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan is the 49th Imam of the Ismaili Muslims. In that role, he is the spiritual leader of the 15 million Ismailis, a multi-ethnic community dispersed among more than 25 countries, including South and Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Western Europe and North America. There are more than 100,000 Ismailis in Canada.
Renowned for the good works of the AKDN, the Aga Khan has demurred when people call him a philanthropist. He says, rather, that his mandate requires that he use the office of the Ismaili Imamat which he inherited to improve the quality of life for the world’s most vulnerable. He presents his work not as an act of generosity but as the exercise of his responsibility. If we all took the same view in our own lives, it would be a better world.
Born Prince Karim Aga Khan, in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 13, 1936, the Aga Khan is the eldest son of Prince Aly Khan and his first wife, Princess Tajuddawlah. It is believed that the Aga Khan is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, through the Prophet’s daughter Fatima az-Zahra and her husband, and Muhammad’s cousin, Ali, who was the first Imam in Shia Islam.
The Aga Khan spent his early years in Nairobi, Kenya, where he began his education under private tutelage before returning to Switzerland and boarding school at the Institut le Rosey. He then studied Islamic history at Harvard University, where he graduated cum laude in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts and a varsity H for soccer. As an athlete of accomplishment, he also competed on behalf of Iran as a downhill skier in the 1964 Olympics.
On July 11, 1957, at just 20 years of age, the young prince was elevated to the role of Imam. The prince’s grandfather, Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan III, who had served as Imam for the previous 72 years, said he was designating his grandson because, and here I quote from the late Imam’s will itself:
“I am convinced that it is in the best interest of the Shia Ismaili Muslim Community that I should be succeeded by a young man who has been brought up and developed during recent years and in the midst of the new age and who brings a new outlook on life to his office as Imam.”
In more than 60 years of service, His Highness the Aga Khan IV has proved the wisdom of his grandfather’s choice.
Andrew Petter, Q.C., President and Vice-Chancellor,
Simon Fraser University
As with UBC, Simon Fraser University is committed to the values of education, pluralism and global citizenship as drivers of social betterment. But SFU’s association with the example of His Highness the Aga Khan also relates to two other dimensions.
First, SFU aspires to be Canada’s most community-engaged research institution, for the benefit of our students and of the communities we serve. And I can think of no better demonstration of the value of community engagement than that demonstrated by the Aga Khan Development Network.
Second, we at SFU have committed ourselves to marshaling university resources to build social capital and promote community betterment, a goal that has been evident in the Aga Khan’s priorities for more than half a century.
The AKDN advancement of education is, perhaps, the most obvious illustration of this priority. The network engages more than two million learners a year, including 750,000 in early childhood development and more than a million at the elementary and high school levels through the Aga Khan Schools and Aga Khan Academies.
At the post-secondary level, the Aga Khan University and the University of Central Asia proudly claim 15,000 alumni, including doctors, nurses, teachers and school managers who are raising standards and playing leading roles in their fields and communities.
In the area of health, the AKDN supports a network of hospitals, including the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, considered one of the best on the continent. The AKDN is also a leading supporter of health research, especially in areas such as tuberculosis that affect vulnerable populations.
In support of civil society, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programmes have employed grassroots democracy, participatory governance and pluralism as the springboard for improving the conditions of more than 8 million people living in poor, rural areas. And the AKDN supplies agricultural aid to more than 100,000 cotton farmers, while its social programmes offer microfinance, education, health and sanitation support.
In the category of humanitarian assistance, the AKDN is often one of the first on-the-ground responders after a natural or human-caused disaster, and one of the last to leave, working on long-term redevelopment for the benefit of all those affected. It frequently applies that same focus in remote and fragile geographies, working to reduce poverty, ensure food security and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and their families.
Also in the realm of social infrastructure, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture has shown how culture can be a catalyst for improving the quality of life. The Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme conducts complex restoration and conservation projects. It creates parks and gardens, and it plans and operates cultural assets from Afghanistan to Zanzibar. In fact, His Highness earlier this week inaugurated the Aga Khan Garden in Edmonton, bringing to Canada some of the extraordinary cultural legacies of Muslim civilizations.
n an area where culture, education and social infrastructure intersect, the Aga Khan supports the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Since 1977, this has been one of the world’s pre-eminent architectural awards, focused on everything from village planning to environmental sanitation.
In addition to a vast array of not-for-profit initiatives, the Aga Khan has also established the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, which invests in ethically run, self-sustaining companies that create employment, provide essential goods and services, and promote economic development.
The Fund underwrites entrepreneurs and development, from an award-winning mobile phone company in Afghanistan to hydroelectric plants that provide half the electricity to Uganda – a country, by the way, that ejected the whole Ismaili population in 1972. This is a leader who has much to teach us about truth and reconciliation.
And so we say again, in looking to that remarkable record, and in celebrating the alignment of our values, it is clear that His Highness the Aga Khan is richly deserving of the honours we bestow today.
We, in turn, are profoundly honoured by the association with His Highness that these honours provide to our two institutions.
MR. CHANCELLOR, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip is a dedicated, tireless, and widely respected advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples of British Columbia.
As a community leader, he has served for many years as President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, Chair of the Okanagan Nation Alliance, and as elected Chief of the Penticton Indian Band, which he has also served in many other capacities for nearly forty years. In recognition of his exceptional service, he was accorded the rare honour of being given the title of Grand Chief by the Okanagan Nation and the Elders of the Penticton Indian Band.
There are many examples of the ways in which he has taken an active role in the defense of Aboriginal Title and Rights by offering his support to Indigenous communities in need. He has also supported Indigenous people in urban areas who often struggle to have a voice.
Through his strong personal commitment, he has brought attention to many issues facing Indigenous communities, travelling to see first-hand the impact of fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago, lobbying on Parliament Hill to defeat the First Nations Governance Act, and standing with Elders of the Treaty 8 area against oil and gas development in the Peace River region. In current contestations surrounding jurisdiction in pipeline and resource developments, he has advocated tirelessly for the voices of Indigenous nations. He has frequently served, and taken the criticism for being the visible spokesperson for positions that have been contentious or unpopular, providing the opportunity for others to work more quietly for their resolution.
Grand Chief Phillip has also spoken on many occasions at U.B.C., and in that role provided both example and advice for students in advocacy that is passionate, thoughtful, and articulate.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of his advocacy, activism, and tireless and effective leadership, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon GRAND CHIEF STEWART MICHAEL PHILLIP.
MR. CHANCELLOR, Kim Cattrall is an award-winning actor, producer and author who has turned her artistic achievements into opportunities for informed activism on important social issues associated with gender, sexuality, and identity.
After graduating from high school in Courtenay, B.C., she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She subsequently worked extensively in television throughout the 1970's, and film in the 1980's, during which time she built a reputation as a respected comedic actor known for taking risks with challenging roles.
She was later renowned for being uniquely adept at embodying powerful, mature female lead roles of dimension and depth, highlighted perhaps most famously by her characterization of Samantha Jones in the popular HBO series Sex and the City.
Ms. Cattrall continues to create compelling characters struggling with age and identity, and has garnered much praise for her more recent roles in Tennessee Williams' classic Sweet Bird of Youth at London's prestigious Old Vic Theatre, and in the HBO series Sensitive Skin, for which she was also an executive producer.
Not surprising, Mr. Chancellor, her work has earned vast industry recognition, including a Golden Globe Award, Gemini Award, People's Choice Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
She is also an advocate of human rights and has actively contributed to numerous charitable organizations in support of AIDS Research, child health and welfare, empowering women in the workforce and accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community. She has authored books on subjects of sexual health and awareness, including the critically acclaimed: Being a Girl: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Teen Life.
I am pleased to note that she remains strongly connected to her British Columbia home, as exemplified in 2009, when she visited UBC as a guest of the Department of Theatre and Film. Interviewed by Professor Jerry Wasserman, she spoke candidly to a capacity crowd of students and alumni about women in the work force, post-feminism, self-image and of her success in a demanding and competitive profession.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of a distinguished career, and for her contributions as an activist, advocate and humanitarian, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon KIM VICTORIA CATTRALL.
MR. CHANCELLOR, Peter Trudgill is one of the world's foremost sociolinguists and authorities on dialects. He studied modern languages at King's College, Cambridge and earned a PhD in linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. He subsequently held teaching and research positions at universities worldwide, including the University of Reading, the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and at the University of Fribourg, from which he retired in 2005, and where he is now Professor Emeritus of English Linguistics. He is also an Honorary Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of East Anglia.
Among his peers he is famously renowned as one of the first to apply and refine William Labov's sociolinguistic methodologies in the United Kingdom, and to provide a framework for studying dialect contact phenomena. He is known in the field today for his theory on the development of post-colonial varieties of English. Working with multiple languages, he has carried out linguistic fieldwork in Britain, Greece and Norway, and has lectured in most European countries, Canada, the United States, Colombia, Australia, New Zealand, as well as numerous Asian nations including India and Thailand.
He has received honorary doctorates from Uppsala University Sweden, the University of East Anglia, and La Trobe University Australia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, Fellow of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy for Swedish Folk Culture, a Fellow of the Academia Europaea, and a Fellow of the British Academy.
Mr. Chancellor, in recognition of a lifetime of distinguished and ground-breaking scholarly work, I ask you to confer the degree Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, upon PETER JOHN TRUDGILL.