TORONTO, May 2, 2002 -- York University will confer 11 honorary degrees during its spring convocation ceremonies, which run from June 8 to June 18. Recipients this year include individuals whose unparalleled vision, dedication and commitment have produced exemplary achievements in fields ranging from peacekeeping and space exploration to children’s literature and equal rights for minorities.
Honorary degree recipients are: former UN peacekeeper Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire; theatre producer David Mirvish; Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau; retired African-Canadian railway porter Lee Williams; Canada Council for the Arts Director Shirley Thomson; former TVOntario CEO Bernard Ostry; nuclear disarmament advocate Senator Douglas Roche; Kellogg Graduate School of Management Dean Emeritus Donald Jacobs; legal scholar William Twining; child psychiatrist David (Dan) Offord and award-winning children’s author Jean Little.
"Each of our honorary degree recipients is truly remarkable," said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Lorna R. Marsden. "As a group, they represent the diversity and range of accomplishment we at York celebrate and provide, as worthy of emulation by our students."
All convocation ceremonies will be held on York's Keele Campus, Convocation Site, east of the Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts, located at 4700 Keele Street, except for the Glendon College ceremony honouring Roméo Dallaire and a special ceremony honouring Lee Williams to be held in Winnipeg on Friday, May 3. A description of each honorary degree recipient follows in order of ceremony:
Lee Williams: A pioneer in the fight to eliminate racial discrimination from the workplace, Lee Williams, 94, was hired by the Canadian National Railway (CNR) as a sleeping-car porter in Winnipeg during the 1930s. Williams became aware of the CNR's discriminatory policies against African Canadians early in his career, especially when it came to promotions. Once Williams and his colleagues realized that the union was hindering their efforts to step up their fight against the CNR's discriminatory labour practices, they launched a public complaint under the federal government's Fair Employment Practices Act. In April 1964, the government ordered CNR and the porters’ union to eliminate discrimination. As a result of Williams's efforts, he became one of the first African-Canadian sleeping car conductors. He was later promoted to supervisor and retired from the CNR in 1972. His struggle was featured in The Road Taken, an NFB documentary released in 1996. Williams will receive his honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) during a special presentation ceremony on Friday, May 3, at 11:30 a.m. in the Tundra Room of the Radisson Suite Hotel Winnipeg Airport, located at 1800 Wellington Ave.
Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire (Ret.): A decorated lieutenant-general and humanitarian, Roméo Dallaire served 35 years with the Canadian Armed Forces. In 1993 he assumed command over the UN Observer Mission -- Uganda and Rwanda / UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda, for which he was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross. While in Rwanda, he led efforts to rescue thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus from the Hutu death squads -- an ordeal which left him the victim of post-traumatic stress disorder. Since then, he has been a strong advocate for mental health reform in Canada’s military. Following his retirement from the Armed Forces in April 2000, Dallaire served as special advisor on war-affected children to Canada’s minister for international cooperation. He also received a fellowship at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government, at Harvard University to pursue research in conflict resolution. Dallaire will receive his honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) and will address convocation (Glendon College ceremony), Saturday, June 8, at 2:30 p.m. at Glendon College, located at 2275 Bayview Ave.
David Mirvish: A discerning and passionate art collector and theatre impresario, David Mirvish began his career as an art dealer. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the David Mirvish Gallery was a premier showcase for contemporary Canadian, American and British art. Mirvish continues to share his love of art through David Mirvish Books/Books on Art in Toronto. He has also made Toronto a world destination for theatre-goers with such productions as Les Misérables; Miss Saigon; Crazy for You; Disney’s The Lion King; and the North American premiere of the hit British musical Mamma Mia!. Together with his father, "Honest" Ed Mirvish, he owns and operates two Toronto theatres: the historic Royal Alexandra and the Princess of Wales, the first privately-built theatre in Canada since 1907. Until recently, the Mirvishes also owned and operated the Old Vic, one of the oldest theatres in London. Mirvish Productions produces live theatre for these and other venues across Canada, in London and on Broadway. Mirvish was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 1996. Mirvish will receive his honorary Doctor of Letters degree (DLitt) and will address convocation (Faculty of Fine Arts and Faculty of Graduate Studies ceremonies), Monday, June 10, at 2:30 p.m.
Dr. Shirley L. Thomson: A leading figure in the Canadian arts community and an aficionado of 18th century French art and architecture, Shirley Thomson is the director of the Canada Council for the Arts, a position she has held since 1998. From 1987 to 1997, she served as director of the National Gallery of Canada during which time she oversaw the Gallery's move into its new home, an outstanding series of exhibitions and acquisitions, and its change to Crown corporation status. From 1985 to 1987, Thomson served as secretary-general of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and from 1982 to 1985, she was Director of the McCord Museum in Montreal. She was named a "Chevalier des arts et des lettres" by the Government of France, an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1994, and a Companion of the Order in 2001. She was also named a fellow of the Canadian Museums Association in 2000. Thomson will receive her honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) and will address convocation (Faculty of Arts ceremony I), Tuesday, June 11, at 2:30 p.m.
Bernard Ostry: An outspoken champion of Canadian cultural sovereignty, the arts and public broadcasting, Bernard Ostry, now retired, served as chair and CEO of Ontario’s Educational Communications Authority (TVOntario) from 1985 to 1992. There he started La Chaine (now TFO), Ontario’s French-language educational television network; enhanced distance education and more than doubled operating revenue by increasing membership contributions. Prior to that, Ostry served as Ontario’s deputy minister of citizenship and culture from 1984 to 1985, where he oversaw increased funding to the Ontario Arts Council; new support programs for multicultural agencies; a major capital expansion at the Royal Ontario Museum and restoration of Toronto’s historic Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. He has also served as deputy minister of communications in Ottawa from 1978 to 1980 as well as secretary-general of National Museums of Canada from 1974 to 1978. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1988. Ostry will receive his honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) and will address convocation (Faculty of Arts ceremony II), Tuesday, June 11, at 7 p.m.
Senator Douglas Roche (Ind -- Alberta): A distinguished author, parliamentarian and diplomat, Senator Douglas Roche is an internationally recognized expert on nuclear disarmament and arms control issues. Roche was elected to Parliament (PC -- Edmonton-Strathcona, Edmonton-South) four times, serving from 1972 to1984. He was appointed Canada’s ambassador for disarmament from 1984 to 1989 and was elected chairman of the UN disarmament committee in 1988. In 1985, Roche became the first Canadian elected honourary president of the World Federation of United Nations Associations. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992. Pope John Paul II named him a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1998. The same year Roche was appointed to the Senate as an independent member. Roche has written 16 books, including Bread not Bombs: A Political Agenda for Social Justice (University of Alberta Press, 1999). Roche will receive his honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) and will address convocation (Faculty of Arts ceremony IV), Thursday, June 13, at 7 p.m.
Donald P. Jacobs: Credited with transforming the Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management (Chicago) into one of the world's premier management education institutions, Donald Jacobs recently retired as its dean after 26 years -- the longest term of any top-tier business-school dean in recent history. Under Jacobs’ leadership Kellogg has consistently ranked among the top business schools in the U.S. and internationally. Jacobs has also spearheaded Kellogg's global presence through international partnerships with elite business schools, including the new Joint Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA at York’s Schulich School of Business. A finance and banking expert, Jacobs is currently the director of the Zell Center for Risk Research and is the Gaylord Freeman Distinguished Professor of Banking at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Jacobs will receive his honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) and will address convocation (Schulich School of Business ceremony), Friday, June 14, at 10 a.m.
Prof. William Twining: An eminent legal scholar, William Twining has been highly influential in defining new approaches to legal education and legal research in the United Kingdom and around the world. His approach stresses the importance of linkages between the law and its social, political, cultural and economic environment. Formerly Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University College, London, Twining has held chairs at Queen's University in Belfast, at the University of Warwick, U.K. and held numerous international visiting appointments, most recently at the University of Miami in Florida. He taught for seven years in Sudan and Tanzania and has maintained a research interest in Commonwealth legal affairs. Twining is also a legal education consultant in Hong Kong, India, Tanzania and Uganda. His texts, Rethinking Evidence and How to Do Things with Rules, are required reading for students of law everywhere. Twining will receive his honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) and will address convocation (Osgoode Hall Law School ceremony), Friday, June 14, at 2:30 p.m.
Dr. David (Dan) Offord: A renowned child psychiatrist, David Offord is professor emeritus of psychology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he also founded the Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk, a centre engaged in developing, implementing and assessing early interventions to treat and prevent destructive emotional and behavioural problems in children and youth. For more than 45 years, Offord has spent his summers as a volunteer and camp director of the Christie Lake Camp for Boys and Girls, near Perth in Eastern Ontario. The year-round camp helps economically disadvantaged and special needs children develop confidence and skills through art, sports and other activities. Offord was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2000. Offord will receive his honorary Doctor of Science degree (DSc) and will address convocation (Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies ceremony), Saturday, June 15, at 10:30 a.m.
Dr. Marc Garneau: Canada's first astronaut to travel into space, Marc Garneau is a veteran of three missions (STS-41G in 1984, STS-77 in 1996 and STS-97 in 2000), logging more than 677 hours in space. During STS-97, the fifth mission dedicated to the assembly of the International Space Station, Garneau was responsible for operating the Canadarm to maneuver the Space Station's arrays and truss out of the Space Shuttle Endeavour's cargo bay. In February 2001, Garneau was appointed executive vice president of the Canadian Space Agency and was subsequently appointed its president effective November 2001. Prior to his career as an astronaut, he served as a naval combat systems engineer and a navy captain in the Canadian Forces. Garneau holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering physics from the Royal Military College of Canada located in Kingston (1970), and a PhD in electrical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London (1973). Garneau was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 1984. Garneau will receive his honorary Doctor of Science degree (DSc) and will address convocation (Faculties of Pure and Applied Science and Environmental Studies ceremony), Monday, June 17, at 2:30 p.m.
Jean Little: Since the 1962 publication of her first book, Mine for Keeps (Penguin), which won the Little, Brown Canadian Children's Book Award, Jean Little's work, comprising more than 30 books, has been embraced by children in Canada and around the world. Legally blind since birth, Little discovered that she had glaucoma in her early 50s and lost most of her remaining sight. She now writes her books using a talking computer. Living with a disability and overcoming challenges are themes that appear regularly in her work -- Mine for Keeps, for example, is a story about a child with cerebral palsy. Little was awarded the 1984 Canadian Library Association Children's Book of the Year Award for Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird (Penguin, 1984). His Banner Over Me (Penguin, 1996) won the 1996 Violet Downey Book Award. Her work has been translated into more than 10 languages. She was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 1993. Little will receive her honorary Doctor of Letters degree (DLitt) and will address convocation (Faculty of Education ceremony), Tuesday, June 18, at 10 a.m.
The ceremonies will also confer University Professorships on communications studies Prof. Fred Fletcher on Monday, June 10, at 2:30 p.m. and psychology Prof. Ron Sheese on Monday, June 17, at 10 a.m. A Distinguished Research Professorship will be conferred on psychology and vision research Prof. Hiroshi Ono on Thursday, June 13, at 2:30 p.m.
University-Wide Teaching Awards will be presented to social and political thought PhD candidate Michael Palamarek on Saturday, June 8, at 2:30 p.m.; dance Prof. Donna Krasnow on Monday, June 10, at 2:30 p.m.; humanities Prof. Matthew Clark on Monday, June 17, at 10 a.m. and education Prof. Andrew Allen on Tuesday, June 18, at 10 a.m.
York University’s spring convocation ceremonies will be streamed over the Internet giving family and friends who cannot attend a "virtual" front row seat. The live Webcasts and archives can be accessed by visiting: www.yorku.ca/yorkweb/ConvocationLive.
Approximately 6,500 graduate and undergraduate students will graduate during the spring convocation ceremonies, joining York's more than 162,000-strong alumni.
Since its founding in 1959, York University has become nationally and internationally respected for its innovative research and award-winning teaching. The third-largest university in Canada, York offers its 40,000 students programs in 10 faculties and access to research flowing from the university's more than 20 research centres. With its combination of dedicated and talented faculty, opportunities for bright and ambitious students, dynamic curriculum and modern campuses in one of North America's most influential urban centres, York University is setting the contemporary standard in academic excellence.
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For further information, please contact:
Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
416-736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
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