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News Release

June 01, 2006

Summer Convocation June 12 to 15, Five to Receive Honorary Degrees

The University of Guelph will award some 2,600 degrees and diplomas during eight convocation ceremonies June 12 to 15 in the Gryphon Dome.

Honorary degrees will be presented to behavioural ecologist Sir John Krebs, Canadian military historian Terry Copp, human rights advocate Mu Sochua, Senator Donald Oliver and agroforestry expert P.K. Nair.

In addition, University professor emeritus status will be bestowed on four retired faculty: Patrick Woo, Integrative Biology; Dave Hume, Plant Agriculture; Bill Langford, Mathematics and Statistics; and Jamie Snell, History. In addition, Prof. Fred Ramprashad, retired associate dean of the bachelor of science program, will be named a Fellow of the University.

Convocation begins June 12 with a 10 a.m. ceremony for the College of Biological Science and a 2:30 p.m. joint ceremony for CBS and the College of Physical and Engineering Science.

Krebs, who was knighted for his accomplishments as the founder of behavioural ecology, will give the convocation address and receive an honorary doctor of science degree at the morning ceremony. Woo will also be honoured at the morning ceremony. An expert in fish diseases and immunology, he retired from U of G in 2004 after 30 years as a faculty member.

At the afternoon ceremony, Ramprashad will be named a University Fellow and will give the convocation address. In addition to teaching zoology at U of G from 1967 to 2001, he was academic assistant to the dean of CBS from 1979 to 2001 before becoming the first associate dean of the B.Sc. program. In addition, Langford, former chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and past deputy director of the Fields Institute, will be named University professor emeritus.

Two ceremonies are planned for June 13, beginning with convocation for the College of Arts is at 10 a.m. Copp will receive a doctor of letters degree and address graduands. He is the founding editor of Canadian Military History and author of more than a dozen books. He is also a two-time winner of the Charles P. Stacey Book Award for best Canadian book on military history.

Snell will also be honoured at this ceremony. A Guelph faculty member from 1968 to 2004 and former chair of the Department of History, he was involved in a wide range of administrative and governance activities.

A ceremony for the Ontario Veterinary College begins at 2:30 p.m. Lynette Corbeil, a 1962 OVC graduate who is a professor of a pathology at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine and the Burnham Institute, will address the graduating class.

Three ceremonies are planned for the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences: June 14 at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and June 15 at 10 a.m.

Sochua will address the graduands and receive a doctorate of laws at the morning ceremony June 14. For more than 25 years, she has been a human rights advocate speaking out against human trafficking, domestic violence and worker exploitation in Cambodia.

At the afternoon ceremony, Oliver will give the address and receive a doctorate of laws.
Appointed to the Canadian Senate in 1990, he has had a distinguished legal career as a civil litigator and legal educator and has been active in political affairs with the Progressive Conservative party for more than 30 years.

On June 15, retired professor Michael Nightingale will address B.Comm. graduates at 10 a.m. He joined U of G in 1987 as director of the then School of Hotel and Food Administration and became founding dean of the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences in 1999. Nightingale also played a significant role in creating the University of Guelph-Humber and served as its first vice-provost until his retirement in 2005.

Convocation concludes June 15 with a 2:30 p.m. ceremony for the Ontario Agricultural College. Nair will receive a doctor of science degree and address the graduating class. A founder-scientist of the World Agroforestry Centre in Kenya, he has made unparalleled contributions to the development of agroforestry systems over the past three decades. He was recently selected to receive the Humboldt Prize, Germany’s highest research award for senior scientists in the United States.

Convocation Schedule

Monday, June 12
10 a.m., College of Biological Science (CBS)
2:30 p.m. CBS, College of Physical and Engineering Science

Tuesday, June 13
10 a.m., College of Arts
2:30 p.m., Ontario Veterinary College

Wednesday, June 14
10 a.m., College of Social and Applied Human Sciences (CSAHS)
2:30 p.m., CSAHS

Thursday, June 15
10 a.m., CSAHS
2:30 p.m., Ontario Agricultural College