Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
May 27, 2002
U of G to Award Seven Honorary Degrees at Summer Convocation
The University of Guelph will award seven honorary degrees and 2,000 degrees and diplomas during summer convocation ceremonies June 11 to 14 in the Gryphon Dome.
Honorary degree recipients include Noel Edison, choral conductor and music educator; Rita Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation; and Ronald Doering, president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Other honourees are University of Minnesota family social scientist William Doherty, University of Toronto anthropologist Richard Lee, University of Windsor civil and
environmental engineer Jatinder Bewtra and William Brock, University of Guelph volunteer, philanthropist and leader.
Convocation begins June 11 at 10 a.m. with a ceremony for the College of Arts. Edison will receive a doctor of music degree and will address the graduands. Edison is the director of choral studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, organist and choirmaster of the St. John Anglican Church in Elora, co-founder and artistic director of the Elora Festival, and conductor of the Elora Festival Singers and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. He has received the Ontario Lieutenant-Governor's Award for the Arts and has been recognized by Heritage Canada and the Secretary of State as Canada's leading choral conductor.
At the 2:30 p.m. ceremony, Ross Daily will deliver the convocation speech for the Ontario Agricultural College's diploma program. For 22 years, Daily covered agriculture news across southwestern Ontario for local television and radio stations. He has university degrees in business and journalism, is a certified financial planner and is a founding member of the National Advisory Committee on Family Farm Succession.
Two ceremonies June 12 will recognize students graduating from the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences. Doherty will receive an honorary doctor of science degree at the 10 a.m. ceremony and will give the convocation address. He is the marriage and family therapy director at the University of Minnesota and the author or co-author of 11 books, and 118 journal articles and book chapters. He led the National Council on Family Relations and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the two leading professional associations in his areas of expertise.
At the 2:30 p.m. ceremony, Lee will receive an honorary doctorate of science and address graduands and Brock will be awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree. Lee is generally recognized as the most internationally prominent contemporary Canadian anthropologist. He has received wide recognition for his long-term concern for the peoples of the Kalahari and his efforts on behalf of Southern African peoples and indigenous peoples globally. He received the Herskovits Award from the African Studies Association and the Anisfield-World Award in Racial Relations. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and was made a life member of the Royal Canadian Institute.
Brock, a 1958 graduate of the Ontario Agricultural College, has had a long-time commitment to the university as a volunteer and supporter. A former vice-chair of Board of Governors, he chaired the university's capital campaign in the 1980s, served on the OAC Alumni Association board of directors, and is a founding member and current chair of the board of the Heritage Trust. In recognition of his many outstanding contributions to the university, Brock was named an Honorary Fellow in 1998.
On June 13, Colwell will receive an honorary doctorate of science and deliver the convocation address at the 10 a.m. ceremony for the College of Biological Science. She is a professor of microbiology at the University of Maryland. She is being recognized for her support and promotion of microbiology and science through a number of senior administrative posts. She has founded and directed research institutes and has maintained contacts with Canadian microbiologists since her time as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Research Council of Canada. She remains an active member of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists.
Bewtra will receive an honorary doctorate of science at the 2:30 p.m. ceremony and will address the graduands of the College of Physical and Engineering Science and the Ontario Veterinary College. He developed the graduate program in environmental engineering at the University of Windsor and has supervised 22 PhD students and several master's students over the past 30 years. He is the driving force behind the formation of environmental engineering as an accredited engineering program in Canada.
On June 14, Doering will be honoured with a doctorate of laws and will address students graduating from the Ontario Agricultural College at the 2:30 p.m ceremony. During his 30-year career in law and public administration, he created the CFIA and led in all aspects of its implementation as a legislated Crown agency. As president of the CFIA, Doering initiated partnerships to further the agency's mandate with provinces, industry and consumers, including working with the university to help the CFIA take advantage of new technology and science to advance food safety and the protection of Canada's plant and animal populations.
More information for Convocation and Graduation 2002, including information for graduands, a schedule of ceremonies and a map of locations.
For media questions, call Communications and Public Affairs, (519)
824-4120, Ext. 6982 or Ext. 3338.
