Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
February 09, 2004
Winter convocation to be held in Gryphon Dome
The first aboriginal woman to receive her law degree, former Ontario ombudsman Roberta Jamieson, will receive an honorary degree during the University of Guelph's winter convocation Feb.18 and 19 in Gryphon Dome. Some 700 students will receive degrees during three ceremonies.
Internationally recognized landscape architect Moura Quayle will also be presented with an honorary degree, retired Guelph professors George Ferguson and Larry Peterson will be named university professor emeriti, and Tony Arrell, a Guelph graduate and chair and CEO of Burgundy Asset Management, will receive the Lincoln Alexander Medal of Distinguished Service.
Peterson, a U of G botany professor for 34 years and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, will address College of Arts and College of Biological Science graduands Feb. 18 at the 10 a.m. ceremony. Author of 195 publications in peer-reviewed journals and books and supervisor of 37 graduate students, Peterson has been recognized for his research and teaching with several awards. They include the George Lawson Medal from the Canadian Botanical Association, the Distinguished Professor Award from the U of G Faculty Association and the College of Biological Science Award for Excellence in Teaching.
At 2:30 p.m., Quayle will receive an honorary doctorate of science and deliver the convocation address at the ceremony for the College of Physical and Engineering Science, the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) and the Ontario Veterinary College. Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Science at the University of British Columbia, Quayle has an international reputation in facilitating collaboration among agricultural institutions in the United States and around the Pacific Rim. She is chair of the Canadian Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, serves on OAC's International Advisory Council, holds several awards from the Canadian and American Societies of Landscape Architects and was named a YWCA Woman of Distinction in 1993.
Also during the 2:30 p.m. ceremony, Ferguson, a U of G chemistry professor for 32 years, will be named a university professor emeritus and Arrell will receive the Lincoln Alexander Medal of Distinguished Service for his outstanding contributions to the university. Ferguson is one of the world's foremost chemical crystallographers and a pioneer in structural organic and inorganic chemistry by X-ray crystallography. He's a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the author of more than 670 publications and 27 books, and the editor of several journals. Arrell, a 1967 OAC graduate, is a longtime U of G volunteer. He is chair of U of G's investment management committee and a member of the Board of Trustees. He was a member of the steering committee for the university's ACCESS campaign to boost endowments for student assistance in the mid-1990s, and served on Board of Governors from 1997 to 2003, during which time he helped to spearhead the "Science of Life and Art of Living" campaign.
On Feb. 19, Jamieson will receive an honorary doctorate of laws and deliver the convocation address at the 10 a.m. ceremony for the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences. Her career has been marked by a series of firsts. In addition to being the first woman to serve as Ontario's ombudsman and the first aboriginal woman to receive a law degree, she was the first aboriginal commissioner of the Indian Commission of Ontario and the first female chief of the Canada's most populous reserve, the Six Nations Reserve on the Grand River. She's a recipient of the Order of Canada, the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Indigenous People's Council Award and eight other honorary degrees. She is also the founding president of the Canadian Ombudsman Institute and helped found the Centre for Research into Women's Health.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt (519) 824-4120, Ext. 53338, or Rachelle Cooper, (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982.
