April 26, 2006 Source: :
http://www.laurentian.ca/?file=newsrelease/2006/april/apr26_degrees_e.php Laurentian University announces honorary degree recipients for Spring 2006 Laurentian University will award honorary doctorates to eight distinguished citizens at its Spring Convocation Ceremonies, May 31 through June 3, 2006. Wednesday, May 31, 2006 (2:30 p.m. ceremony) HOMER SEGUIN Homer Seguin has had a long and distinguished career in mining spanning several years, serving as Vice-President and President of Local 6500, United Steelworkers of America (USWA), at Inco Ltd. for five years. He was on staff at USWA and served as Area Coordinator for Northeastern Ontario, USWA from 1981 until his retirement in 1992. His interest in workplace health and safety dates back to his early days at the Inco Copper Refinery in the 1950s. He pioneered joint safety and health committees, the concept of union-appointed but employer-paid worker safety and health inspectors, and the lobbying effort that led to the Inco Sulphur Abatement Program, which was key to the Sudbury re-greening campaign. His efforts on behalf of uranium, gold and nickel miners and their families led to tougher regulations and more generous Workers' Compensation payouts for the widows and survivors of deceased miners. He was in a leadership role in the campaign before the Ham Royal Commission on Mining Safety that resulted in Ontario workers winning the right to refuse unsafe work, and legislation arising from the commission included some of the most enlightened worker protection provisions of any jurisdiction in the North American continent. Mr. Seguin's leadership efforts helped lead the dramatic decline in workplace fatality rates in the 1960s, and lost time accidents. Mr. Seguin's contribution to improved safety and health for all workers has, in the long run, benefited workers and employers alike. Mr. Seguin was a key leader in gaining recognition of work-related lung cancers in the gold and uranium mining industries of Ontario. As a Director of the Workman's Compensation Board (WCB), Mr. Seguin moved the current policies on adjudicating lung cancers in the gold and nickel industries, thus leading to enhanced environmental health protection. Mr. Seguin will be presented with an honorary Doctorate of Laws. Thursday, June 1, 2006 (10:00 a.m. ceremony) MICHAEL ROACH Michael Roach is president and chief executive officer for CGI, one of the top 50 technology companies in the world and among the top four in North America in information technology outsourcing, employing close to 25,000 professionals with over 100 offices in 19 countries. Before joining CGI in 1998, Mr. Roach held key positions at Bell Canada for 25 years. He spearheaded the merger of Bell Sygma into CGI. Born in Pembroke, Ontario, Mr. Roach studied economics and political science at Laurentian University. Since then he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Conference Board of Canada, Innovapost Inc. as well as the Mount Pleasant Group. His contribution to community service is outstanding and he is committed to regional development. Passionately interested in higher education, he chaired the Board of the Office for Partnerships for Advanced Skills (OPAS) from 1998 to 2004, and has served as a member of the Board of Governors of Trent University. Mr. Roach will be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Business Administration. Thursday, June 1, 2006 (2:30 p.m. ceremony) HUBERT REEVES Born in Montreal in 1932, Dr. Hubert Reeves was drawn to science from an early age. He also inherited from his family a great love of music, and his explanations of cosmic evolution are therefore filled with analogies to the creative process. At 33, when an assistant professor of physics at the Université de Montréal and an advisor to NASA and Columbia University, he was appointed to the prestigious Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), in France. By 1971 he had written three books on the evolution of the universe and in 1976 he was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite by the government of France. He has received many other international awards, including honorary doctorates, Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur , and Companion of the Order of Canada. Dr. Reeves' research spans a variety of fields in nuclear astrophysics and cosmology. His ability to make complex and often arcane scientific theories accessible has made him a familiar figure in the French-speaking world. His first of many best-sellers, Atoms of Silence: An Exploration of Cosmic Evolution ( Patience dans l'azur : L'Évolution cosmique), was translated into 25 languages, and has sold more than a million copies. For many years, Reeves has been highly active in the environmental movement. Although he officially retired in 1999, he continues this work both in France and in Canada. He was a featured guest at Sudbury's first Salon du Livre in the spring of 2004. An honorary Doctorate of Science will be bestowed on Dr. Reeves. Friday, June 2, 2006 (10:00 a.m. ceremony) LINDA LUNDSTRÖM Linda Lundström is recognized as one of Canada's most successful fashion designers. Born and raised in Red Lake, Ontario, Ms. Lundström decided at age nineteen to pursue studies in fashion design at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. As a winner of a Fashion Canada scholarship, she spent one year apprenticing in Europe. In 1974, she formed her own company, Linda Lundström Inc. in Toronto. In her tenth year of business, a trip to Japan inspired her to design the LAPARKA, a modern interpretation of the traditional Inuit parka. It also led Linda into collaborations with Native artists and, with the creation of products with a deeper meaning, her identity as a designer, and the heart and soul of her company, was born. Her company flourished as did her social and environmental commitments which were honoured with recognition and awards. By 1999 her clothing was being sold in over 500 independent boutiques across Canada and the United States, and four Linda Lundström flagship stores were operating. After 25 successful years on the Canadian fashion scene, the eroding global economy, combined with a decline in sales and increased expenses, took its toll on the company. Due to the determination of management, together with a reduced staff, Linda Lundström Inc. rose from the brink. Today, loyal employees have returned to her company, and her line is sold across the continent. Quite by chance, at age 51, Linda discovered that she had been working all these years with a learning disability called Irlen Syndrome, making reading extremely difficult. Ms. Lundström has been the recipient of honorary degrees, the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1994, the Order of Ontario in 1995, and most recently the Canadian Government Ingenuity Award in 2002. Ms. Lundström will receive an honorary Doctorate of Business Administration. Friday, June 2, 2006 (2:30 p.m. ceremony) STEPHEN LEWIS Stephen Lewis is the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, a post he's held since June 2001. He is also a Commissioner for the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, and a Senior Advisor to the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York. Mr. Lewis serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), and is the chair of the board of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Mr. Lewis' work with the UN has shaped the past two decades of his career. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Lewis was Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF at the organization's global headquarters in New York. In 1997, in addition to his work at UNICEF, Mr. Lewis was appointed by the Organization of African Unity to a Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the Genocide in Rwanda. The ‘Rwanda Report' was issued in June of 2000. In 1993, Mr. Lewis became coordinator for the international study -- known as the Graça Machel study -- on the "Consequences of Armed Conflict on Children". The report was tabled in the United Nations in 1996. From 1984 through 1988, Stephen Lewis was Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. In this capacity, he chaired the Committee that drafted the Five-Year UN Programme on African Economic Recovery. He also chaired the first International Conference on Climate Change, which drew up the first comprehensive policy on global warming. Mr. Lewis holds 22 honorary degrees from Canadian universities and is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. In May 2003, in recognition of outstanding contributions to public health, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health honoured Mr. Lewis with the Dean's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Lewis was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest honour for lifetime achievement, in 2003. The same year, Maclean's magazine honoured Mr. Lewis as their inaugural "Canadian of the Year." In March 2004, Mr. Lewis was honoured by the United Nations Association in Canada with the Pearson Peace Medal, which celebrates outstanding achievements in the field of international service and understanding. In April 2005, TIME magazine listed Stephen Lewis as one of the ‘100 most influential people in the world'. The same year, the International Council of Nurses awarded Mr. Lewis their prestigious Health and Human Rights Award, which is awarded quadrennially for outstanding contributions to international health and human rights. Stephen Lewis' book, Race Against Time was released in October 2005, and was short listed for the Writers' Trust Award and the Trillium Book Award. Mr. Lewis will be presented with an honorary Doctorate of Laws. Saturday, June 3, 2006 (10:00 a.m. ceremony) DYANE ADAM Born in Casselman near Ottawa, Dr. Adam pursued studies in clinical psychology and a career in clinical psychology, health and education. Dr. Adam then directed her talents to research and teaching. She was a professor of psychology at several institutions including the University of Ottawa and Laurentian University, where she held the position of Assistant Vice-President, French Programs and Services. In 1994, she was appointed to the position of Principal at York University's Glendon College, where she worked until her appointment as Commissioner of Official Languages in 1999, a position she holds currently. The author of professional and scientific publications, she has participated in national and international conferences, presented her positions before parliamentary committees and courts, and delivered numerous speeches. In recognition of her achievements, she has received a number of honorary doctorates, and was named Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Pléiade by the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie and Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques in France. Dr. Adam served as the first President of the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman, from 2001 to 2005. She will be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters. ROBERT DICKSON Professor Emeritus of French-Canadian literature and creative writing at Laurentian University, Robert Dickson has made a significant contribution to the artistic life of French Canada. Born of anglophone parents in Toronto, he came of age in French. Before settling in Sudbury, he studied in Québec and taught in Paris. Professor Dickson has published six collections of poetry. Humains paysages en temps de paix relative, published by Sudbury publishing house Prise de parole, earned him the 2002 Governor-General's Literary Award. His English language translations of three plays by Franco-Ontarian playwright Jean Marc Dalpé, have been staged in Toronto , Ottawa , Montréal, Vancouver and at the Stratford Festival . Robert Dickson has also published French language translations of Lola Lemire Tostevin's novel Frog Moon (Kaki ) and Tomson Highway 's Kiss of the Fur Queen (Champion et Ooneetoo). He was a lyricist with the musical group CANO, performing poet with la Cuisine de la poésie and has acted in a number of films, including Jean Marc Larivière's Le Dernier des Franco-Ontariens . In recognition of his research and contributions to French-Canadian culture and art, he received the 1998 Prix du Nouvel-Ontario and the 2002 Francophone Personality of the year Award for Greater Sudbury. Dickson was named Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Pléiade by the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie in 2005. He continues to be active in writing and literary translation, and maintains his thirty-year-plus association with les Éditions Prise de parole. An honorary Doctorate of Letters will be bestowed on Mr. Dickson. Saturday, June 3, 2006 (2:30 p.m. ceremony) LOUISE CHARRON The Honourable Louise Charron is one of two women recently appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004. Born in Sturgeon Falls, Madam Justice Charron received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa in 1975 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1977. From 1977 to 1980, she practised civil litigation with the Ottawa firm of Lalonde, Chartrand & Gouin. From 1980 to 1985, she was Assistant Crown Attorney for the Judicial District of Ottawa-Carleton. From 1985 to 1988, Madam Justice Charron was Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa. In 1988, she was appointed a judge to the Ontario Police Commission and [please remove underlined text] to the District Court of Ontario. From 1995 until her recent appointment, she was a Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal. She was also a Deputy Judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice. Madam Justice Charron has been very active in judicial training. She is the author of various legal publications and a frequent lecturer. She has participated in many professional organizations, including the Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario . She is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the Law Society of Upper Canada, Nipissing University and was inducted in the Common Law Honour Society of the University of Ottawa. Mrs. Charron will receive an honorary Doctorate of Laws. - 30 - Reference:
Taylor Paxton
Public Affairs, Laurentian University
Sudbury, Ontario
(705) 675 1151, ext. 3959
tpaxton@laurentian.ca
www.laurentian.ca
|
