Source: University of Victoria
http://communications.uvic.ca/releases/release.php?display=release&id=761 UVic Awards 4 Honorary Degrees at Fall ConvocationOctober 17, 2006 The
University of Victoria will present four honorary degrees during fall
convocation ceremonies next month. The recipients represent an eclectic mix
of achievement in fields including science, Aboriginal language preservation
and journalism.
Honorary degrees will be awarded prior to the conferring of students’
degrees, diplomas and certificates in the University Centre Farquhar
Auditorium on Nov. 14 and 15.
Here are brief biographies of the honorands: Arthur J. Carty – Honorary Doctor of Science – 10 a.m., Nov. 14
Arthur Carty is the federal government’s national science advisor and a
leading proponent of Canada's role in international scientific
collaboration. From 1994 to 2004, Carty was president of the National
Research Council of Canada. He has been instrumental in promoting the
development of science and technology clusters within Canada in order to
build on research strengths and create synergy among researchers,
governments and private sector partners. He has also been a strong supporter
of Canadian scientists engaged in international research—particularly in
astronomy, particle physics and nanotechnology. A chemist, Carty spent
nearly three decades at the University of Waterloo where he was a teacher,
researcher and administrator. YEL?ÁTTE Earl Claxton Sr. – Honorary Doctor of Laws – 10 a.m., Nov. 14
YEL?ÁTTE Earl Claxton Sr. is a lifeline for the preservation and
revitalization of the SENCOTEN language of the Coast Salish peoples of
Saanich, whose traditional territory includes the lands on which UVic
stands. Without the benefit of formal training, Claxton became an extremely
talented linguist whose efforts to share his knowledge of his ancestral
language—currently spoken fluently by fewer than a dozen elders—have been
absolutely vital. Through his work with university linguists, teaching
materials are being developed that are easily comprehensible and explain all
of the properties of the SENCOTEN language so that future generations will
have the ability to learn the language in a way that is grounded in a native
linguistic understanding. Edith Iglauer – Honorary Doctor of Laws – 2:30 p.m., Nov. 15
A staff writer for the New Yorker magazine since 1961, Edith Iglauer became
one of her generation’s most adventurous and astute observers of the
Canadian way of life. She wrote the quintessential portrait of Pierre
Trudeau after he became prime minister in 1968. Moving to British Columbia
in 1974, she married Pender Harbour salmon fisherman John Daly. Their
relationship, and her introduction to the rigours of commercial fishing,
became the basis of her acclaimed 1988 memoir Fishing with John. Her
journalistic curiosity also led her into the Canadian North and she wrote
about it in Denison’s Ice Road and Inuit Journey. Before joining the New
Yorker, she was one of the few female correspondents to cover World War II. Maria Tippett – Honorary Doctor of Laws – 2:30 p.m., Nov. 14
Art historian Maria Tippett recently returned to her hometown of Victoria
after several years as a senior research fellow at the University of
Cambridge. She is the author of several books, including biographies of two
B.C. icons: Bill Reid: The Making of an Indian and Emily Carr: A Biography,
for which she won a 1980 Governor General’s Award. Tippett is one of
Canada’s most prolific scholars and writers on the history and the role of
the arts in society. Her By a Lady: Celebrating Three Centuries of Canadian
Women Artists is considered the single best survey of the work of women
artists in the country.
Honorary degrees are granted by the UVic Senate on the basis of exceptional
distinction and achievement in scholarship, research, teaching, creative
arts, or public service. --30-- Media Contacts:
Mike McNeney (Alumni Communications) at (250) 721-7642 or
mmcneney@uvic.ca
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