Sixteen distinguished individuals will receive honorary degrees when Western hosts its 307th Convocation this spring. The ceremonies, featuring addresses by the honorary degree recipients, are scheduled for the following days:
Dr. Harold Merskey
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry Doctor of Medicine Convocation
9:30 a.m. Friday, May 13
Doctor of Science, honoris causa (DSc)
Dr. Harold Merskey was born in England and graduated in medicine from Oxford University in 1953. Alone or jointly, he has published 10 books and more than 460 book chapters, articles, invited editorials and scientific letters on neurological aspects of psychiatry, chronic pain, false memory syndrome and social psychiatry, including political abuse in the former Soviet Union. He moved to Canada in 1976 to join the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry as a faculty member. The founding editor of Pain Research and Management, Merskey is currently a Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry.
Yue-man Yeung
Hong Kong Convocation
Sunday, May 29
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Recognized as a prolific scholar in urban, global and China studies, Western alumnus Yue-man Yeung is Emeritus Professor of Geography, and formerly director of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, head of Shaw College and university registrar of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Yeung worked almost a decade for Canada’s International Development Research Centre in Singapore and Ottawa.
Jon Love
Ivey Business School Master of Business Administration (MBA) Convocation
10 a.m. Friday, June 10
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Jon Love is the founder and CEO of KingSett Capital, Canada’s leading private equity real estate investment business and was formerly President and CEO of Oxford Properties Group. A business leader, Love serves on the Board of Directors of the Business Council of Canada and the Chief Executives Organization. An active philanthropist, focused on education and health care, Love is a graduate of the Ivey Business School HBA Program, serves on the Executive Committee of Ivey’s Advisory Board and chaired its New Building Task Force.
Janice Gross Stein
10 A.M. Tuesday, June 14
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
An internationally known expert in the political psychology of international relations, Janice Gross Stein is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and was the founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, serving from 1998 to the end of 2014. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. A Trudeau Fellow, she received the Molson Prize in 2014 for an outstanding contribution to the social sciences.
Don McDougall
3 p.m. Tuesday, June 14
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Chair and CEO of Rambri Management Inc. and eJust Systems Inc., Don McDougall has enjoyed a long and illustrious business career. As President of Labatt Brewing Company in the 1970s, he is credited with providing the leadership that landed the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto and the Grand Prix du Canada in Montreal, and elevating Labatt to the status of No. 1 brewer in Canada. The Ivey Business School alumnus has also served as Chair of the Board at King’s College and Chair of the Board of Governors at Western. McDougall is currently Chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island.
Kevin Lynch
10 a.m. Wednesday, June 15
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
The Honourable Kevin Lynch was appointed Vice-Chair of BMO Financial Group in March 2010. Having started his career in 1976 with the Bank of Canada, he later served as Deputy Minister of Industry and Deputy Minister of Finance and then Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. In early 2006, Lynch was appointed the 20th Clerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Public Service of Canada. The 14th Chancellor of University of King’s College, Lynch is also past Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of Waterloo.
Mary Thompson
3 p.m. Wednesday, June 15
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Former Scientific Director of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute, Mary Thompson is Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo. Thompson is internationally recognized for her pioneering and foundational work on the theory of estimating functions, survey methodology, biostatistics, and important interdisciplinary collaborative research. She has also collaborated in research focused on the spread of disease on contact networks, and in spatial analysis of environmental influences on health behaviour.
Stephanie A. Atkinson
10 a.m. Thursday, June 16
Doctor of Science, honoris causa (DSc)
Western alumna Stephanie A. Atkinson, a distinguished researcher in perinatal and pediatric nutrition and metabolism and educator in the health sciences, is a Pediatrics and Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences professor at McMaster University. Highly sought after for her scientific expertise and professional leadership, she was appointed to the inaugural Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, and served as advisor to Health Canada, Osteoporosis Canada, the U.S. Institute of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, and was elected President of the American Society for Nutrition. Atkinson’s contributions to science and professional service are recognized by many national awards.
Stephen Burley
3 p.m. Thursday, June 16
Doctor of Science, honoris causa (DSc)
Stephen Burley is an expert in structural biology, proteomics, bioinformatics, structure/fragment based drug discovery, and clinical medicine and oncology. The Western alumnus currently serves as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Director of the Center for Integrative Proteomics Research, and Director of the RCSB Protein Data Bank at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the New York Academy of Sciences, Burley is also the Founding Director of the Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine at Rutgers and a Member of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
Kerry Rowe
3 p.m. Friday, June 17
Doctor of Science, honoris causa (DSc)
The Canada Research Chair in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, R. Kerry Rowe is a Civil Engineering professor at Queen’s University. After an eight-year term as Chair of Western’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rowe moved to Queen’s to serve as the Vice-Principal (Research) from 2000-10. An expert in landfill design, contaminant migration and containment of contaminated sites, Rowe is the only Canadian civil engineer to be elected as both a fellow of the Royal Society (U.K.) and as a foreign member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. With projects based from the Arctic to Antarctica, his research has impacted regulations around the world.
Louise Bessette
10 a.m. Monday, June 20
Doctor of Music, honoris causa (DMus)
Internationally renowned pianist Louise Bessette has recorded both as a soloist and with chamber ensembles during her 35-year career, appearing the world over with distinguished orchestras and by invitation to many first-rate festivals. A piano professor at the Montreal Conservatory since 1996, where she was head of the keyboard department from 2005 to 2007, Bessette has also participated in numerous juries for international competitions, and has led master classes in Europe, Canada and Asia. A Member of the Order of Canada and an Officier of the Ordre national du Québec, Bessette was named Ambassador of Canadian Music by the Canadian Music Centre in 2009.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay
3 p.m. Monday, June 20
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay fled the Islamic Revolution to become an international human rights activist, singer/songwriter, author and co-founder of Stop Child Executions, which is a non-profit organization that aims to put an end to executions of minors in Iran. The co-author of The Tale of Two Nazanins, she has also released a multilingual album titled Someday, charting hits in Canada, the United States and Europe. She was appointed to the board of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation to help eliminate racism and discrimination in Canada.
Carol Stephenson
10 a.m. Tuesday, June 21
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Carol Stephenson served as Dean of Ivey Business School from 2003-13. Prior to joining Ivey, Stephenson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Lucent Technologies Canada Inc. and Stentor Resource Centre Inc. Stephenson is a Corporate Director currently serving on the Boards of General Motors Company, Intact Financial Services Inc., Ballard Power Systems Inc., and Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. An Officer of the Order of Canada, Stephenson has earned significant recognition for her community work and industry involvement, including induction into Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame, the London and District Business Hall of Fame and Women of Influence’s Top 25 Women of Influence.
David Howman
3 p.m. Tuesday, June 21
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
David Howman currently serves as the Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Montreal, Canada, a position he has held since 2003. A qualified barrister from Wellington, New Zealand, he has overseen the creation of WADA, a unique hybrid of sport and government, along with its globally harmonious set of rules and regulations. Howman has worked internationally tirelessly to uphold the values and integrity of sport over a long period of time.
Cindy Blackstock
10 a.m. Wednesday, June 22
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Executive Director of First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta, Cindy Blackstock has 25 years of social work experience in child protection and Indigenous children’s rights. A member of the Gitksan First Nation, Blackstock is also Director of the First Nations Children’s Action Research and Education Service (FNCARES) at the University of Alberta. Her research interests are Indigenous theory and the identification and remediation of structural inequalities affecting First Nations children, youth and families.
Gerald Fridman
3 p.m. Wednesday, June 22
Doctor of Civil Law, honoris causa (DCL)
One of Canada’s foremost legal scholars and a well-respected and prolific legal author, Gerald Fridman is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Professor Emeritus at Western Law. A barrister and solicitor in Alberta and Ontario, Fridman has also been admitted as a barrister-at-law in the Middle Temple in London, England and as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia.
