Dr. John Noseworthy, Mayo Clinic president and CEO, and Dr. John Cheh, Esquel vice-chair and CEO, will receive honorary degrees from Western at the 2012 convocations for the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry’s Doctor of Medicine (MD) program and the Richard Ivey School of Business’ Hong Kong campus, respectively.
Noseworthy, who receives his degree at the May 18 ceremony, completed a residency in neurology and neuropathology at Western from 1978-79. He was a member of the university’s Department of Clinical and Neurological Sciences in the 1980s, and then joined the Mayo Clinic in 1990. Following a 10-year term as chair of its Department of Neurology and a three-year term as vice-chair of the Mayo Clinic Rochester Executive Board and medical director for Development, Noseworthy was named president and CEO in 2009.
The American-based Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Noseworthy is also the former editor-in-chief of Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
An internationally recognized expert in trade, economics and labour issues, Cheh, who receives his degree at the May 27 ceremony, was named vice-chair and CEO of Esquel Group in 2007. Having previously served as the president (Asia) of Bell Canada International and the president of Bombardier China, Cheh now leads the world’s biggest shirt maker. Considered a pioneer in terms of corporate social responsibility and employing environmentally friendly technology, Esquel manufactures more than 100 million cotton shirts annually for brands like Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Hugo Boss and Lacoste.