Western is celebrating its fall 2021 graduates in a virtual convocation ceremony beginning at 7 p.m. EST on Friday, Oct. 22. Get to know some of our amazing graduates and this year’s exemplary honorary degree recipients, as Western News presents its fall convocation story lineup.
Work with Indigenous communities leads to media career for new grad
CBC Radio had been a constant companion for Colm Cobb Howes during quiet, bitter-cold commutes to work as a teacher in Indigenous communities in northern Canada. Little did he know he would one day be working to tell those stories he enjoyed listening to since he was a child. Read more.
Colm Cobb Howes spent two years working with Indigenous communities in Northern Canada before taking the Master of Media in Journalism and Communication program at Western (Submitted photo)
Pandemic offers real-world lessons for public health grad
Pursuing a master’s degree in public health virtually during a global pandemic was challenging but offered many great lessons for Alexandra Romanski. In this story, she talks about her unique experience of seeing how her learning in class play out in the real-world as it deals with COVID-19. Read more.
Alexandra Romanski (left) is one of approximately 3,000 Western students graduating this fall. (Submitted photo)
Honorary degree for award-winning author, artist Shani Mootoo
As soon as former Studio Arts head, Duncan deKerommeaux saw Shani Mootoo’s art portfolio, she was welcomed to Western – and to Canada for the first time. Her journey took her far away from her home in Trinidad, but closer to the person she grew to become: an internationally acclaimed multimedia artist and award-winning author. Read more.
Award-winning author and artist Shani Mootoo will receive an honorary degree Friday, Oct. 22
Natalie Zemon Davis to receive honorary degree
From the beginning of a career that has spanned almost seven decades, Davis has been interested in illuminating historical people, themes and patterns others have often overlooked. Throughout the decades, her scholarship has shaped the study of history around the world. Read more.
Natalie Zemon Davis will receive an honorary doctorate from Western on Oct. 22, 2021 photo courtesy of UofT News. Laura Pedersen)
Western to honour scientist Tak Mak at fall convocation
In 1984, scientist Tak Mak quelled the quest for the ‘holy grail of immunology,” when he discovered the T-cell receptor (TCR), a key determinant of immune response. This discovery led to an explosion of advances in the understanding of human immunology and how to manipulate it under circumstances as diverse as autoimmunity, transplantation and cancer. Read more.
Renowned scientist Tak Mak will receive an honorary degree Friday, Oct. 22 (Courtesy of UHN’s StRIDE team)
London icon Janet Stewart to receive honorary degree
Lawyer, philanthropist, community leader and mentor are all words to describe Janet Stewart. Through her volunteerism and her drive to elevate women leaders in the legal profession, she has earned the respect and admiration of her peers. Her message to new graduates at convocation is to change what they can, accept what they can’t change and stress less about life. Read more.
London lawyer and philanthropist Janet Stewart is to receive an honorary doctorate from Western on Oct. 22, 2021
