Mount Allison University to award Honorary Doctorate to the Governor General of Canada
2011-08-29 13:37:46
SACKVILLE, NB — His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, will be honoured during a special Convocation ceremony at Mount Allison University on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 7 p.m. in Convocation Hall. The event will take place during Mount Allison’s annual Commencement ceremony to welcome new students to the university. His Excellency will also address the Class of 2015 at this event.
Mount Allison University Chancellor and CBC Chief News Correspondent Peter Mansbridge will preside over the ceremony with President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Robert Campbell. Campbell says, “Our annual Commencement ceremony is a proud tradition at Mount Allison and we are truly honoured to confer an honorary degree on His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston at this year’s event. His Excellency’s leadership in post-secondary education and its important role in our society has been inspirational and we are pleased and proud to have him join the Allisonian family. This association builds on Mount Allison’s continued success in its work to be the best undergraduate university in the country and among the best in the world.”
The Governor General is no stranger to Mount Allison, having referred to it as ‘that jewel of universities’ in his first national television interview as Governor General in 2010. Two of his five daughters also graduated from Mount Allison University.
A well-respected lawyer and academic, Mr. Johnston served as President and Vice-Chancellor of both the University of Waterloo and McGill University and taught in the faculty of law at Queen’s University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Western Ontario.
Mr. Johnston was president of the Association of University and Colleges of Canada and the Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités du Québec. He was the founding chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, chaired the federal government’s Information Highway Advisory Council, and served as the first non-American chair of the Board of Overseers at Harvard University. He is the author or co-author of two dozen books, holds many honorary doctorates, and has been awarded the Order of Canada (Companion).
Mount Allison University’s Commencement Ceremony introduces new students into the Mount Allison community, while embracing its history and goals. Emphasis is placed on the University as a place for nurturing the whole person — body, mind and spirit, and familiarizing students with Mount Allison’s rich heritage and character.
Some of the unique characteristics of Mount Allison’s past are also highlighted, including the bringing forward of books and torches representing the University crest, and the presentation of cedar boughs, representing Charles Frederick Allison and his founding vision for the University.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
Photo: His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada
Photo Credit: Photo by: Sgt Serge Gouin, Rideau Hall © Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Canada represented by the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General (2010)
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