In 1946, six beaming graduates accepted degrees from the then Carleton College. This June, during its 128th Convocation ceremony June 13-16, the 100,000th student will graduate from Carleton University. As well, Carleton will present inaugural medals to three Carleton University employees for outstanding research, outstanding service (both on Tuesday June 13 at 9:30 a.m.), and outstanding teaching (on Friday June 16 at 9:30 a.m.)
A distinguished Ottawa philanthropist and businessman, David Smith, a former Deputy Prime Minister and Carleton alumnus, John Manley, and a former U.S. ambassador and former Chief of the Defence Staff, General John de Chastelain, are among six outstanding Canadians who will be presented with Honorary Degrees. The University will also present Honorary Degrees to spiritual leader and tireless volunteer Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka, Carleton alumna and filmmaker, Nelofir Pazira, and renowned aeronautical engineer Philip A. Lapp.
The Hon. Frederick E. Gibson, a Judge of the Federal Court and long time Carleton supporter, will be awarded the Founders Award and deliver the Convocation Address at the first Convocation ceremony on Tuesday, June 13. The Founders Award is Carleton’s highest non-academic honour and is given annually, when merited, to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the University.
Carleton Systems and Computer Engineering Professor, Dr. Monique Frize, a staunch supporter of young women in science and engineering, will deliver the Convocation Address on June 15.
The eight ceremonies take place in Carleton’s Field House from Tuesday, June 13 until Friday, June 16, 2006. Close to 3200 students are expected to graduate.
Additional background about the honorary degree recipients, and the Founders Award recipient has been attached to this news release.
For more information about Convocation, please visit the Carleton Web site at http://www.carleton.ca/convocation/
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For more information:
Lin Moody
Media Relations
Carleton University
613-520-2600 ext. 8705
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
9:30 a.m. Tuesday June 13 (Science)
The Honorable Frederick E. Gibson will receive the Founders Award and present the Convocation Address
Mr. Frederick Gibson received his Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1956 from Carleton College, where he was a member of the Undergraduate Student Government Association, and recipient of the Henry Marshall Tory and Honour Society awards. He attended Osgoode Hall Law School and for five years was associated with the law firm Honeywell, Baker, Gibson, Wotherspoon, Lawrence and Diplock in Ottawa. In 1965, Mr. Gibson joined the Federal Department of Justice, where he served until 1981 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel. He was the Deputy Solicitor General of Canada from 1982-86 and chair of the National Parole Board from 1988-93. In 1993, Mr. Gibson was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division and ex officio member of the Court of Appeal and later in the same year, a judge of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada. He is now a supernumerary judge of the Federal Court. During his busy and distinguished career, Mr. Gibson continued to be involved with Carleton as the president of the Carleton University Alumni Association (1965-66) and a member of the Board of Governors (1967-76 and 1979-88). During his years as a member of the Board, he was often asked to take on special and delicate assignments. A quick study, Mr. Gibson was able to challenge recommendations and push for solutions to difficulties for the betterment of the university. He was a strong supporter of the student members of the Board and their associations.
2:00 p.m. Tuesday June 13 (Public Affairs and Management-PAM)
Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa in recognition of: “an outstanding career as a community leader and scholar, and as a leading figure in humanitarian affairs”
Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka is the spiritual leader of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa. In addition to being an accomplished author of more than 30 books and countless articles in the fields of religion, health, and psychology, he is also a host of In Good Faith on the A-Channel and the host of Sunday Night with Rabbi Bulka on CFRA. A dedicated grass-roots volunteer, he is renowned for his tireless commitment to the Ottawa community through service on charitable and civic boards and regular participation in charity events. He has received numerous awards including the prestigious Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award for his exemplary service to the Jewish Community of Ottawa and was the inaugural recipient of Scouts Canada’s National Salute Award. He was cited by Canadian Blood Services for more than 250 blood donations and is actively involved in the promotion of organ donation programs. Rabbi Bulka serves as a chaplain of the Dominion Command of the Royal Canadian Legion, is chairman of the religious advisory committee of United Way/Centraide of Ottawa-Carleton, and chairs the Courage Campaign for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. He received his Semicha (Rabbinic ordination) from the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Rabbinical Seminary, New York, in 1965 and his Ph.D. (concentration in the Logotherapy of Viktor Frankl) from the University of Ottawa in 1971. He is married to Leah (Kalish), the father of Yocheved Ruth (Moshe Shonek), Shmuel Refael (Chani), Rena Dvorah (Yehuda Levy), Eliezer Menachem (Haviva), and Binyomin Dovid (Shira), and the grandfather of many.
9:30 a.m. Wednesday June 14 (PAM)
David Smith
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa in recognition of “an outstanding contribution to improving the lives of people in Ottawa, across Canada, and around the world”
Born in Ottawa to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, David Smith’s early employment, along with his 13 brothers and sisters, was in his father’s shoe repair store. Well-known for his commitment to his community and its well being, Mr. Smith credits his parents with having instilled in him the gift of giving early in life. His passionate commitment to the various causes has resulted in more than $100 million raised for these organizations. A distinguished businessman whose primary business has been the restaurant and catering industry, Mr. Smith counts as one of his proudest achievements the establishment of the David Smith Centre, a youth drug and alcohol treatment centre in Ottawa, the first such centre in the region dedicated to young people between the ages of 13 and 18. His visionary leadership led to the creation of the Ottawa Technical Learning Centre with its “Learn to Earn” training program which serves as the model for programs established in other regions of Canada as well as countries in west Africa, south Africa and in Afghanistan. He is a Member of the Order of Canada, and a Companion of Merit with the Military and Hospitality Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. He has an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa.
2:00 p.m. Wednesday June 14 (PAM)
Nelofer Pazira
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa in recognition of “an outstanding career as a journalist and actress”
Born in India to an Afghan family, Nelofer Pazira spent her youth in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the Russian occupation. The Pazira family fled to Pakistan when she was 16, migrating to Canada a year later. An accomplished journalist and film maker, in 2001, Ms. Pazira co-produced and starred in Kandahar, a fictionalized version of her attempt to return to Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban. She subsequently produced, directed and edited, with Paul Jay, the CBC documentary, Return to Kandahar, winning the Donald Brittain Award for best social/political documentary at the 2003 Gemini Awards. Recently she was awarded the 2005 A.D. Dunton Alumni Award of Distinction, Carleton’s most prestigious alumni honour. She is the author of A Bed of Red Flowers: In search of my Afghanistan, which won the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize awarded by The Writers Trust of Canada. Now a regular contributor to CBC, she is also the founder and chair of the Dyana Afghan Women’s Fund, a Canadian charity to provide education and skills training for young women in the city of Kandahar. Ms. Pazira is a Carleton alumna (BJ/97) and obtained her M.A. from Concordia in 2003.
9:30 a.m. Thursday June 15 (Engineering and Design-FED)
Philip A. Lapp
Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa in recognition of “a distinguished career in the Canadian aerospace industry”
An aeronautical engineer and physicist, Philip Lapp’s contributions to aeronautical, aerospace, and communications science and technology have played a very significant part in Canada’s aerospace industry. He joined de Havilland Aircraft of Canada in the mid-1950s and, more than a decade later, co-founded Spar Aerospace which developed and built the Canadarm used by the NASA Space Shuttle program. By the late 1960s, Dr. Lapp established a successful consulting engineering business which, over the next 37 years, led assignments in such areas as guidance and inertial navigation, anti-aircraft missile defence, infrared detection, and optical surveillance, space technology, remote sensing, surveying and mapping, engineering education and human resource planning. A former President of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers, Dr. Lapp has helped forge links between industry and the academic world and to humanize the engineering profession by evaluating the impact of new designs on society. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He received his D.Sc. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955. He also has Honorary degrees from York (1994) and McMaster (1987).
2:00 p.m. Thursday June 15 (FED)
Dr. Monique Frize will deliver the Convocation Address
As President of the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES), Dr. Monique Frize has worked tirelessly to encourage young women to choose a career in science and engineering. In 1997, she joined Carleton University as a Professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering and the University of Ottawa as a Professor in the School of Information Technology after working as a clinical engineer for 18 years. Dr. Frize held the NSERC/Nortel Chair for women in science and engineering in Ontario between 1997 and 2002. She was the first woman to graduate with an engineering degree at the University of Ottawa. She completed an M. Phil at Imperial College in London in the UK, followed by an MBA at Université de Moncton and a doctorate at Erasmus Universiteit. In 1989, she was appointed the first holder of the Nortel-NSERC Women in Engineering Chair at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton), a position that covered the entire country. Among her many achievements, she has been awarded several honorary degrees and was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2000, Dr. Frize received the Women of Distinction Award for the National Capital Region presented by YMCA-YWCA of Ottawa/Carleton. She is a Visiting Professor at Coventry University and an Affiliated Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She is married to Peter Frize and they have a son, Patrick Nicholas.
9:30 a.m. Friday June 16 (Arts and Social Sciences-FASS)
John Manley
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa in recognition of “an outstanding contribution as a national leader, and long time service to the Ottawa community”
The Honourable John Manley was first elected to Parliament as a Liberal in 1988 and was re-elected three times. Through 16 years of public service, he held several senior portfolios in the Canadian government including Minister of Industry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Mr. Manley was named Chairman of the Public Security and Anti-terrorism Cabinet Committee and counterpart to the U.S. Homeland Security Chief, a role which earned him TIME Canada Magazine’s “Newsmaker of the Year” later that year. After leaving federal politics, he chaired the review committee reporting to the Ontario government on the future of the province’s power generation company and co-chaired an independent Task Force on the Future of North America for the Council on Foreign Relations. Now, as Senior Counsel at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Mr. Manley provides strategic advice on matters relating to public affairs including trade, telecommunications, security and finance.
2:00 p.m. Friday June 16 (FASS)
General John de Chastelain
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa in recognition of “an outstanding military career”
General de Chastelain was born a British subject in Bucharest, Romania. He immigrated to Canada in 1955 and joined the Militia as a Private in the Calgary Highlanders. In 1956 he transferred to the Regular Army and, in 1960, graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada with a degree in history and a commission in the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. General de Chastelain rose quickly through the ranks, serving on regimental duty in Canada, Germany, and Cyprus. In 1989, he was promoted to General and was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff. Transferring to the Reserves in 1993, he was appointed Canada’s ambassador to the United States, but one year later, was recalled to active duty and once again was named Chief of the Defence Staff. In 1995, he retired from his post and was appointed to the International Body on the Decommissioning of Arms in Northern Ireland. In 1997, he was asked to chair the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning in Northern Ireland. He helped forge the Belfast agreement, the blueprint for peace in Northern Ireland, signed on Good Friday 1998. General de Chastelain and his wife MaryAnn live in Ottawa, and they have a son, a daughter, and five grandchildren.
Wednesday, June 7, 2006 in News Releases
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