Alton (Al) Bigwin - Doctor of Education
(honoris causa) DEd
Alton (Al) Bigwin received the honorary degree, Doctor of Education on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 and delivered the address to the graduates of Nipissing’s Schulich School of Education, Primary/Junior division and the Aboriginal Teaching Certificate program.
Bigwin is an educator whose vast knowledge of First Nation’s education issues has been recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Education, where he worked in the latter part of his career. His work in Native education, specifically in the area of curriculum, helped build the foundation for Aboriginal education initiatives currently under way in the province. He was one of the first of Canada’s First Peoples to receive a post graduate degree, a Master’s degree in Education, from the University of Toronto.
David Liddle - Doctor of Education
(honoris causa) DEd
David Liddle received the honorary degree, Doctor of Education on Thursday, June 9, 2011 and delivered the convocation address to graduates of Nipissing’s Schulich School of Education, Junior/Intermediate division and Concurrent Education program.
Liddle has given over 20 years of service to Nipissing as a member of the Board of Governors from 1989-99 and as a Board Chair from 1994-97. He served as Nipissing University’s second Chancellor from 2002 – 2010. He has been a strong ambassador and advocate for Nipissing University. He was the co-chair of the successful Learning Library campaign.
Dr. Charles Pascal - Doctor of Education
(honoris causa) DEd
Dr. Charles Pascal received the honorary degree, Doctor of Education on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 and delivered the address to the graduates of Nipissing’s Schulich School of Education, Primary/Junior division and the Aboriginal Teaching Certificate program.
Pascal is an international expert on early reading and literacy. He was appointed special advisor on early learning to the provincial government in 2007 due to his strong background in education, training, policy development and leadership.
Pascal is a professor of Human Development and Applied Psychology at OISE/University of Toronto. He is also the Senior Advisor to the Chagnon Foundation in Montreal and a regular contributor to the Toronto Star.
Dr. Mark Tremblay - Doctor of Letters
(honoris causa) DLitt
Dr. Mark Tremblay received the honorary degree, Doctor of Letters on Friday, June 10, 2011 and delivered the convocation address to graduates from the Faculty of Arts and Science and Faculty of Applied and Professional Studies.
Tremblay is a Senior Research Scientist and Director of Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research at Children’s Hospital at Eastern Ontario Institute. He is a full professor in the department of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Tremblay has published extensively in the areas of childhood obesity physical activity measurement, exercise physiology and exercise endocrinology. He is also the Chief Scientific Officer for Active Healthy Kids Canada.
Grand Chief Stan Beardy - Doctor of Education
(honoris causa) DEd
Grand Chief Stan Beardy received the honorary degree, Doctor of Education on Wednesday, June 8 and delivered the convocation address to the graduates of Nipissing’s Schulich School of Education, Intermediate/Senior division and Master of Education program.
He has been elected to a fourth term as a Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, the grouping of 49 First Nation communities within the territory of James Bay Treaty No. 9 and the Ontario portions of Treaty No. 5. Grand Chief Beardy has worked toward the implementation of traditional governance based on beneficial treaty relationships with the governments of Ontario and Canada.
John Ralston Saul - Doctor of Letters
(honoris causa) DLitt
Nipissing University honoured John Ralston Saul and celebrated its graduates and scholarship-winning students at its fall convocation, Friday, November 4, 2011.
Saul was conferred an honorary doctor of letters and delivered the convocation address to the graduates. A celebrated writer of fiction and non-fiction, Saul has emerged as Canada’s preeminent contemporary political philosopher. He has played an active role in a number of non-profit organizations including the Canadian Chapter of PEN International for which he has served as its Secretary, Vice-President and President. He has been involved with numerous organizations that promote a more civil and humane society, and is an advisor to Engineers Without Borders. Saul’s writing career has earned him many awards and accolades. He has won major literary awards, including the 1990 Italian Premio Letterario Internazionale, the 1996 Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, the 2010 Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, and the 2011 Gutenberg Galaxy Award for Literature. In France, Saul was recently named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 1995 he was named the Canadian Humanist of the Year. The same year, The Utne Reader included him in their feature, 100 Visionaries Who Could Change Your Life. His books have been translated into 22 languages and sold and published in 30 countries. Saul is married to former Governor General, the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson.
Keith Lickers - Doctor of Education
(honoris causa) DEd
Keith Lickers received the honorary degree, Doctor of Education on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 and delivered the convocation address to the graduates of Nipissing University’s Schulich School of Education Concurrent program, Brantford campus, at the Sanderson Centre in Brantford, Ontario.
Lickers is a long-serving senior administrator in the Ministry of Education, supporting the development of curriculum related to the Native Studies and Aboriginal perspectives, and providing groundwork for the special Provincial initiatives through the Ministry of post-secondary support services and programming for First Nations, Métis and Inuit students.
Sister Priscilla Solomon - Doctor of Letters
(honoris causa) DLitt
Sister Priscilla Solomon received the honorary degree, Doctor of Letters on Friday, June 10, 2011 and delivered the convocation address to the graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Science and Faculty of Applied and Professional Studies.
Solomon is a strong advocate for environmental and civil justice. Her Anishinabeg values and her Catholic faith give her a deep love for the beauty and goodness of all creation around her, for her family and for her home community of Kilarney. After attending North Bay Teachers’ College, she ministered as an elementary school teacher, an adult educator and retreat director in the Thunder Bay and Sudbury districts. She has presented and facilitated workshops on human trafficking, poverty and interculturation.
Suzanne Brooks - Doctor of Letters
(honoris causa) DLitt
Suzanne Brooks received the honorary degree, Doctor of Letters on Thursday, June 9, 2011 and delivered the convocation address to graduates of Nipissing’s Faculty of Arts and Science and Master of Arts and Master of Science degree programs.
Brooks is the owner of Gulliver’s Bookstore in North Bay and is a longtime proponent of reading and literacy. She serves as the president of the Canadian Booksellers Association. Brooks spearheaded “Books by the Bay”, an annual literary festival in North Bay that attracts internationally-renowned authors and artists such as Margaret Atwood, Lynn Johnston, Joseph Boyden and Lawrence Hill.