The Oscars of academia?

Fourteen to receive honorary degrees from McGill University this spring

Nearly 5,000 students are receiving hard-earned recognition at one of nine convocations at McGill this spring. During each ceremony, the University will also confer honorary degrees on a wide range of individuals. Whether they are Oscar winners or best-selling authors, the list of 14 recipients is impressive. Read on and see why.

All media are welcome to attend McGill convocations by contacting Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins at 514-398-6752. Please note, convocations will unfold at Tomlinson Fieldhouse (475 Pine Avenue W.), with the exception of the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences ceremony, which is taking place on the grounds of McGill's Macdonald Campus.

Health Sciences Convocation, May 23, 2002, 2 pm

• Honorary Doctor of Science: Richard Goldbloom is a McGill graduate, head of the Department of Pediatrics at Dalhousie University and physician-in-chief at the Izaak Walton Killam Hospital for Children.

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, May 31, 2002, 2 pm

(*This convocation takes place on the grounds of Macdonald Campus, 21,111 Lakeshore Rd., Ste. Anne de Bellevue).

• Honorary Doctor of Science: Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka is executive director, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). She is well known for her dedication to the promotion of women's rights to education, land and inheritance.

Management, June 12, 2002, 2 pm

• Honorary Doctor of Science: Daniel Langlois is the president and founder of Ex-Centris, a multi-theatre and production facility. He also founded SoftImage Inc. and served as its president and chief technology officer from 1986 to 1998. SoftImage is recognized internationally for its advanced digital technologies and 3-D computer animation techniques for cinema. In 1997 Mr. Langlois won an Oscar for his work.

Centre for Continuing Education, June 12, 2002, 7 pm

• Honorary Doctor of Laws: Dyane Adam is a psychologist and was appointed as Canada's fifth Commissioner of Official Languages in 1999. She has made significant efforts to restore bilingualism as a priority in Canada.
• Honorary Doctor of Laws: Sid Stevens is a quintessential Montrealer who founded the Sun Youth Organization in 1974 to provide a constructive outlet for young people. Today, Sun Youth serves youths, seniors, low-income earners and persons with special needs. Its services range from food banks to day camps for the disadvantaged.

Engineering, June 13, 2002, 10 am

• Honorary Doctor of Science: Witold Rybczynski is an architect and academic professor of urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania. Rybczynski, who also taught at McGill, from 1974 to 1993, is internationally renowned for his work on minimum cost housing. He is author of several critically acclaimed books, including Home: The Most Beautiful House in the World.

Education, June 13, 2002, 2 pm

• Honorary Doctor of Laws: Robert Glaser is a psychologist and academic.

Science, June 14, 2002, 2 pm

• Honorary Doctor of Science: A McGill graduate, Virginia Carter is a TV producer who began her career as a physicist. In an unusual career change, she became vice-president of Embassy Television in Hollywood, where she ensured social content for successful TV comedies: "All in the Family," "Maude" and "The Jeffersons." Leaving television, Carter became a working partner at the J.O. Crystal Company in 1987.
• Honorary Doctor of Science: Vaira Vike-Freiberga is president of the Republic of Latvia, a psychologist and academic.

Arts and Religious Studies, June 17, 2002 10 am

• Honorary Doctor of Laws: Stewart Sutherland, the Right Honourable Lord Sutherland of Houndwood, is principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh.
• Honorary Doctor of Letters: Jacques Languirand is a writer, broadcaster, actor and playwright. His career at Radio-Canada has stretched over 52 years, which included 32 seasons at the helm of the popular radio program, "Par Quatre Chemins."
• Honorary Doctor of Letters: Alistair Macleod is a writer and academic who taught English and creative writing at Indiana University and the University of Windsor until his recent retirement. His books include No Great Mischief (1999), and he is reputed for his collections of short stories, including The Lost Salt Gift of Blood and As Birds Bring Forth the Sun.

Arts and Music, June 17, 2002, 2 pm

• Honorary Doctor of Letters: Michael Ignatieff is a writer, broadcaster and historian.
• Honorary Doctor of Laws: Madeleine Parent is a McGill graduate who has devoted her career as an organizer of women and children working in the textile plants of Quebec. She's also worked with immigrant women and supports Aboriginal women in their struggle against domestic violence. She is a founding member of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women.