Hamilton-born media stars among honorary degree recipients

McMaster University’s Spring Convocation ceremonies will honor a slate of respected leaders in fields that range from microbiology to museums, and from Indigenous wisdom to climate change. The group includes two Hamilton-born media stars: Steve Paikin in news and John Levy in sports.

Spring Convocation ceremonies start Friday (May 27) with Health Sciences, and then resume June 13, with five consecutive days of ceremonies – all at Hamilton Place.

Convocation is also a time when McMaster recognizes distinguished faculty members, and this year’s ceremonies will honour five new Distinguished University Professors.

Here’s a look at Spring Convocation and who’s being honored:

Friday May 27, 2:30 pm: Health Sciences (excluding Nursing)

Honorary Degree: Dr. Peter Palese, an international leader in understanding the mechanisms of  influenza. He and his colleagues reconstructed and studied the extinct 1918 pandemic influenza virus. Palese, Chair of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, is collaborating with colleagues to develop a universal influenza vaccine.

Distinguished University Professor: Gerard (Gerry) Wright, Director, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research. Wright is a global leader in bacterial and fungal antimicrobial resistance. He is the developer of the Comprehensive Antimicrobial Resistance Database and co-founder of Canada’s first academia-based high throughput screening facility.

Monday June 13, 2:30 pm: Business

Honorary Degree: John Levy, chairman and chief executive officer of theScore, Inc., an independent sports media company offering sports news and statistics through mobile platforms. The company grew from the Levy family’s earlier successes in cable television and more recently transformed into an all-digital entity.

Tuesday June 14, 9:30 a.m.: School of Nursing and Medical Radiation Sciences

Honorary Degree: Isabel Amélia Costa Mendes, an international figure in nursing research and education who has served in leadership roles with the World Health Organization and the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing, where she remains a professor there. Her research influences a number of aspects of nursing.

Distinguished University Professors: Andrea Baumann and Salim Yusuf. 

Baumann is Associate Vice-President (Global Health), whose achievements include her involvement in developing women health professionals in Pakistan, developing Ontario’s first nurse practitioner program, designing the nursing graduate program and leading the creation of the award-winning Master of Science in Global Health program.

Yusuf is the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario Research Chair and a global leader in evidence-based cardiology.  The founder of the Population Health Research Institute, he was the world’s second-most cited scientist globally in 2011, and in 2014 The Globe and Mail named him Canada’s most influential scientist.

Tuesday June 14, 2:30 p.m.: Humanities, Arts & Science Program

Honorary Degree: Barry Lord and Gail Dexter Lord: Lord and Dexter Lord are world leaders in planning and organizing museums, galleries and other cultural institutions. Based in Toronto, their company Lord Cultural Resources has worked with such clients as the Louvre, the Bilbao Guggenheim, the September 11 Memorial & Museum, and the Museum of Human Rights.

Distinguished University Professor: Lorraine York. An award-winning teacher and researcher who holds the Senator William McMaster Chair in Canadian Literature and Culture, York helped establish the critical foundation for contemporary Canadian literature through her work on writers including Alice Munro, Timothy Findley and Michael Ondaatje.

Wednesday June 15, 9:30 a.m.: Social Sciences

Honorary Degree: Richard (Hayadaha) W. Hill, Sr., a leading community-based knowledge keeper and researcher at Six Nations of the Grand River. Hill has contributed immensely to the resurgence of Indigenous knowledge at home and abroad, as a practicing artist, cultural historian, teaching elder, researcher, community leader, curator, art historian and speaker.

Wednesday June 15, 2:30 p.m.: Social Sciences

Honorary Degree: Steve Paikin, anchor of TVO’s flagship current-affairs program, The Agenda, and moderator of numerous federal and provincial election debates. Paikin was previously an anchor and Queen’s Park correspondent for CBLT, host of a daily news program on CBC Newsworld and a reporter with media outlets including CHFI and The Hamilton Spectator.

Thursday June 16, 9:30 a.m.: Science

Honorary Degree: Martin Manning, a leading international figure in climate change, who has served as founding director of the New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute at Victoria University of Wellington and director of New Zealand’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Manning, who earned his PhD (theoretical physics) at McMaster, is an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Thursday June 16, 2:30 p.m.: Science

Honorary Degree: Chil-Yong Kang, a molecular virologist and professor of virology at Western University. Kang’s research includes the development of viral-specific antiviral therapeutic agents and vaccines against human viral diseases including AIDS and hepatitis. He holds nine international biotechnology patents covering more than 70 countries. 

Distinguished University Professor: Walter Craig, a professor of mathematics and Canada Research Chair of Mathematical Analysis and its Applications. Craig’s research focuses on applied mathematics, including the mathematical physics of waves, including tsunami and rogue wave modeling.

Friday June 17, 9:30 a.m.: Engineering

Honorary Degree: Gordon Huang, who develops computer models that allow complex social, economic, environmental, technical and political factors to be taken into account when managing energy and environmental issues. A Canada Research Chair and professor at the University of Regina, Huang earned his PhD at McMaster.

Friday June 17, 2:30 p.m.: Engineering

Honorary Degree: Maria Klawe a major figure in computer science and a powerful advocate for increasing the participation of women in the STEM fields. Now president of California’s Harvey Mudd College, the Toronto-born Klawe previously served as Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University and as a board member at Microsoft.