A celebration of Science with two convocation ceremonies in one day

Science students and their families are celebrating today as
McMaster's Spring Convocation continues with two ceremonies for
programs from across the diverse faculty.

Both ceremonies are to be held in the Great Hall at Hamilton Place.

The morning ceremony, at 9:30, recognizes graduands in the single and
combined programs of biochemistry, biology, biology and mathematics,
earth and environmental sciences, geoscience, kinesiology, molecular
biology, neural computation and psychology, and behaviour and
neuroscience.

Dr. Francis (Frank) Plummer, scientific director of Canada's National
Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, a Canada Research Chair in
Resistance and Susceptibility to Infections, and a global leader in
HIV/AIDS research, is to receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree
and address the convocation.

Among the graduates receiving degrees at the morning ceremony is
Tallulah Andrews. She has completed her studies in the challenging
field of computational biology and is graduating with a perfect 12.0
grade point average. Andrews, who graduated from Hamilton's Westdale
Secondary School before coming to McMaster, is planning to pursue
graduate studies at the University of Oxford.

The afternoon ceremony, at 2:30, recognizes graduands in chemistry,
computer science, life sciences, mathematical science, mathematics &
statistics, medical and health physics, physical sciences and physics.

MS Swaminathan, described by the UN's Environment Program as “the
father of economic ecology” and the first recipient of the World Food
Prize, is to receive an honorary doctorate and address graduands at
the afternoon convocation. Swaminathan is credited with helping to
save hundreds of millions of lives by promoting advancements in
agricultural technology, and is also recognized as an international
leader in the peace movement.

Spring Convocation week continues with Business (Wednesday at 9:30),
Social Sciences (Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.), Nursing and
Medical Radiation Sciences (Friday at 9:30 a.m.) and Engineering
(Friday at 2:30 p.m.).

In all, approximately 5,400 McMaster students are graduating this
spring.