Posted on June 3: Humanities, arts & science, business students convoke today
The Faculty of Humanities, Arts & Science Program, and School of Business hold convocation ceremonies today (Tuesday, June 3) in the Great Hall at Hamilton Place. The Faculties will confer degrees for doctor of philosophy, master of business administration, master of arts, bachelor of arts, bachelor of music and bachelor of arts & science.
At 9:30 a.m., 465 humanities and arts & science students convoke, and at 2:30 p.m., 181 business students graduate.
This year, McMaster is very proud to present two Governor General's Academic Medals. It is very rare to have more than one recipient of this prestigious award in a given year. One medal will be presented today to Roxanne Lai, who receives an honours linguistics degree at the Faculty of Humanities ceremony. Fellow recipient David Zywina, of the Faculty of Science, will receive his medal during the Science convocation Thursday.
Honorary degrees will be presented to Michael Ruse, Jackie Washington, Belinda Stronach, and Mona Campbell.
Ruse and Stronach will deliver the Convocation addresses at their respective ceremonies.
Faculty of Humanities Honorary Degree Recipients
Michael Ruse, Doctor of Letters
Michael Ruse has been recognized as a leader within the Canadian and international philosophical scene over the last 30 years. He specializes in the philosophy of science and is renowned as a leading Canadian philosopher of biology and among the best in his discipline internationally.
A voluminous author and well-known authority on the history and philosophy of Darwinism, Ruse has written hundreds of papers and articles, and some 13 books on such topics as The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw, But is it Science? The Philosophical Question in the Evolution/Creation Controversy, and Monad to Man: The Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology.
A professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Guelph since 1974, Ruse obtained his BA and PhD degrees at the University of Bristol. He received his MA in philosophy from McMaster in 1964.
Ruse has appeared on the Discovery Channel, Firing Line and Technocrats. He prepared the four-part program on Ethics aired on CBC's Ideas in 1984.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and during his career was awarded the John Simon Guggenheim and Isaak Walton Killam fellowships.
Ruse will give the Convocation address at the Humanities ceremony.
Jackie Washington, Doctor of Letters
He was born in Hamilton and has always made this city his home. Legendary jazz musician and hometown treasure Jackie Washington is renowned for his wonderful music and sense of humour.
Now a tender 83, he began his musical career when he was five and got his first guitar at age 13. He has recorded and performed with some of the world's greatest jazz and blues artists: Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Teddy Wilson, Peter Appleyard and Jay McShann. He has also toured with such music greats as David Clayton Thomas, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot and Arlo Guthrie.
A veteran of the Second World War, Washington worked as a porter for the CPR railroads (1939-40) and as a shoeshine boy at the Fort Erie and Toronto race tracks (1958-1964).
In the seventies he had his own radio show on CBC; he also had shows on the local radio stations.
Washington is a member of Hamilton's Gallery of Distinction (1995) and Canada's Music Hall of Fame (2002).
School of Business Honorary Degree Recipients
Belinda Stronach, Doctor of Laws
President and CEO of Magna International Inc., Belinda Stronach was ranked #2 last year by Fortune magazine in its list of the world's most powerful women in business.
Stronach joined Magna International 18 years ago, holding increasing senior positions throughout the company and leading the global restructuring of human resources operations in 1998. The company is one of the world's largest suppliers of automotive systems and components.
She joined the company's board of directors in 1985 and in 1995 she was appointed vice-president of the company. She was appointed CEO in 2001 and president in 2002.
Stronach serves on a number of boards and committees including Decoma International Inc., the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, the Yves Landry Technological Endowment Fund, and the Raptors Foundation. She is also a member of the Dean's Advisory Council, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. She chairs the Magna for Canada Scholarship Fund, and the Ontario Task Force on Productivity, Competitiveness and Economic Progress.
Stronach will give the Convocation address.
Mona Campbell, Doctor of Laws
Upon her father's death in 1955, Mona Campbell took over the leadership of Dover Industries Limited, a flourmill based in Cambridge, Ontario. During an era when few women even held jobs, she was one of even fewer to lead a major corporation. Campbell expanded the company to the Atlantic Provinces, and today Dover Mills is the only flourmill in the Maritimes. Dover Industries is currently the largest Canadian-owned miller.
A business leader and philanthropist, Campbell has been a major supporter of the Royal Ontario Museum and the National Ballet School for over 40 years.
Her gift to the NBS in 1999-2000 established the Mona Campbell Fund in support of the newly created National Ballet School Foundation. In 1978 Campbell chaired the ROM's Galleries Expansion Capital Campaign, which raised $54 million.
In 2001 she was named Philanthropist of the Year by the Toronto Chapter for the Association for Fundraising Professionals.
An Officer of the Order of Canada, Campbell sits on a number of boards including the Dalhousie University Board of Directors and the Canadian Advisory Board at Duke University.
