The Faculty of Health Sciences will confer 239 degrees to undergraduate and graduate students at its Convocation this afternoon (2:30 p.m.)at Hamilton Place.

Degrees will be conferred for Doctor of Philosophy(4), Master of Science(18), Doctor of Medicine(92), Bachelor of Science in Nursing(88) and Bachelor of Health Sciences in Midwifery (8).

Diplomas will be awarded in Advanced Neonatal Nursing(3), Child Life Studies(11), Environmental Health(5) and Occupational Health and Safety (8). Two Nurse Practitioner Certificates will also be awarded.

Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees will be awarded to McMaster MD graduates Richard Heinzl and James Orbinski and professor emeritus John V. Basmajian will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.).

Honorary Degree Recipients

Richard Heinzl (LLD) '87 is a distinguished humanitarian and leader at a national and international level. He is the founder of the Canadian chapter of Midecins Sans Frontihres/Doctors Without Borders. Heinzl provided humanitarian health care to people in Iraq, Cambodia and with the first Canadian mission of Doctors Without Borders in Mozambique. He co-founded an internet company called medispecialist.com designed to make consultations with medical specialists more readily available to people in remote locations in the world. Heinzl was named one of the “People Who Make A Difference” in Canada in 1995 and was named mone of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 in 2000.

Distinguished humanitarian and leader James Orbinski (LLD) '89 is a founding member of the Canadian chapter of Midecins Sans Frontihres/Dcotors Without Borders. In 1999 Orbinski, as president of the humanitarian group's international council, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for group's work. Orbinski worked in Somalia, Afghanistan and Rwanda in the 1990s, providing care to thousands during the civil wars, famine and genocides that occurred in these countries. He was recognized for his work by the Governor General with the Meritorious Service Cross in 1998.

John Basmajian's (D.Sc.) resume reflects a distinguished career in rehabilitation medicine that has taken him around the world. The professor emeritus of medicine and anatomy at McMaster and director-emeritus of the Rehabilitation Centre, Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals, has received several awards including the Order of Canada. He has authored or edited more than 380 scientific articles and 66 books, and is the series editor of the 26-volume Rehabilitation Medicine Library. He has also produced several films and invented several widely used scientific or medical devices and techniques.