Five distinguished individuals will receive Honorary Doctorates from Thompson Rivers University this spring: Irving K. Barber (Posthumous), George D. Kuh, Captain Charles James Moore, Sheila Watt-Cloutier and Paul St. Pierre.
Kamloops – TRU will award Honorary Doctorates to five distinguished individuals when the campus convenes its Spring 2012 Convocation ceremonies at TRU Kamloops on June 14 and 15, and as previously announced, at TRU Williams Lake on May 25. This year’s Honorary Doctorates come from the arts, humanities, business and science. They were chosen for their lifelong commitment and contribution to society.
HONORARY DEGREES WILL BE CONFERRED AS FOLLOWS
Sheila Watt-Cloutier—June 14, 2012 at 10 AM TRU Kamloops
George Kuh—June 14, 2012 at 2 PM TRU Kamloops
Captain Charles Moore— June 15, 2012 at 10 AM TRU Kamloops
Irving K. Barber—June 15, 2012 at 2 PM TRU Kamloops
Paul St. Pierre—As previously announced, he will
receive his honorary degree at TRU Williams Lake campus
on May 25, 2012 at 5:30 PM.
“The individuals chosen this year by TRU are examples of gifted, extraordinary individuals, who have each in their own way, contributed to the well-being of us all. TRU is pleased to honour them and their service,” says TRU President and Vice-Chancellor Alan Shaver. “Persons nominated for an honorary degree, or a degree honoris causa, meaning “for the sake of honour”, go through a rigorous university selection committee process. These are indeed, very deserving candidates.”
The Late Irving (Ike) K. Barber is one of British Columbia’s greatest sons. A gifted entrepreneur and founder of Slocan Forest Products, Ike Barber was a passionate believer in the value of education and in particular in the importance of education for Aboriginal Peoples. Barber’s generous philanthropy has enhanced and enabled access to education throughout BC. The many facilities for research and learning that bear his name include The Irving K. Barber British Columbia Centre here at TRU.
George D. Kuh is a distinguished scholar, a passionate educator and researcher. After a 34-year career at the Indiana University School of Education, he is now Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB), and adjunct professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His insight into how to effectively assess the quality of the undergraduate experience, and his ground-breaking National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) are recognized as significant advances in the philosophy and practice of education. Dr. Kuh has been widely published, has won numerous awards for teaching and research, and holds six honorary degrees.
Captain Charles James Moore is an environmentalist dedicated to raising awareness about the degradation of marine environments around the globe. Moore is the founder of the Algalita Marine Research Institute in Long Beach, California, and the author of the 2011 book, Plastic Ocean, the story of Moore’s relentless documentation of the plastic waste contaminating the world’s oceans and its effect on sea life and the food chain. Moore has led dozens of expeditions aboard the Oceanographic Research Vessel Alguita, and in 1999, he published a scientific study that found six times more plastic fragments by weight in the central Pacific than zooplankton. That ratio has increased to 46 to one.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier is a human rights and environmental activist and advocate. In 2010, Watt-Cloutier was named one of 25 Transformational Canadians by the Globe and Mail. As President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Canada, she was instrumental in negotiating the Stockholm Convention banning persistent organic pollutants. Then as International Chair of ICC, she identified the impacts of climate change on the Arctic as a human rights issue. An Officer of the Order of Canada and internationally recognized for her environmental leadership, Watt-Cloutier has won numerous awards. She continues her activism and advocacy work and is working on her book, The Right to Be Cold.
Paul St. Pierre is a journalist, writer, author and former Member of Parliament. St. Pierre began his newspaper career in British Columbia in 1945. A columnist with the Vancouver Sun for almost 30 years, he is best known for his fictional accounts of life in BC’s Cariboo-Chilcotin region, including his novella, Breaking Smith’s Quarter Horse. He wrote scripts for the ground-breaking 1960’s CBC television series, “Cariboo Country”, which for the first time cast First Nations actors to play native characters. From 1968 to 1972, St. Pierre was a Liberal MP for the Coast-Chilcotin riding, and was Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He served as a BC Police Commissioner from 1979 to 1983.
MORE INFORMATION
Brenda Craig
Media and Communications Supervisor
THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY
T: 250-371-5897
C: 250-319-5249
Christopher Seguin
Vice President Advancement
THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY
C: 250-574-0474
Grace Simpson
Campus Coordinator
Williams Lake Campus
THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY
P: 250-392-8002
