UBC Grads Don Cap and Gown for Week of Vancouver Ceremonies

More than 5,400 grads will cross the stage at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts to receive their degrees from UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Stephen Toope at Spring Congregation. They will join more than 250,000 UBC alumni worldwide.

Undergraduate and graduate degrees from all 12 Vancouver faculties will be conferred at 23 ceremonies, starting May 21 through May 28. Ten honorary degrees will be given.

Below are brief sketches of 11 graduating students of note who are available for interviews. For full profiles, visit the May 2008 issue of UBC Reports.

For details on UBC’s honorary degree recipients, visit www.graduation.ubc.ca/honorarydegrees.

A webcast and full schedule of Vancouver events can be found at www.graduation.ubc.ca. UBC Okanagan Spring Congregation occurs June 6, 2008.

Getting to Beijing the Wright Way

UBC field hockey player Anthony Wright and his brother will be the fourth and fifth members of his family to compete in the Olympics. His parents, both UBC alumni, were in the Athletes Village during the Berlin Games kidnappings. Wright receives his Bachelor of Human Kinetics on May 22 at 4 p.m.

Bridging the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Naturopathic Gap

Award-winning community volunteer and activist Shabita Nathwani was instrumental in establishing UBC’s food bank. She plans to become a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine following graduation and hopes to bridge the gap between conventional medicine and naturopathy. Nathwani receives her Bachelor of Sciences in Pharmaceutical Sciences on May 27 at 8:30 a.m.

Forester to Plant the Seeds of Learning

When Carleigh Johnston graduates this spring, her pocketbook will be fuller than most of her fellow students. The Prince George-area Lhedli T’enneh Indian Band member has no student loans after painstakingly applying for various scholarships and bursaries while holding down summer jobs. Johnston receives her Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Conservation on May 26th at 8:30 a.m.

Poli Sci Student Spans the Pacific

UBC political science student Jason Carroll gained valuable life experience teaching in China, thanks to the Faculty of Arts Co-op Program. Carroll also did co-op placements with the Recycling Council of B.C. and WorkSafeBC. Through co-op contacts, he has lined up an internship with an international consulting and design firm. Carroll receives his Bachelor of Arts on May 22 at 11 a.m.

Global Issues on Menu at the Local Café

Sophia Baker-French studied how food gets onto our plates from a variety of perspectives. She applied her teachings at UBC’s Agora Café, an organic eatery she managed. Originally from Oakland, California, she is one of 1,150 U.S. students studying at UBC this year. Baker-French will receive her Bachelor of Science in Global Resource Systems on May 26 at 1:30 p.m.

To view a short film of Sophia Baker-French’s internship at Agora Cafe, visit: http://blogs.landfood.ubc.ca/learningcentre/2008/05/02/digital-stories.

Secrets of the Notorious Red Car

In outgoing UBC Engineering Undergraduate Society president Bowinn Ma’s world, beer is an essential food group, the Cheeze is a place to hang, and having a birthday plus or minus six months from today could land you in a pond. Ma receives a Bachelor of Applied Science on May 27 at 1:30 p.m.

Science Grad Gives Back on a Global Scale

Mathew Li coached a Special Olympics Swim Club in Richmond, B.C., and spent last summer in Tanzania educating teenagers on HIV/AIDS. During a co-op term at Roche Bioscience in Palo Alto, California, he developed a cell-based assay that the company now uses to screen for potential treatment of asthma. Li receives a Bachelor of Science on May 23 at 1:30 p.m.

Sauder Student Wall Street Bound

Nina Yang plans on using her business skills to close the gap between the haves and the have-nots. She co-founded Global Fund for Education Aid, which operates business projects to generate the funding needed to send impoverished children to school. Yang has been accepted into the Harvard Business School and has job offers from premier Wall Street investment banking firms. Yang receives her Bachelor of Commerce on May 28 at 1:30 p.m.

Distributed Program Puts Doctors in Small Towns

A Métis from Fort Nelson, B.C., Jennifer Douse is among the first medical students to graduate from UBC’s distributed medical undergraduate program, a unique collaboration of UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, UNBC, UVic and both regional and provincial health authorities. This year’s class of 200 also is the largest class of MD’s to graduate from UBC. Douse receives her Doctor of Medicine on May 21 at 8:30 a.m.

Using Law to Change the World

Voted valedictorian by her classmates, Brittany Skinner is winner of the UBC Faculty of Law’s annual Guile Debate, which emphasizes humour and camaraderie. She also received the UBC Centre for Feminist Legal Studies’ Auriol Gurner Young Award for contributions to the law school and the community. Skinner receives her Bachelor of Laws on May 21 at 8:30 p.m.

From Fishing Grounds to a Nurse’s Rounds

It’s a long way from being captain of a commercial fishing boat in Alaska to a Master of Nursing — Nurse Practitioner (NP) degree at UBC, but Mark Schultz completes the journey this spring.  The adventure began when the Seattle native met a NP in the remote Alaskan fishing village of Dillingham. Schultz receives his Master of Nursing – Nurse Practitioner on May 27 at 4 p.m.


Event: UBC Vancouver Spring Congregation

Dates / Times: 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on:

Wednesday, May 21
Thursday, May 22
Friday, May 23
Monday, May 26
Tuesday, May 27
Wednesday, May 28 (Note: No 4 p.m. ceremony)

Place: The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, 6265 Crescent Rd.

Parking: Media may park free of charge at all parkades on campus during Congregation. (Meters and automated lots are not included.)

Conveniently located parkades include: The Rose Garden Parkade located adjacent to the Chan Centre off Northwest Marine Drive; the North Parkade (enter at Gate 2 off Wesbrook Mall); and the Fraser Parkade (enter at Gate 4 off Northwest Marine Drive).

Please note: Media authorization is required to cover Congregation ceremonies in the Chan Centre. Please contact Basil Waugh at 604.822.2048 to arrange.

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