Canada’s chief banker, an internationally recognized Haida artist and a former university president are among the eight individuals who will receive UBC honorary degrees at Spring Congregation in Vancouver from May 23-30.
The degrees are awarded for distinguished career achievements, as well as service to UBC and to Canada.
David Dodge, Governor of the Bank of Canada, is responsible for the nation’s economic well-being, overseeing monetary policy and financial systems.
Dodge previously served as Deputy Minister of Health, Deputy Minister of Finance, and held senior positions in the federal public service, including the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Dept. of Employment and Immigration.
Dodge was a Senior Fellow and Scholar in Residence in UBC’s Sauder School of Business and he served on the Advisory Council of UBC’s Faculty of Graduate Studies.
Robert Davidson is a well-known contemporary Haida artist, recognized for his creative and personal interpretation of the traditional art of the Pacific Northwest. Born in Alaska, he is a master carver, sculptor, printmaker, painter and jeweller.
Davidson is a recipient of the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia and the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, and works on the Semiahmoo Reserve, near the B.C.-Washington State border.
Martha C. Piper was President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia from 1997 to 2006.
Born in Lorain, Ohio, Piper was a national advocate for support of university research, and oversaw a tripling of research investment at UBC.
Piper led the founding of UBC Okanagan and Robson Square campuses, completed one strategic plan and launched a second, Trek 2010, which emphasizes UBC’s focus on global citizenship for all members of the campus community.
Piper is a recipient of the the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia, 10 honorary degrees and, in 2004, she was named Educator of the Year by the Learning Partnership.
Other distinguished recipients, in alphabetical order, are:
- Michael Bliss, a historian of Canadian medicine and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto.
- Cassie Campbell, former captain of Canada’s two-time gold medal-winning women’s hockey team and CBC rinkside reporter.
- Michael Halliday, an internationally recognized linguist and professor emeritus at the University of Sydney.
- C.S. (Buzz) Holling, a noted Canadian ecologist and professor emeritus at the University of Florida.
- P.J. (Jim) Peebles, a Princeton University cosmologist, who has helped advance our understanding of the formation of galaxies and the cosmic distribution of matter and radiation.
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