Event: UBC’s Vancouver campus Spring Congregation
6,500 students graduate
10 honorary degrees (see page 2 for recipients)
Dates / Times: 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on:
Wednesday, May 26
Thursday, May 27
Friday, May 28
(Saturday, May 29: First Nations Longhouse Graduation Celebration for UBC Aboriginal graduates at 12 p.m.)
Monday, May 31
Tuesday, June 1
Wednesday, June 2 (Note: No 4 p.m. ceremony)
Assignment/Photo Editors:
Media authorization is required to cover Congregation ceremonies in the Chan Centre. Please call heather Amos at 604.822.3213 or 604.828.3867 to arrange. Stationary camera space is very limited. Please arrive early. Handheld operators highly recommended. Wireless media feed will be provided.
More than 6,500 grads will cross the stage at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts to receive their degrees.
Undergraduate and graduate degrees from all 12 Vancouver faculties will be conferred at 23 ceremonies. A media release with grad profiles and interview opportunities will be issued Wednesday, May 26.
In addition, 10 honorary degrees will be given (see below for recipients). The webcast of the event and full schedule of events can be found at www.graduation.ubc.ca .
Place: The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, 6265 Crescent Rd.
For a map, visit: www.maps.ubc.ca/?130 .
Parking: Media may park free of charge at the Rose Garden Parkade located adjacent to the Chan Centre off Northwest Marine Drive.
The First Nations Longhouse special graduation celebration will take place on Saturday, May 29, in the Sty-Wet-Tan Great Hall, First Nations Longhouse, 1985 West Mall. For a map, visit: www.maps.ubc.ca/?337 .
Honorary degree recipients
May 26
11 a.m. Dr. James C. Hogg, founder of the Pulmonary Research Laboratory at St. Paul’s Hospital and a member of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
1:30 p.m. Dallas Richards, leader of the Dal Richards Orchestra, which has performed at the Pacific National Exhibition for 70 consecutive years.
4 p.m. Rick Mercer, Canadian comedian, TV personality and political satirist. He is the co-creator of the popular This Hour has 22 Minutes and host of The Rick Mercer Report.
May 27
11 a.m. Douglas Coupland, Vancouver-based writer and artist whose work speaks of ourselves and our time. He is best known for his first novel, Generation X.
1:30 p.m. Ian Wallace, artist, theorist and scholar who has taught and mentored some of Vancouver’s most noteworthy artists.
May 28
1:30 p.m. Alanis Obomsawin, distinguished documentary filmmaker and advocate for Aboriginal filmmaking.
(Note: Alanis Obomsawin will also attend the First Nations Longhouse special graduation celebration for UBC Aboriginal graduates on Saturday, May 29 from 12 – 3 p.m.)
4 p.m. Maria Klawe, former Dean of Science at UBC and the President of Harvey Mudd College in California.
May 31
11 a.m. Dr. Nora Volkow, internationally recognized leader in addiction medicine and Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
June 1
11 a.m. Ibrahim Gedeon, Chief Technology Officer at TELUS Communications Inc.
June 2
1:30 a.m. John Furlong, CEO of VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.