Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Peter Trudgill and Kim Cattrall announced as UBC honorary degree recipients

Award-winning actor, producer and author Kim Cattrall will join Indigenous leader Grand Chief Stewart Phillip and internationally renowned sociolinguist Peter Trudgill to receive honorary degrees at the University of British Columbia’s fall convocation ceremony.

“I’m delighted to welcome Dr. Trudgill, Grand Chief Phillip and Ms. Cattrall to UBC,” said UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Santa J. Ono. “The bestowal of an honorary degree recognizes substantial contributions to society and all our fall recipients have spent their lives making such contributions.”

Fall congregation will be held in Vancouver Nov. 28-30. A total of 3,000 students are set to receive degrees during eight ceremonies over three days.

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Backgrounder

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip is the president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs and the Chair of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. He has taken an active role in the defence of Aboriginal Title and Rights by supporting First Nations communities in need, and has been involved in numerous protests and lobbying movements at provincial and national levels. In October 2006, the Okanagan Nation, led by the Elders of the Penticton Indian Band, acknowledged his lifetime commitment to the defence of Indigenous Peoples’ Title and Rights by bestowing on him and his family the rare honour of the title of Grand Chief.

Grand Chief Phillip receives the degree, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 28.

Kim Cattrall is an award-winning actor, producer and author who has turned her artistic achievements into opportunities for informed activism on important social issues associated with gender, sexuality, and identity.

She has worked extensively in television, theatre and film and is renowned for being uniquely adept at embodying powerful, mature female lead roles of dimension and depth as highlighted in HBO Canada’s Sensitive Skin which she executive produced.

Ms. Cattrall receives the degree, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 29.

Peter Trudgill is an internationally renowned sociolinguist.

Before holding numerous teaching positions at universities worldwide, Dr. Trudgill studied modern languages at King’s College, Cambridge and then obtained a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He is currently serving as Adjunct Professor of Sociolinguistics at University of Agder in Norway and Adjunct Professor in the Research Centre for Linguistic Typology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Trudgill is the recipient of a number of awards and honorary doctorates.

Dr. Trudgill receives the degree, Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, at 9 a.m. on Nov. 30.

Media are welcome to attend the honorary degree ceremonies. An advisory with additional details will be sent at a later date.