Jeffrey Simpson, whose national affairs column in The Globe and Mail was essential reading for many Canadians for more than 30 years, is one of several Canadians of note who will receive honorary doctorate degrees at Vancouver Island University’s spring convocation ceremonies this week.
Simpson started working at The Globe and Mail in 1973, covering Toronto City Hall and Quebec politics. In 1977, he became the paper’s Ottawa bureau chief and worked as the Globe’s European correspondent before starting his national affairs column in 1984.
Simpson retired from The Globe and Mail in July. His work has won the Governor-General’s award for non-fiction writing, the National Magazine Award for column writing, and the National Newspaper Award twice for column writing. Simpson also became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000.
He will receive a Vancouver Island University Honorary Doctorate of Laws at the faculty of management convocation ceremony Wednesday (June 7) at 2:30 p.m.
Vancouver real estate magnate Michael Audain is a major supporter and champion of Canadian art.
Since 1980, Audain, chairman and founder of Polygon Homes Ltd., put his skills and expertise to work in the Vancouver real estate market, leading his company to become one of BC’s largest home builders.
His success allowed him to focus on one of his passions: preserving and profiling Canadian art.
Audain has funded galleries, museums and visual arts educational programs at the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University.
He and his wife Yoshiko Karasawa have also acquired a renowned collection of Northwest Coast art housed in the Audain Art Museum, a new $45 million, 56,000-square-foot facility in Whistler, B.C.
Audain will accept an Honorary Doctorate of Laws at VIU’s convocation ceremony Tuesday (June 6) at 10 am.
Scientist Phil Nuytten designs undersea suits and submersibles used by the navy, NASA and Hollywood
Nuytten is a deep-ocean explorer, scientist, inventor, founder of Nuytco Research Ltd. and internationally recognized pioneer in the diving industry, which includes his invention of the one-atmosphere Newtsuit, the Exosuit and DeepWorker submersible vehicles that allow scientists and filmmakers to operate from inside an acrylic-domed pod on the ocean floor at depths of 300 to 900 metres.
Today, his deep-ocean undersea equipment is used around the globe by several organizations including the National Geographic Society, NASA, Hollywood and nearly a dozen navies.
Nuytten will accept an Honorary Doctorate of Science at Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) convocation ceremony June 7 at 10 a.m. in recognition of his innovations that have opened the ocean’s depths to exploration and industry.
To learn more about VIU’s convocation ceremonies, visit www2.viu.ca/convocation/ceremony.asp.