FALL 2021 HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS ▼
Ceremony E | Thursday, October 7, 10:00 a.m. Dr. John Blatherwick, Doctor of Science, honoris causa A trailblazing public health leader, Dr. John Blatherwick spent almost four decades keeping people healthy. A catalyst and an innovator, he led Vancouver’s response to the 2003 SARS outbreak and was the driving force behind a number of public health initiatives, fighting for safe drinking water, non-smoking bylaws and childhood vaccine programs. A believer in harm reduction, he also established the largest needle-exchange program and the first supervised injection site in North America. He retired as one of Canada’s longest-serving medical health officers. Blatherwick served in the Canadian Forces Reserves for 39 years. He has received the Order of Canada, the Order of B.C and the Order of St. John. He was named a Canadian Health Hero by the Pan American Health Association in 2002. Ceremony A | Tuesday, October 5, 10:00 a.m. Dr. Catherine Clement, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa A community history curator, exhibitor and volunteer, Dr. Catherine Clement has surfaced and shared lesserknown stories of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown. Among her many projects, Clement worked to uncover the hidden images of Yucho Chow, the city’s first and most prolific Chinese photographer. Her 10-year community collection project, which culminated with a month-long public exhibition and a 344-page book, helped reveal the lives of people from many marginalized communities during a tumultuous and transformative period in Vancouver’s history (1907-1949). A former communications executive, Clement served as volunteer curator for the Chinese Canadian Military Museum and designed a series of exhibitions about Chinese Canadian soldiers during the Second World War. She is currently working on a project that will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act.
Ceremony F | Thursday, October 7, 2:30 p.m. Dr. Margo Kane, Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa A visionary activist and storyteller, Dr. Margo Kane is a renowned interdisciplinary artist and a major advocate for advancing Indigenous performing arts in Canada. Kane, who created the Full Circle: First Nations Performance Company in 1992 to reach historically underserved rural communities, helped illuminate the extent of Indigenous omission in Canada’s arts landscape. In that regard, she has dedicated her life to training and mentoring Indigenous artists and creating showcases where emerging and professional artists can thrive and share their work and culture. Nowhere is that more evident than Kane’s work on SFU’s strategic community engagement initiatives, including the annual Talking Stick Festival and the Bah Humbug project, a holiday staple in the Lower Mainland for the past 10 years. In recognition of her efforts, she was recently appointed to the Order of Canada. Ceremony C | Wednesday, October 6, 10:00 a.m. Dr. Nurjehan Mawani, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa A champion of equity, justice, diversity, and international development, Dr. Nurjehan Mawani has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of immigrants and refugees in Canada and advance rights and educational opportunities for women and girls. As Chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board she issued groundbreaking guidelines for refugees and gender-related persecution and co-founded the International Association of Refugee Law Judges, bridging law and policy to support women refugee rights. More recently, Nurjehan served as Ambassador of the Aga Khan Development Network to the Krygyz Republic and Afghanistan. Partnering with multiple stakeholders, her work centred on inclusive and participatory development and its nexus with peace and stability. She also sits on SFU’s Faculty of Environment’s advisory committee, helping address the interwoven issues of gender, environment and sustainable development. Nurjehan is a recipient of the Order of Canada, the Public Service of Canada Outstanding Achievement Award and has been conferred two previous honorary degrees. 5
