RECENT HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS ▼
Ceremony D | Wednesday, October 6, 2:30 p.m. Dr. John Borrows Doctor of Laws, honoris causa Dr. John Borrows is a leading authority on Indigenous, constitutional and environmental law whose scholarship is having a transformative impact on reconciliation efforts in Canada and around the world. Borrows, a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario, holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria (UVIC) Law School. Among his accomplishments, which include a dozen books on Indigenous law, treaties and land claims, Borrows co-founded the world’s first Indigenous law degree in 2018 at UVIC. He secured provincial funding to support the program and federal funding to establish a National Centre for Indigenous Law & Reconciliation. Borrows is a fellow with the Trudeau Foundation and with the Royal Society of Canada and is the recipient of several honorary degrees. The degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, was conferred on Dr. Borrows on Thursday, June 11, 2020 at the Virtual Convocation ceremony. Ceremony G | Friday, October 8, 10:00 a.m. Dr. Herb (Jay) James Doctor of Laws, honoris causa Dr. Herb M. James is an international foundation executive, philanthropist and an SFU charter student, who, for more than half a century, has helped improve the lives of thousands of deaf and hearing-impaired children around the world through his better hearing/better health programs. As president and founder of the International Sound Foundation (ISF), James works with volunteer physicians and nurses to offer free hearing screening and basic medical procedures, including ear surgeries, in 10 developing countries. Battling deafness as a teen, James received life-changing ear surgery in Sweden that, at the time, was unavailable elsewhere. After reading about a new audio test unit for pre-school children, James purchased one of the units and lent it free to the B.C. government. Eventually he bought dozens for developing countries through the ISF Better Hearing-Better Life program, which has helped thousands of children hear again. His foundation also collects and refurbishes operational hearing aids, which it distributes free to people in need.
6
The degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, was conferred on Dr. James on Monday, June 21, 2021 at the Virtual Convocation ceremony. Ceremony B | Tuesday, October 5, 2:30 p.m. The Honourable Dr. Wally Oppal Doctor of Laws, honoris causa A former judge and attorney general, The Honourable Dr. Wally Oppal has made significant contributions to B.C.’s justice system. He has spent most of his working life fighting for community safety and justice for society’s most vulnerable and has led high-profile public commissions into missing women and policing in B.C. In 1981, after a decade in criminal law, Oppal became the first judge of Indian heritage outside India. He left the B.C. Court of Appeal in 2005, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of B.C., serving as the province’s Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Order of B.C. and recently served as Chancellor of Thompson Rivers University. Oppal also co-chaired the SFU India Advisory Council. The degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, was conferred on the Honourable Dr. Oppal on Monday, June 21, 2021 at the Virtual Convocation ceremony.
