GAZETTE
Sept. 24, 2014 Volume 47 Number 3
Publication Mail Registration No. 40062527
A M E M O R I A L U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W F O U N D L A N D P U B L I C AT I O N
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Comedian connection A business alum and standup comic will crack jokes and play host at the Super TSC Night concert during MUNdays.
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Fall honours
Three outstanding citizens will be recognized with honorary degrees during the fall sessions of convocation at Memorial.
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Engineering careers Youth summer camps open young minds and eyes to future career possibilities in the field of engineering.
Diverse perspectives Pair elected to Royal Society of Canada College By Janet Harron
Two Memorial
University professors have
been elected to the Royal Society of Canada’s newly established College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, Canada’s first national system of multidisciplinary
recognition
for
the
emerging
generation of Canada’s intellectual leadership. Drs.
Sean
McGrath
and
Andrew
Staniland
are among the first individuals to be invited to membership in the college. Memorial was permitted to nominate four faculty members with a maximum of two permitted to be selected, according to the Royal Society of Canada. “The election of Dr. Staniland and Dr. McGrath into undoubtedly one of the highest honours a young scholar can receive,” said Dr. Richard Marceau, vicepresident (research). “Both are highly esteemed and accomplished individuals in their own right. This election confirms the importance of their contributions and their growing importance in their respective fields. It also contributes to the growth of Memorial’s own reputation for which we are grateful.”
See Royal page 4
Chris Hammond photo
the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists is
Global classroom From left are Josh Bonnell, Meghan McDonald and Jon Manko.
The students have been granted Russian State scholarships and will be studying in the country during the 2014-15 academic year. See related story on page five.
Fall honorary degree recipients announced Memorial University has announced the names
Some 900 students will receive their degrees
Mr. Slade was born in North Harbour, Placentia Bay,
of three people to whom it will award honorary
during fall convocation. Three distinguished retired
N.L. He was educated there and in Clarenville, N.L.,
doctorates at fall convocation ceremonies next month.
faculty members who were recently accorded the
and completed courses at Memorial University and the
The Corner Brook session of fall convocation will
title professor emeritus by the university’s Senate will
University of Alberta.
take place at the Arts and Culture Centre on Friday,
be recognized: Dr. Tom Gordon, School of Music; Dr.
In 1961 Mr. Slade joined the federal Department
Oct. 3. Heritage conservationist and former public
Noel Roy, Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts;
of Fisheries, where he served for 12 years in fisheries
servant Gordon Slade will receive an honorary doctor
and Dr. Sudesh Vasdev, Division of Medicine, Faculty
conservation and protection. He later moved to
of laws degree.
of Medicine.
Newfoundland
and
Labrador’s
Department
of
Anna Curren, nursing educator, author and gay
The distinction of professor emeritus/emerita is open
Fisheries, where he was appointed deputy minister. In
rights activist, and Dr. Roger Peattie, bibliophile and
only to retired members of the faculty. To be eligible,
1987, he became vice-president of the Atlantic Canada
benefactor of Memorial, will receive honorary doctor
a person must have served at least 10 years as a regular
Opportunities Agency, and stayed in that role until his
of laws degrees at fall convocation sessions in St. John’s
full-time faculty member at Memorial and must have
retirement in 1995. Not idle for long, a year later Mr.
on Friday, Oct. 17, at the Arts and Culture Centre.
held the rank of professor upon retirement. The prime
Slade took the helm of Memorial University’s highly
Biographies of all honorary degree recipients follow.
criteria for nomination are sustained, outstanding
successful campaign, the Opportunity Fund. From
Honorary degree recipients are chosen by the Senate,
scholarly work and/or service to the university.
1996-2000, the fundraising venture raised $60 million
the university’s academic governing body, after careful examination of the grounds for their nomination. The honorary doctorate is designed to recognize extraordinary contributions to society or exceptional intellectual or artistic achievement.
Biographies of honorary graduands Gordon Churchill Slade
and was considered the crowning achievement of the late Dr. Arthur May’s tenure as president. In the meantime, Mr. Slade had begun the development of an idea to preserve Battle Harbour, a
In recognition of his wide-ranging contributions to the
major fishing station in Labrador since the 1770s and
The awarding of honorary doctorates, an important
preservation of Newfoundland and Labrador communities
where many of the main commercial buildings and
feature of Memorial’s convocation, serves to celebrate
and their heritage, Gordon Slade will be awarded an
the church were still in a good state of preservation.
both the individual and the university as well as to
honorary doctor of laws degree during the Corner Brook
inspire graduates, their families and guests.
session of convocation on Friday, Oct. 3, at 10 a.m.
See HONORARIES page 3