Honorary Degrees, Medals and Awards

Honorary Degrees

In conferring honorary degrees, the University seeks to honour individuals whose accomplishments demonstrate a standard of excellence that U of G hopes will inspire its graduates. The committee considers candidates from a broad range of categories, including the arts and sciences, business, public service, professions, and the voluntary sector, including long-standing or exceptional service to the University. The committee, from time to time, may recommend those whose outstanding contributions to their fields or to society have not yet been widely recognized.

Allan Cain – As co-founder and head of Development Workshop, the oldest and most trusted NGO in Angola, Allan Cain has spent more than 40 years putting his training as an architect, urban planner and manager at the service of tens of thousands of poor people in one of Africa’s fastest-urbanizing countries.

Since 1990, he has served as honorary consul of Canada in Angola. He has served as a consultant in many countries in Africa and Asia and as an adviser to the Government of Canada. He also teaches regularly at the University of Ottawa.

He has published more than fifty refereed articles on topics including building practices and sanitation systems, post-conflict transition to peace, and the provision of water and financing of housing.

An Officer of the Order of Canada, Mr. Cain has long-standing connections to development studies at the University of Guelph.

Winifred Hallwachs – A world leader in conservation biology and biodiversity science, Dr. Winnie Hallwachs has made profound contributions to science, conservation and education during her more than 40-year-long career.

Dr. Hallwachs helped found the Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund and the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) in Costa Rica.

She co-founded a parataxonomist training program to support Costa Rican forests and local economic stability and has championed bio-literacy and the democratization of biodiversity knowledge.

A researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, she has authored more than 130 articles in prestigious journals.

Dr. Hallwachs has been a part of a trailblazing team in the use of DNA barcoding technology pioneered at the University of Guelph for identifying organisms worldwide, helping to strengthen the international reputation of U of G’s Centre for Biodiversity Genomics.

Convocation and Graduation Medals

University Professor Emerita

The honour of University professor emeritus/emerita may be given to a retired professor who continues their scholarly association with the University. The prime criterion for nominations will be sustained, outstanding scholarship of such a level that it is recognized internationally.

Recipient Marion Joppe Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics

The University of Guelph approved the graduates in this program as of Friday, September 23, 2022. Graduands approved following this date will not be listed.