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St. Thomas University Media Release Communications
and Media Relations |
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April 25, 2005 St. Thomas University Announces Honourary Degree Recipients Fredericton – St. Thomas University will award degrees to 497 students and grant honorary degrees to four distinguished Canadians – Wayne Curtis, Romeo Dallaire, Bernard Lord and Diane Lord – at its 2005 Convocation ceremony on May 9, 2005.
The Hon. Roméo Dallaire will deliver the convocation address and Cynthia Jenkins, of New Maryland, will present the valedictory address to her fellow graduates. The Convocation ceremony will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the courtyard of St. Thomas University on the north side of George Martin Hall. Media Contact – Jeffrey Carleton, St. Thomas University, (506) 452-0522 or carleton@stu.ca. |
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Wayne
Curtis is a writer, historian and conservationist whose literature
celebrates the Miramichi and New Brunswick. He was born near Blackville
and educated at St. Thomas University where he started writing prose.
He has been writer-in-residence at Berton House in the Yukon and at
the Institute of Superior Arts in Cuba. Curtis is the author of five
books of fiction and four books of non-fiction. Many of these have
been reprinted numerous times and his short stories have been anthologized
or have appeared in literary journals. He has been a contributor to
Quill and Quire, Outdoor Canada, Fly Fisherman, Atlantic Salmon Journal,
Eastern Woods and Waters, and the New Brunswick Reader. He has won
the David Adams Richards and George Woodcock awards, and is a member
of the Atlantic Salmon Hall of Fame.
Roméo
Dallaire is a soldier, peacekeeper, and author. A graduate of Collège
militaire royal de Saint-Jean and the Royal Military College, he held
senior command appointments in the Canadian Armed Forces. He was commander
of the United Nations Observer Mission for Uganda and Rwanda and the
United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda. Following his retirement
from the Armed Forces, Dallaire has worked on issues related to war-affected
children, post-traumatic stress disorder and conflict resolution.
He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and his book, Shake Hands
With the Devil – The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, was awarded
the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 2004.
He was recently presented with the Pearson Peace Medal and appointed
to the Senate of Canada. He is a Fellow at the Carr Center for Human
Rights Policy at the Kennedy School of Government.
Bernard
Lord is New Brunswick’s thirtieth premier and his tenure has
been marked by a vision of economic success and social progress for
the province as well as a strong voice for Canada. Raised in Moncton,
he holds a bachelor’s degree in social science as well as a
bachelor’s degree in common law from the Université de
Moncton. He was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party
in 1997 and, after being elected to the Legislative Assembly the following
year, he became Leader of the Official Opposition. On June 7, 1999,
he led his party to electoral victory and became the province’s
youngest elected premier. Four years later, he was re-elected with
another majority government. He was selected as one of Time magazine’s
“New Generation of Leaders in Canada” and was awarded
the Grand Officier de l'Ordre de la Pléiade by the International
Association of Francophone Parliamentarians.
Diane
Lord is a counsellor, researcher and teacher with a special interest
in early childhood and family literacy. She was born in Shippagan
and obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education
at the Université de Moncton. She has worked for the faculty
of education at the Université de Moncton where she taught
and researched in the areas of at-risk youth and family literacy.
As a teacher in the public school system, she has been a vocal advocate
for early childhood literacy and family literacy. She is honorary
president of the New Brunswick Family Literacy Day Committee, spokesperson
for the Born to Read Committee, honorary president of the Lieutenant-Governor’s
Early Childhood Literacy Awards, and honorary president of the Peter
Gzowski Invitational Golf Tournament for Literacy.