UNBC Selects Three For Honourary Degrees

Wednesday, April 09, 2008 03:53 AM

Prince George, B.C. - The University of Nrothern B.C. has announced the recipients of honourary degrees at the UNBC 2008 Convocation ceremony on May 30.

Peter Bentley is Chairman of the Board for Canfor and has served as a member of the Board for the past 42 years. He was also Canfor president for 20 years, starting in 1975. Mr. Bentley is a former Chancellor of UNBC and has been instrumental in establishing the Bentley Centre on campus, the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre, and the University’s Downtown BMO Bank of Montreal Centre.

Rick Hansen grew up in Williams Lake and received global attention in 1985 when he wheeled 40,000km through 34 countries to raise awareness of the potential of people with disabilities and funds for spinal cord injury research. Today, he is President and CEO of the Rick Hansen Foundation, which has generated more than $200 million for spinal cord injury-related programs and initiatives. Mr. Hansen is a former world-class athlete, winning three world championships and competing for Canada at the 1984 Olympics.

Jacob McKay is a founding member and current Chair of Wilp Wilxo’oskwhl Nisga’a (WWN), the Nisga’a post-secondary institution that works closely with UNBC to deliver university programming in the Nass Valley, north of Terrace. WWN is the latest in a series of successes the Nisga’a have achieved with respect to education. In the 1970s, Mr. McKay oversaw the construction of the Nisga’a Elementary-Secondary School in what was then the first Aboriginal school district in Canada. He also managed the construction of four Nisga’a health centres.

Honorary degrees are awarded by the University in recognition of distinguished achievement in scholarship, governance, the arts, research, teaching, business, and other forms of service to the public. Past recipients of UNBC honorary degrees have included Haida artist Bill Reid, author Denise Chong, and former Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo. In 2004, ten UNBC founders also received honorary degrees to recognize the University’s tenth anniversary.

It’s expected that more than 800 UNBC students will graduate this year and receive their degrees during Convocation. Two ceremonies will be held this year, with both taking place at the new Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre.

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