uOttawa News

OTTAWA, October 25, 2012  —  The University of Ottawa will honour two distinguished personalities and 1,700 students will graduate at its Fall 2012 Convocation. More than 1,000 graduates will attend one of the three ceremonies to receive their diploma from the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, University chancellor.

Radio-Canada television news anchor Céline Galipeau and Centraide of Greater Montreal president and executive director, Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire, will receive honorary doctorates at Convocation.

Each class president will deliver a valedictory at his or her faculty’s ceremony. The title of class president is given to students who are committed to the community and have exemplary academic records.

WHAT: Fall 2012 Convocation
WHEN: Sunday, October 28, at 9:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Southam Hall, National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin Street, Ottawa

A live blog featuring Tweets, photos, Instagram posts, Facebook status updates and other content will be available through ScribbleLive.

Ceremonies and honorary doctorate recipients
Note: Honorary doctorate recipients will speak approximately 30 minutes after the start of the ceremony.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28

9:30 a.m.: Ceremony I — Telfer School of Management and faculties of Engineering, Medicine, Science and Health Sciences
A true pioneer, Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire has paved the way for her contemporaries in engineering, diplomacy, communications and philanthropy. She was the first woman to graduate in civil engineering from Montreal’s École Polytechnique, the first woman consulting engineer in Quebec and the first woman to serve as a Quebec delegate-general abroad. Since 1991, Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire has served as president and executive director of Centraide of Greater Montreal, using her ability to bring people together and her boundless energy to make that organization a leader in the field of philanthropy.

Throughout her brilliant career, Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire’s pragmatic and highly sympathetic approach, her patience and her perseverance in the face of difficulty have earned her the deep respect of those in both community and business circles. She has been named a Great Montrealer, a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec, a member of the Order of Canada, a Fellow of Engineers Canada and a member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

2:30 p.m.: Ceremony II — Faculties of Arts, Law and Education, and Saint Paul University
As Radio-Canada’s first female news anchor, Céline Galipeau has been a role model for an entire generation of women aspiring to an equally distinguished career in journalism. Daughter of a father who was a foreign correspondent and a mother who survived the Vietnam War, Céline Galipeau knew at a very young age that she wanted to become a journalist, to share what she saw of our world, both its beauties and its horrors, and to give a voice to the voiceless.

Equally comfortable in the field and in the studio, Céline Galipeau began her career with Radio-Canada in 1984 as a reporter, before hosting the Montréal ce soir newscast. Subsequent work included a special assignment during the 1991 Gulf War in London, followed by regular correspondent jobs in the British capital and then in Russia, where she covered the war in Chechnya, among other stories. During her four-year stint in Paris, Céline Galipeau also closely followed dramatic stories such as the Islamist violence in Algeria and the Kosovo war. As well, she was a correspondent in China, where her reports on the World Conference on Women in Beijing earned her an award from Amnesty International.

7:30 p.m.: Ceremony III — Faculty of Social Sciences
No honorary doctorate recipients

For more information on the ceremonies visit the Fall Convocation website.  

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