Honorary Degree Recipients Announced

By McGill Reporter Staff – April 19, 2016

McGill Publications

Fourteen outstanding individuals will inspire and encourage McGill’s graduating class of 2016, as they receive honorary degrees during spring convocation ceremonies.

These newest honourees, seven men and seven women, represent a wide range of fields. They include the first woman to hold the position of Chief Justice, the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin; philanthropist and founder of Dollarama, Larry Rossy, a well-known name in the retail sector; broadcast journalist Céline Galipeau who has shared some of the most important stories of our time with Canadian viewers; Vinton Cerf, known as one of the fathers of the Internet; along with other important figures in music, literature, agriculture and science.

“All of the individuals we are honouring this year have contributed significantly to their field,” says McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier. “They are also dedicated to ensuring that society benefits from their important work.”

Principal Fortier will welcome the degree recipients in ceremonies on the main campus as well as at Macdonald campus on May 31, June 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8.

Andreas Wimmer is the Lieber Professor of Sociology and Political Philosophy at Columbia University. Professor Wimmer is considered a ‘world sociologist’—Swiss and multilingual— he is at once sociologist, anthropologist and political scientist, with extensive expertise in quite a number of countries, from Mexico and Iraq to much of Europe and the United States. Andreas Wimmer has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including the Heisenberg Fellowship from the German Research Foundation and he has occupied visiting positions at distinguished institutions from St Antony’s College of Oxford University, the Institute for Research in Humanities of Kyoto University, the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris and at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington DC. Professor Wimmer’s research based on innovative and systematic data sets has helped us understand state formation, nation building, ethnic conflict and war more than any other recent scholar. An expert on the dangers of excluding minorities from political representation, his work has created significant awareness on the importance of power sharing for preventing ethnic conflicts. Andreas Wimmer has made us mindful of the structural factors that lead to violence, whilst pointing to options that allow for a more peaceful world.

Click here for the full list of recipients.