news archives

Jane Urquhart among honorary degree recipients

November 15, 1999

Award-winning Canadian author Jane Urquhart will be among the honorary degree recipients at the University of Toronto's November convocation ceremonies.

A former writer-in-residence at U of T, Urquhart received the Governor General's Award for fiction for her 1997 novel The Underpainter. Her other books include Away, Changing Heaven, Storm Glass, The Whirlpool and several collections of poetry and short stories. Urquhart will be awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree on Monday, Nov. 22 at 6 p.m.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., a leading author and scholar on the black experience in the United States, will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. Chair of the department of Afro-American studies and director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University, Gates has also been on faculty at Yale, Cornell and Duke Universities. He has published nearly 100 articles on scholarly and popular subjects and written four books, including his nationally acclaimed 1995 memoir, Colored People.

Louise Fréchette has served as a Canadian career diplomat and senior public servant since the early 1970s. In 1998 she was appointed deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, becoming the first person to hold the post established in 1997. She also served as Canada's ambassador to Argentina, Canada's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN in New York and deputy minister of national defence. Fréchette will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree on Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 6 p.m.

J. Stefan Dupré, president and CEO of The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, spent the majority of his academic career in U of T's department of political science. He has dedicated much of his scholarly work to the study of Canadian universities and continues to be an advocate for strong public higher education. He will receive his honorary doctor of laws degree on Thursday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m.

The convocation ceremonies will be held in Convocation Hall, 31 King's College Circle.

CONTACT:

Megan Easton, U of T Public Affairs, ph: (416) 978-5948, e-mail: megan.easton@utoronto.ca