SFU honours three changemakers with honorary degrees
During the fall 2019 convocation ceremonies October 10-11, SFU will grant degrees to almost 2,100 students. As well, the university will grant honorary degrees to three distinguished individuals whose inspiring accomplishments are making a difference in the world.
Timothy Caulfield
Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa
Thursday, October 10, 9:45 A.M. ceremony
Professor Timothy Caulfield is one of Canada’s best-known public intellectuals and a passionate advocate for evidence-based health policy. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta where he is research director of the Health Law Institute. He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed academic papers and contributes frequently to the popular press, where he criticizes celebrity culture and its pervasive influence on people’s healthcare choices. He is the author of two national bestsellers: The Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness and Happiness (Penguin 2012) and Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? When Celebrity Culture and Science Clash (Penguin 2015). He also hosts and co-produces the award-winning TV show, “A User’s Guide to Cheating Death.”
Lorne Trottier
Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa
Friday, October 11, 9:45 A.M. ceremony
Lorne Trottier is an innovator, entrepreneur, philanthropist and leading Canadian supporter of research and education in the sciences. The co-founder of Matrox, a world-renowned computer graphics and imaging company, Trottier has demonstrated his commitment to community engagement in science through the Trottier Family Foundation. Over the past 19 years, the foundation has donated approximately $120 million to support science and technology literacy, climate change and sustainable development, research in astronomy and astrophysics, health care and community development. Major gifts have included the Trottier Observatory and Trottier Studio for Innovative Science Education at SFU, which are both dedicated to science outreach. A member of the Millennium Committee of the Planetary Society, Trottier is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Nadine Caron
Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa
Friday, October 11, 2:30 P.M. ceremony
Dr. Nadine Caron, who is Anishnawbe from Sagamok First Nation, is Canada’s first female general surgeon of First Nations descent. A co-director and co-founder of the UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health, she is passionate about improving Indigenous health outcomes and guiding Canadian healthcare policy. She has served on federal and provincial committees to help shape Canada’s health agenda, and is internationally renowned for her advocacy work to address the health needs and disparities of rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities. She teaches at both UBC and the Centre for American Indian Health at Johns Hopkins University, where her curriculum incorporates research ethics, cultural competency and public health through an Indigenous lens. An SFU alumnus, she received an SFU Outstanding Alumni Award in 2011.