U of A honorary degree recipients announced

Honourable A. Anne McLellan

Honourable A. Anne McLellan, P.C.

McLellan's outstanding contributions to public life include four terms as the member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre. As deputy prime minister of Canada she also served as the first minister of public safety and emergency preparedness and chaired cabinet committees: the Operations Committee and the Public Health, Security and Emergency Preparedness Committee. She currently serves on the Community Outreach Committee of the Lois Hole Hospital for Women and is Chair of the Friends of the Legal Resource Centre, an organization that promotes access to justice. Additionally, she was a member of the U of A Faculty of Law for nearly 25 years. McLellan will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws June 8 at 10 a.m.

Wilton Littlechild

Wilton Littlechild

A Canadian Cree and U of A alumnus with bachelors' and masters' degrees in physical education and a degree in law, Littlechild was the first indigenous person appointed to Queen's Counsel by the Alberta Law Society. In 1988 he became the first Treaty Indian in Canada to serve as a member of Parliament. Chosen as one of only 16 dignitaries to serve as an independent expert on indigenous issues as part of the United Nations Permanent Forum, Littlechild has represented indigenous peoples at the United Nations since the 1977 World Council of Indigenous Development. He will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws June 5 at 3 p.m.

Dr. Maria Klawe

Dr. Maria Klawe

An alumna of the University of Alberta, Klawe has an international reputation as a visionary scientist and university administrator. President of the Harvey Mudd College, a liberal arts college of engineering, science and mathematics in California, Klawe has also served as dean of engineering and professor of computer science at Princeton University, and dean of science at the University of British Columbia. An advocate for women and minorities pursuing careers in engineering, science and mathematics, she established a collaborative project on the design and use of computer games in enhancing mathematics and science education for students in Grades 4 - 9. Klawe is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology in Palo Alto and a trustee of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley. She will receive an Honorary Doctor of Science June 12 at 3 p.m.

Sheldon Bowles

Sheldon Bowles

Bowles is a best-selling author, successful entrepreneur and international speaker who began his career at the Winnipeg Free Press. A regular commentator on CBC Radio, he wrote for the Globe and Mail, Time Magazine and the Times of London. Bowles then moved to Royal Canadian Securities where he became president and CEO of Domo Gas. Bowles will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws June 6 at 10 a.m.

Robert Westbury

Robert Westbury

Westbury has been a director of curriculum development with the Edmonton Catholic School Board; president of Seeds (Society for Energy and Environment Development Studies) Foundation; vice president, TransAlta; and vice president, Grant MacEwan College. Currently he chairs the Telus Edmonton Community Board, the Alberta Centre for Child Family and Community Research and the Enoch/Paragon Board. He will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws June 6 at 3 p.m.

Dr. Norbert Morgenstern

Dr. Norbert Morgenstern

Morgenstern transformed geotechnical engineering as it is taught and practised around the world. He authored or co-authored more than 300 research publications. He was a member of the Expert Advisory Committee for the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-2000) and also served UNESCO as an expert advisor on strong motion seismology. Morgenstern will receive an Honorary Doctor of Science June 7 at 10 a.m.

Allen Benson

Benson is a member of the Beaver Lake First Nation, former advisor to the minister of Aboriginal Affairs in New South Wales, Australia, and CEO of Native Counselling Services of Alberta. He has pioneered work in rehabilitation and holistic healing services for Aboriginal offenders as well as program development in the areas of housing and homelessness prevention in Alberta. Benson's leadership contributed to the creation of a partnership addressing gang violence. He will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws June 7 at 3 p.m.

Sir Keith O'Nions

O'Nions, an alumnus of the University of Alberta, has contributed ground-breaking research in ocean geochemistry, heat fluxes from the mantle and the origin of the Earth's continents. A Fellow of the Royal Society and former chairman of the board of the Natural History Museum, he has also contributed to the work of the Natural Sciences Research Council and the founding of the European Association of Geochemistry. He received a Knighthood for services to Earth Sciences in 1999. He will receive an Honorary Doctor of Science June 11 at 3 p.m.

P.J. Perry Guloien

Guloien is an internationally renowned jazz musician. One of Canada's pre-eminent exponents of the bop idiom, he learned to play piano and clarinet early in life and at age 14 he became a saxophonist in his father's band. He has shared the stage with musicians such as Boss Brass, Dizzy Gillespie, Slide Hamilton, Woody Shaw, Herb Spanier, Bobby Shew, Fraser McPherson, Ellis Marsalis, Joe LaBarbera and Clarence "Big" Miller. His recordings have won two Juno Awards and he has received the Jazz Report Magazine Critic's Choice Award for Best Alto Saxophone an unprecedented six times. Guloien will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws June 12 at 10 a.m.

E. Hunter Harrison

Harrison is an innovator and leader in the North American railroad industry. His career began in 1963 when he joined the Frisco Railroad as a carman-oiler while still attending school. At the Illinois Central Railroad Company he initiated the concept of scheduled service for freight shipments, producing industry-leading operating ratios and on-time performance results. He was named North America's Railroader of the Year in 2002. President and CEO of CN since 2003, Harrison manages the company based on five guiding principles: service, cost control, asset utilization, safety and people. He will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws June 13 at 10 a.m.