Fall convocation at Nipissing
Nipissing University will honour John Ralston Saul and celebrate its graduates and scholarship-winning students at its fall convocation, Friday, November 4, at 1 p.m. in the Robert J. Surtees Student Athletics Centre.
Saul will be conferred an honorary doctor of letters and deliver the convocation address to the graduates. A celebrated writer of fiction and non-fiction, Saul has emerged as Canada’s preeminent contemporary political philosopher. He has played an active role in a number of non-profit organizations including the Canadian Chapter of PEN International for which he has served as its Secretary, Vice-President and President. He has been involved with numerous organizations that promote a more civil and humane society, and is an advisor to Engineers Without Borders. Saul’s writing career has earned him many awards and accolades. He has won major literary awards, including the 1990 Italian Premio Letterario Internazionale, the 1996 Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, the 2010 Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, and the 2011 Gutenberg Galaxy Award for Literature. In France, Saul was recently named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 1995 he was named the Canadian Humanist of the Year. The same year, The Utne Reader included him in their feature, 100 Visionaries Who Could Change Your Life. His books have been translated into 22 languages and sold and published in 30 countries. Saul is married to former Governor General, the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson.
Nipissing will confer degrees on 214 graduates from the Schulich School of Education, the Faculty of Arts and Science and the Faculty of Applied and Professional Studies. The fall convocation is also an occasion to celebrate and honour Nipissing’s scholarship recipients with the presentation of the Chancellor’s Awards, the President’s Scholarships and the Schulich Scholarships.
Chancellor’s Awards are valued at $10,000 in first-year and are renewable at $3,000 per year. They are awarded to students entering the first year of full-time undergraduate study at Nipissing who have a minimum 85 per cent average and show evidence of personal leadership activities. Recipients must also demonstrate financial need. There are five students receiving a Chancellor’s Award.
President’s Scholarships are valued at the cost of tuition for the student’s first year of study and renewable at $3,000 per year. They are awarded to full-time students entering the first year of an undergraduate degree at Nipissing from high school with a minimum of 90 per cent on their best six 4U/4M final grades. There are 83 students receiving a President’s Scholarship.
Schulich Scholarships are valued at $6,000 and are presented to full-time students entering any Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree or the Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Math or Computer Science programs at Nipissing University with a focus on obtaining their Bachelor of Education. There are 24 students receiving a Schulich Scholarship.