Lisa LaFlammeCTV news anchor Lisa LaFlamme is one of six distinguished individuals who will receive honorary degrees during Convocation celebrations this week.

UWindsor to graduate 3,900 during Spring Convocation ceremonies

The University of Windsor will confer degrees on 3,900 graduating students during 10 sessions of the University’s 109th Convocation ceremonies, May 28 through June 1, in the St. Denis Centre.

The University will also award honorary degrees to six individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the areas of sport, business, medicine, law, and journalism:

  • pioneering athlete Angela James;
  • medical researcher Francis Plummer;
  • mining executive Donald Lindsay;
  • businessman and philanthropist William Downe;
  • retired Superior Court justice Mary Jo Nolan; and
  • CTV national news anchor Lisa LaFlamme.

Angela JamesAngela James won four world championships during a 10-year career on the Canadian women’s hockey team, and was a member of the 1992 and 1994 Canadian women’s roller hockey team which won gold at the world championships. She was one of the first two women inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and is also a member of the Black Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. She will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address graduands during the 10 a.m. Monday, May 28, session of Convocation.

Francis PlummerFrancis Plummer is a professor of medicine and medical microbiology at the University of Manitoba, and former scientific director general of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory. His research into infectious disease, notably HIV-AIDS, earned him the Order of Canada, the Royal Society of Canada’s McLaughlin Medal, and the Killam Prize. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address graduands during the 3 p.m. Monday, May 28, session of Convocation.

Donald LindsayDonald Lindsay has been president of Teck, Canada’s largest diversified resources company, since 2005. He is currently a director of Manulife Financial Corporation, and was employed until 2004 by CIBC World Markets Inc., where he served as president, head of investment and corporate banking, and head of the Asia Pacific region. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address graduands during the 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 30, session of Convocation.

William DowneWilliam Downe is a past CEO of BMO Financial Group, and held a number of positions in the organization since joining it in 1983. Now lead director of ManpowerGroup Inc., he also serves on the board of the Rush University Medical Center. His charitable endeavours include work with the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation and United Way of Greater Toronto. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address graduands during the 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, session of Convocation.

Mary Jo NolanMary Jo Nolan was the first woman judge appointed to the Superior Court in Essex County when she took up the appointment in 2005. Retired from the bench since July 2014, she continues to work as an arbitrator and mediator and finds particular satisfaction in her work conducting settlement conferences for Legal Aid Ontario in family and child welfare cases. She will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address graduands during the 10 a.m. Thursday, May 31, session of Convocation.

Lisa LaFlamme is chief news anchor of CTV National News. She delivered live coverage during Nelson Mandela’s memorial service; from Vatican City during the election of Pope Francis; and from her Cairo hotel room during the February 2012 uprising, as protesters called for the resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. She will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address graduands during the 3 p.m. Friday, June 1, session of Convocation.

Convocation Schedule

  • On Monday, May 28, at 10 a.m., graduands of the Faculty of Education, Faculty of Human Kinetics, and the Faculty of Graduate Studies; at 3 p.m., of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Graduate Studies will receive degrees.
  • On Tuesday, May 29, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., graduands of the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Graduate Studies will receive degrees.
  • On Wednesday, May 30, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., graduands of the Odette School of Business and the Faculty of Graduate Studies will receive degrees.
  • On Thursday, May 31, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., graduands of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Graduate Studies will receive degrees.
  • On Friday, June 1 at 10 a.m., graduands of the Faculty of Nursing and the Faculty of Graduate Studies; at 3 p.m., of the Faculty of Law will receive degrees.

The ceremonies will be webcast live by staff of Media and Educational Technologies.

Celebrants are invited to share images on social media using the hashtag #UWinClassof2018.