Media Advisory:
ALGONQUIN COLLEGE SPRING CONVOCATION 2018 (OTTAWA CAMPUS)
– June 18, 19 and 20 at the Canadian Tire Centre –
OTTAWA — Algonquin College is proud to celebrate the Class of 2018 at next week’s Convocation ceremonies. Graduates and their families will assemble at the Canadian Tire Centre on June 18, 19 and 20 to mark the accomplishments of students as they embark on their careers.
Algonquin will graduate more than 8,050 students this spring and they will cross the stage to receive degrees, diplomas, and certificates. The College is also pleased to bestow honorary credentials upon the following distinguished guests:
Nobina Robinson | Honorary Degree
Chief Executive Officer, Polytechnics Canada
Monday, June 18, 9:30 a.m.
During her nine years as CEO of Polytechnics Canada, a national alliance of research-intensive colleges and institutes of technology, Nobina Robinson championed the polytechnic model of applied education, convincing government and employers of the need to harness the talents of college students and apprentices. She successfully advocated to have federal research funding extended to polytechnics and college applied research, and was instrumental in getting the federal government to allow apprentices to receive loans like other post-secondary students.
Marc Maracle | Honorary Degree
Executive Director, Gignul
Non-Profit Housing Corporation
Monday, June 18, 2:30 p.m.
Marc Maracle found his calling early in his working life. After studying architectural technology at Algonquin College in the early 1980s, he dedicated his career to serving the welfare and housing needs of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. Today, after more than a decade as Executive Director of Gignul Non-Profit Housing Corporation, which provides homes to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people, Maracle remains devoted to improving the lives and serving the needs of Ottawa’s growing Indigenous population
Carl Nicholson | Honorary Degree
Executive Director
Catholic Centre for Immigrants Ottawa
Tuesday, June 19: 2:30 p.m.
Carl Nicholson has spent his career making the world a better place. After several years with Canadian University Students Overseas handling projects in Africa, he became the Executive Director of the Catholic Centre for Immigrants Ottawa in the 1990s, a position he’s held ever since. In this capacity, he’s helped thousands of immigrants settle into their new country. This work, along with his many years of service as a community volunteer and advocate for immigrant services, has been widely recognized with numerous honours.
Chris Knight | Honorary Degree
President and CEO, Gusto Worldwide Media
Wednesday, June 20, 2:30 p.m.
Chris Knight is well known for the company he founded in 2013 — Gusto TV, an Ottawa-based television network that specializes in programs devoted to food, travel, and design. He is also the author of 11 best-selling cookbooks and has won six James Beard Awards, an International Gourmand World Cookbook Award, and three Gemini Awards for his achievements in Canada’s television industry. He’s now extending his reputation internationally, using a new studio in Ottawa to market productions to the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and China.
Leonard G. Lee | Honorary Degree
Founder, Lee Valley Tools
Conferred posthumously at Perth Campus convocation on June 14
Leonard Lee was truly a Renaissance Man with a capacity for innovation. Trained in engineering and economics, he left Canada’s foreign service in the late 1970s to found one of Ottawa’s iconic companies, Lee Valley Tools. The company soon became a nation-wide chain known for high-quality goods, and remains so today. Before his passing in 2016 at the age of 77, Lee was honoured with numerous awards, including the Order of Canada, as an entrepreneur, business leader, innovator, volunteer, and philanthropist.
What: Algonquin College’s Ottawa Campus Convocation Ceremonies
Where: Canadian Tire Centre
When: June 18, 19 and 20
Monday, June 18
9:30 a.m. (School of Advanced Technology)
2:30 p.m. (Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence, School of Business – Marketing and Management Studies)
7 p.m. (School of Business – Business Administration, General School of Business – Finance, Accounting and Legal Studies, School of Business – Marketing, Entrepreneurship & Office Studies)
Tuesday, June 19
9:30 a.m. (School of Health and Community Studies – Community Studies)
2:30 p.m. (School of Health and Community Studies – Nursing Studies, Police and Public Safety Institute)
7 p.m. (Language Institute, Centre for Continuing and Online Learning School of Health and Community Studies, Allied Health, School of Health and Community Studies – Wellness, Research and Innovation)
Wednesday, June 20
9:30 a.m. (Faculty of Arts, Media and Design)
2:30 p.m. (School of Hospitality and Tourism)
– 30 –
For Media Inquiries:
Chris Lackner
Communications Officer
Algonquin College
Office: 613-727-4723 ext. 2091
Mobile: 613-220-3479
lacknec@algonquincollege.com
or
Ruth Dunley,
Communications Manager
Algonquin College
Office: 613-727-4723 ext. 6452
Mobile: 613-406-0970
dunleyr@algonquincollege.com
About Algonquin College:
www.algonquincollege.com
The mission of Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is to transform hopes and dreams into lifelong success. Algonquin College, an Ontario public sector community college, does this by offering hands-on, digitally connected, experiential learning in more than 185 programs. Based in the Ottawa Valley, Algonquin College is the largest polytechnic institute in Eastern Ontario.
Two of Algonquin’s gold-medal winners at Skills Ontario – the Horticulture and Landscape team of Thomas Hawley and Blaise Mombourquette, and Nick Denny in Auto Collision Repair – will compete at the Skills Canada National Competition in Edmonton this week on June 4 and 5.