It's going to be a long and festive day at the University of Northern British Columbia today, which will be celebrating its 18 graduating class with two ceremonies at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre.
The morning celebration, for science and management students, will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The valedictorians will be Kelly Hilton of Telkwa, who earned a bachelor of commerce degree in international business, and Jordie Fraser of Prince George, who completed a masters of science in natural resources and environmental science.
Excellence in teaching awards will be presented to Drs. Katherine Parker and Guy Plourde and excellence in research awards will be presented to Drs. Staffan Lindgren and Jueyi Sui.
The Governor General's gold medal for academic excellence presented to Daniel Gregory Yule of Prince George, as the school's top graduate student.
And an honorary doctor of laws will be bestowed upon 2007 Nobel peace prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier, known for her passion about the effects of climate change on the people of the Arctic.
The afternoon celebration, for arts, social, and health sciences students, will run from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The valedictorians will be Kaleigh Milinazzo of Burns Lake, who earned a bachelor of arts degree in international studies and political science, and Stephanie Sebok of Surrey, who achieved a master of education degree in counselling.
Excellence in teaching awards will be presented to Drs. Ted Binnema and Jason Morris and excellence in research awards will be presented to Drs. Judith Lapadat and Jose Lavoie.
The Governor General's silver medal for academic excellence will be presented to Christine Elizabeth McDonald of Terrace as the top undergraduate student.
And honorary doctor of laws will be given to Ian James Soles and Gabor Mat.
While working for the Ministry of the Advanced Education in the late 1980s, Soles became a primary author of the UNBC Act, which created and governed UNBC until 2002 and was also an essential advocate for the creation of the Northern Medical Program.
A physician for more than 25 years, Mate's work with patients in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver that has made him a sought-after speaker and best-selling author.
"His work on mental illness, drug addiction, HIV, fetal alcohol syndrome, and attention deficit disorder has reinforced his conviction that mental health and bodily health are strongly connected," UNBC said in a statement.
Ceremonies are also set for Terrace on Monday, Gitwinksihlkw on Tuesday and Quesnel on Friday.
In all, 821 students will be graduating, bringing the total number of UNBC Alumni to more than 9,000.
