Professor Chris Hadfield and Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer, of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), headline the list of recipients of honorary doctorates at the University of Waterloo's spring convocation ceremonies next month.
Professor Hadfield, a new Waterloo professor and the first Canadian to command the International Space Station, will receive an honorary doctor of science from the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences and address convocation on Tuesday, June 10 at 10 a.m.
Professor Hadfield has a degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Military College, conducted post-graduate research at Waterloo, and earned a master's degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee. He served as an air force pilot for more than two decades and is seen worldwide as a leader in space exploration.
Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer is director-general at CERN, an international scientific collaboration composed of 21 member states. CERN's discovery of the Higgs boson—also called the God particle—is considered the most important finding in particle physics in 50 years.
Heuer is professor of experimental physics at the University of Hamburg. In 2012, the European Physical Society awarded him the Edison Volta Prize for leading efforts that have resulted in many significant advances in high-energy particle physics. He has a PhD in physics from the University of Heidelberg. Professor Heuer will receive an honorary doctor of science from the Faculty of Science and address convocation on Thursday, June 12 at 10 a.m.
Journalists wishing to attend either ceremony must accredit by emailing Pamela Smyth.
Other honorary doctorates will be given at the following ceremonies:
ENVIRONMENT — Tuesday, June 10, 2014 at 2:30 p.m.
Professor Vukan Vuchic will receive an honorary doctor of environmental studies and address convocation. He has made several groundbreaking contributions to the field of urban transportation.
ARTS — Wednesday, June 11, 2014 at 10 a.m.
Ronald Lang will receive an honorary doctor of letters and address convocation. He has devoted much of his professional life to the labour movement and to public service, including his long involvement with the Canadian Labour Congress.
ARTS — Wednesday, June 11, 2014 at 2:30 p.m.
Professor Michael W. Higgins will receive an honorary doctor of letters and address convocation. The author of 14 books, Professor Higgins served as president of St. Jerome's University at the University of Waterloo.
SCIENCE — Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 2:30 p.m.
Dr. Malcolm Moore, the program head of medical oncology and hematology at Princess Margaret Hospital, and director of the McCain Centre for Pancreatic Cancer, will receive an honorary doctor of science and address convocation.
MATHEMATICS — Friday, June 13, 2014 at 10 a.m.
Professor Dan-Virgil Voiculescu, who has published more than 100 research papers and is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, will receive an honorary doctor of mathematics and address convocation.
MATHEMATICS — Friday, June 13, 2014 at 2:30 p.m.
Professor Ronald Rivest, one of the world's pre-eminent cryptographers, and the recipient of the prestigious A.M. Turing Award, will receive an honorary doctor of mathematics and address convocation.
ENGINEERING — Saturday, June 14, 2014 at 10 a.m.
Professor Bruce Rittmann, considered a world leader and visionary in the field of environmental biotechnology, a successful innovator and distinguished academic, will receive an honorary doctor of engineering and address convocation.
ENGINEERING — Saturday, June 14, 2014 at 2:30 p.m.
Professor Ralph Keeney, professor emeritus of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Southern California and research professor emeritus at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, will receive an honorary doctor of engineering and address convocation.
For more information, please visit the website for spring convocation 2014.
About the University of Waterloo
In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's technology hub, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit www.uwaterloo.ca.
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